[Yr7-10it] Multiple intelligences - any evidence ???

[Ian Ross]

Kevork,

I didn't see the SBS documentary as I am currently attending the Australian Government Summer School for Mathematics Teachers in Armidale NSW with about 200 other teachers from around the country.

One of our guest speakers was Professor John Geake - http://www.brookes.ac.uk/schools/education/staffinfo/geake.html

He is involved in UK research on the human brain and had many interesting things to say about this rapidly changing area of study. He places multiple intelligences into the category of neuromythology (also loosely referred to as "crap"). Gardners idea is 30 years old and has not been supported by the research since then. 

John Geake's summary is that humans do not have multiple intelligences. We have multiple applications of general intelligence. He seemed to acknowledge that people may have preferred ways of presenting their knowledge but trying to affect intelligence by modifying the form of input to a highly interconnected system like a human brain will just not work.

Regards,
Ian Ross
Canberra (when he's at home)
http://ian-ross.blogspot.com/
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Kevork Krozian 
  To: Year 7 - 10 Information Technology Teachers' Mailing List 
  Sent: Sunday, January 13, 2008 10:33 PM
  Subject: [Yr7-10it] Multiple intelligences - any evidence ???


  Hi Folks,

    Nothing like stirring the pot to start a good chin wag.

  Just finished watching "Brain Power" or similarly titled documentary on SBS ( Sunday 8:30 pm 13/1/08 ) where several very successful people ( fighter pilot, quantum physicist, artist, chess grandmaster, music child prodigy etc ) were tested for intelligence. 

   One comment caught my attention from an expert : " There is little evidence to support the theory of multiple intelligences --  (1) linguistic intelligence; (2) musical intelligence; (3) logical- mathematical intelligence; (4) spatial intelligence; (5) bodily- kinesthetic intelligence; (6) interpersonal intelligence; and (7) intra- personal intelligence) as proposed by Howard Gardner --  after which I did a quick search on the subject.

  I discovered the following link as the first hit basically supporting this position of lack of evidence of multiple intelligences which leads me to ask if we are just tinkering with a fad. 

  http://nswagtc.org.au/info/articles/McGuinessMultIntellig.html

  Questions:

  1.What do people think about the lack of evidence for multiple intelligences ?
  2. The same site claims talent is rewarded much more highly than intelligence. Wow !!  Should we be focussing more on devloping talent in that case instead of intelligence if we are there to assist our students with maximising their rewards in society ??
  3.Do we believe intelligence can indeed be improved which would mean with enough practice you can eventually qualify for Mensa ?? An exaggeration simply made to highlight a point.  
  4. Does learning a set of skills or to apply it to a new situation promote increasing intelligence ? Are students being "trained" as per VET type subjects, or are they there to "learn" a body of knowledge/set of skills ? What exactly is learning in that case ?
  5. Does the ability to apply knowledge to a new situation mean you are more intelligent than someone who is not able to do so ?
  6. Does successful learning and if that is tied to increasing one's intelligence become redefined as society changes and new learning tools are introduced ? If so, why are intelligence tests unchanged over the last 100 years ?

  One other conclusion from the documentary was that people who were given the intelligence test at age 11 and again at age 79 tended to do better on the whole at age 79 than at 11. What does that mean ?  Why does your intelligence necessarily increase with age ?

  Another was a brain scan of the highest IQ score holder amongst the group tested in the documentary. This fellow had an IQ of 162 which I think was 1 in a million yet he had a smaller brain. This was described as an efficient sports car vs a larger sedan - less bulk needed due to higher quality engine. 

   Lots of issues here, but would be interested in people's perspective on the subject(s).

  Best Wishes

  Kevork Krozian
  Edulists Creator and Administrator
  www.edulists.com.au
  kevork at edulists.com.au

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