Kolb 's (1984: 30) learning cycle explains that
“learners, if they are to be effective, need four different kinds of abilities- concrete experience abilities (CE), reflective observation abilities (RO), abstract conceptualization abilities (AC), and active experimentation (AE) abilities.”
I will be applying this cycle of learning in my essay to further understand what I hope to achieve from my time at university and how to use my time and learning styles effectively to reach my goals. I chose this degree as I believe it will help me to get where I 'd like to be which will hopefully be a job within the media, possibly in advertising or copywriting.
Following Kolb’s (1984:30) theory along with taking the Myers-Briggs personality type indicator
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This questionnaire asked 44 questions and determined my learning style/ preferences. It provided me with the information I needed to allow myself to understand how I learn best and has allowed me to adjust my learning to a way that best suits me. From this test I found that I am a reflective, intuitive, visual and global learner. This means that I prefer to work alone whilst thinking things through methodically; however, it also means that I, as a global learner, “…need the big picture of a subject before [I] can master details” (ibid). It also suggests that I like to work quickly and innovatively whilst using aids such as graphs and charts to further explain the materials. After using my ‘RO’ I have found ways to improve my learning to better fit my preferred style. My results show that I am a reflective learner, this means that whilst I plan out my work methodically and think things through, I could “spend too much time reflecting [and I] may never get anything done” (ibid). After reflecting on these results I have concluded (AC) that this is not desirable and could lead to missing deadlines and to receiving a bad grade overall. In order to combat this when I use ‘AE’ “[I] might find it helpful to write short summaries of readings or class notes in [my] own words. Doing so may take extra time but will enable [me] to retain the material more effectively" (ibid) as I will be …show more content…
This test is based on the multiple intelligences theory by Gardner (1983) who “…concluded that all human beings possess at least eight intelligences: linguistic and logical-mathematical […], musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, naturalist, interpersonal, and intrapersonal.” From the test I found my two most prominent types of intelligence: linguistic and interpersonal. Having linguistic intelligence means that I am “[sensitive] to the meaning of words, the order among words, and the sound, rhythms, inflections, and meter of words...” (MIO: n.d.). Alongside this I am also “[able] to interact effectively with others. [And be sensitive] to others’ moods, feelings, temperaments and motivations” (ibid). Upon reflecting (RO) on these results I realised that these were two very good intelligences to have. I have concluded in my ‘AC’ that due to linguistic intelligence being “most prized in school and […] central to success on standard intelligence tests” (ibid) it is a very desirable type of intelligence to have, especially at university. It is also desirable as I am doing a degree in English Language and Linguistics with creative writing; therefore, the need to be able to understand words properly is crucial to my development throughout my time at university. I also found that interpersonal
Before answering the questions let find out what intelligence test is. It is a test consisting of a series of tasks requiring people to use various verbal and non verbal skills to measure the individual’s intellectual ability. Now that we know what an intelligence test is we can now answer the question better. Three important short comings of intelligence test that have nothing to do with intelligence are: having low motivation or high anxiety which can greatly influence the performance on the test, also IQ test may contain cultural biases in their language and or tasks that may place people of one background above people of another back ground, and members of minority groups may have little experience with this kind of test or may be uncomfortable with examiners of a different ethnic back ground than them (Comer, 2013, pp.107).
Howard Gardner used to define intelligence as “the ability to solve problems or to create products that are valued within one or more cultural settings” (Gardner 33). The modern day human being would most likely include the words “smart” and “dumb” in their definition of intelligence. Gardner questioned the belief of only one intelligence so he created his own theory that involved seven different discoveries. He didn’t want to call these discoveries “skills” or “talents” or gifts” because those all suggested a drawback so he decided on the word “intelligence,” creating his theory of multiple intelligences (Gardner 33). Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences including, linguistic, logical/mathematical, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, intrapersonal and interpersonal, has many implications for modern education and culture.
I selected interpersonal as the primary multiple intelligence for this study because he is very good at understanding people and their point of view on topics. This student is able to view others point of view even if they vary from his thoughts. He is skilled at assessing others emotions and reacting appropriately to their feelings. He has excellent communication skills in both verbal and nonverbal behaviors. He is considerate of others and enjoys working with others inside and outside of class. Very seldom is this student alone. He is well liked by his peers and works wonderfully in cooperative learning groups.
The Analysis of the Intelligence of Individuals and Groups Much controversy surrounds the subject of intelligence. Intelligence tests were developed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century to assess the intelligence of individuals and groups. However, criticisms quickly arose regarding tests due to results being used to justify discrimination between different groups and cultures. Theorists argued that the tests assess verbal, mathematical, and spatial capabilities, but they do not directly examine other abilities that seem to be inherent parts of intelligence: creativity, social understanding, knowledge of one’s own strengths and weaknesses and so on. This perspective led Howard Gardner to formulate his theory of Multiple Intelligence.
Intelligence tests have been developed by scientists as a tool to categorize army recruits or analyze school children. But still discussing what intelligence is, academics have a difficult time defining what intelligence tests should measure. According to the American researcher Thorndike, intelligence is only that what intelligence tests claim it is (Comer, Gould, & Furnham, 2013). Thus, depending on what is being researched in the test and depending on the scientist’s definition of intelligence the meaning of the word intelligence may vary a lot. This essay will discuss what intelligence is in order to be able to understand the intelligence theories and aims of intelligence tests.
David Kolb published his learning styles theory, in 1984, after many years of development. His theory stated that people learn in two different steps, inputting information and processing information. How people do this is also different. Think of inputting information on a vertical line, one person may prefer concrete examples at the top and abstract concepts at the bottom. Processing information is on a horizontal line with active experimentation on the left and reflective observation on the right.
Some individuals will test much higher in these specific groups as opposed to those that are not in the group, but not forgetting that cultural experiences play a role in test scores. Individuals tested might have scores immeasurable because of conventional tests that do not take into account one’s skills or capabilities. Intelligence tests are determined and valid for general and basic skill sets, but cannot determine overall how knowledgeable the individual truly is. Some intelligence tests are not effective in measuring an individual’s ability because several issues could arise and IQ tests ought to be shunned (Shiraev & Levy, 2010).
According to Ben Michaelis, a person 's intelligence is not measured by how well they perform academically, but by how well they adapt to their situations and environment (Michaelis). The idea that students who attain outstanding grades in school are more intellectual than students who receive poor grades is unfair to all students. In 1983, Dr. Howard Gardner identified different types of intelligence, including interpersonal intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence, and musical intelligence (Fiero), so to assume that a person is unintelligent based on poor academic performance is unreasonable. In the article, “What Does it Mean To Be Smart?”, the author gives an example of a woman named Angie to demonstrate that academic intelligence is not the main indication of someone’s overall intelligence (Michaelis). Although she did not excel in an academic setting, she had the ability to adapt to her circumstances and capitalize on her talents and interests to create a successful career for herself (Michaelis). In order to start embracing the different forms of intelligence, society, as a whole, needs to eliminate its fixed mindset about what intelligence
Honey, P. & Mumford, A. (2006). The Learning Style Questionnaire 80-item Version. London: Pearson Assessment.
Write a brief description of your profile. My top three intelligences are language, self, and body movement. First of all, my top intelligent is language. I enjoy reading and writing. I love to write and read poetry. I enjoy saying, hearing, and seeing words. In other words, I enjoy everything that have to do with language. The second choice is self. I’m very good at being my own teacher. I love to work alone and spend time by myself. According to the assessment, I like to give time to myself to reflect on new ideas and information. Lastly, the third choice is body movement. I like everything that I have to do with movement (it is true!) I enjoy to move around. For example, run, walk, and
In this world, there are many different individuals who are not only different in demographics but also different neurologically. Due to an immense amount of people it is important to first understand each individual, in order, to better understand them and to help them when it comes to certain areas such as education, the work force, and etc…. For this reason psychologists have aimed to further understand individuals through the use of psychological assessments. This paper aims to examine a particular assessment tool, the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales (Fifth Edition), which measures both intelligence and cognitive abilities (Roid, 2003). This assessment is usually administered by psychologists and the scores are most often used to determine placement in academics and services allotted to children and adolescents (despite their compatibility for adults) (Wilson & Gilmore, 2012). Furthermore before the investigation dives into the particulars of the test, such as its strengths and weakness’, it is best to first learn more about the intelligence scales general characteristics.
Gardner believes that all people excel in at least one category of intelligence. However, he cautions teachers using the multiple intelligence approach in the classroom: “Do not label kids as ‘spatial, but not linguistic’ or, for that...
The results from my personal learning test did not surprise me due to the knowledge I have of myself and the ways I learn. When looking at the preference between learning styles, my personal choice would have to be active learning because I understand material and remember aspects of the content better when doing an activity. Reflective learning is not for me because I like to collaborate ideas with other classmates and create one common idea of what is happening. Although I do like to do most activities in a group, there are time in my academic career where reflective learning is what I preferred to do since I wanted to work alone and get the work done how I wanted it. Now that I have developed an active learning personality, my knowledge of myself and other people have grown. After I took the online test, my results stated that my preference for active learning matched my learning style very well. Active learning received my highest score which showed that I am an active learner which I already knew. As I have come to realization, college does not always benefit the active learning personality. One thing that Richard M. Felder states in his paper Learning Styles and Strategies, “study in a group in which the members take turns explaining different topics to each other then work with others to guess what you will be asked on the next test and figure out how you will answer the questions.” (Felder). With this tip, I can utilize my active learning style and get the same amount of work and studying done while benefitting my preference for
Interpersonal intelligences are nearly the complete opposite because it is said that “Interpersonal intelligences reflects an ability to recognize and understand other people’s moods, desires, motivations, and intentions” (www.edutopia.org). The third intelligence that I correspond with is logical-mathematical intelligence and Gardner says that “Logical-mathematical intelligences describes the ability to develop equations and proofs, make calculations, and solve abstract problems” (www.edutopia.org). My self-reflection will use the multiple intelligences paradigm to analyze my strengths and weaknesses within my top multiple intelligences which are intrapersonal, interpersonal, and logical-mathematical. I will also examine what careers are congruent with my top multiple intelligences.
According to the Webster Dictionary, intelligence is defined as a person who has the ability to not only acquire but, to also apply the knowledge and skills they have to everyday life. Graded exam do not test our intelligence however, it tests our ability to memorize and shows our work ethics and determination. Students do not usually apply anything they learn from school in real life unless they plan to work in that field. (Gardner, Howard Gardner of The Multiple Intelligence Theory) As the writer recalls from personal experien...