Multiple Intelligences in the Community College

A pioneering practitioner and researcher on applications of multiple intelligences at the community college level is René Diaz-Lefebrve of Glendale Community College in Phoenix, Arizona. Over 500 students were administered a pictorial Teele Inventory of Multiple Intelligences (TIMI) to determine their dominant mode of learning. This assessment was developed by Dr. Sue Teele, UC-Riverside.

Varieties of Intelligence

Here are the types of intelligence posited by Howard Gardner in writings in 1983 and 1995.

	Logical and mathematical reasoning conceptualizes; that is, it sees patterns and approaches problems methodically and precisely, seeing categories and hypothesizing. Students with this kind of approach enjoy mathematics, science, and computers.
	Verbal and linguistic reasoning writes to learn, as well as learning by listening, reading, and talking things out. Students who enjoy reading and writing usually do well in school.
	Visual and spatial intellect visualizes, pictures, forms images. Students who learn by seeing or draw to learn may enjoy art, especially sculpture, and other visual media.
	Bodily and kinesthetic intelligence learns best through movement, especially "hands on" activities. Touching and building--participation--matter more than watching. Students whose approach to learning is dominated by this sort of intelligence enjoy athletics, dance, and fine motor skills.
	Musical intelligence recognizes pitch, rhythm, tone. Students who learn through musicality may make up songs to learn or learn with drumming, humming, singing. [Are these the students who learn best with background music or does everyone do that?]
	Interpersonal intelligence learns by fraternizing and empathizing. Students who learn socially thrive in collaborative learning situations and by tutoring or teaching others.
	Intrapersonal intellect internalizes, ponders, plans, makes choices. Students in whom this sort of intellect dominates their approach to learning understand their strengths and weaknesses; they may prefer to work independently.
	Naturalistic intelligence recognizes differences, classifies aspects of the environment, and uses aspects of the environment to solve problems.

Sources of Information

For details on the first seven of these eight sorts of intelligence see, Howard Gardner's 1983 book, Frames of Mind (New York: Basic Books). For the last, see his 1995 article, "Reflections on Multiple Intelligences: Myths and Messages" (Phi Delta Kappan 77.3: 200-203, 206-209).

Community College Students

The pattern in those TIMI administrations to over 500 students suggest that those Glendale Community College students (and maybe ours?) favor bodily or kinesthetic intellect more than others--about 27% of the time. Hands-on learning in some form plays to this strength. A close second (24%) was interpersonal intelligence, the kind that thrives in group learning tasks. Spatial intelligence (16%) and linguistic (8%) and mathematical and logical (8%) intellectual approaches were also noted.

Advantages and Implications

In his handouts and presentation at the 6th Annual Ashland Community College Conference on Teaching and Learning (October 9, 1998, in Ashland, Kentucky), Diaz-Lefebvre noted that focusing on multiple intelligences encourages students to focus on learning and their own learning processes rather than competition with classmates (René Diaz-Lefebvre, Nancy Siefer, and Tessa Martinez Pollack, "What If They Learn Differently: Applying Multiple Intelligences Theory in the Community College," Leadership Abstracts 11.1 [January 1998]:2). The results, in the 10 psychology classes of 13 students in his study at Glendale CC, as well as in other classes conducted by his colleagues, was often more depth of learning and more fun.

Although Diaz-Lefebvre's course is deep with alternate versions of learning, he maintains rigor by having collages and sculptures accompanied by written explanations of how they represent course concepts, as well as in-class presentations of the artifacts that make course ideas tangible so that students can voice the reflections that occur as they craft interpretations of class data.

In his conference presentation, Diaz-Lefebvre stated that 96% of the 505 Glendale CC students surveyed claimed that having learning options increased their motivation to learn, thereby doubling time on task as compared with students in more traditional courses at the college--11 hours per week of study vs. 5.

He encourages veteran teachers to try one or two alternative tasks. For details, see his 1998 book for John Wiley and Sons, Coloring Outside the Lines: Applying Multiple Intelligences and Creativity in Learning.

"The mind is a fire to be kindled, not a vessel to be filled." -- Plutarch

"It's not how smart you are but how you are smart." -- René Diaz-Lefebrve

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