Several educational constructs have influenced my own teaching, including Cognitive or Learning Styles, Multiple Intelligences, Core Knowledge and Cooperative Learning.

One construct I always keep in mind is Multiple Intelligences. Dr. Howard Gardner, a psychologist and Professor at Harvard University, introduced seven intelligences in Frames of Mind, in 1983. Rather than limiting the idea of intelligence to someone's IQ, this theory recognizes that different individuals have different talents, or intelligences. He added the last two in Intelligence Reframed (1999). The different intelligences are:

1. Linguistic / word smart;
2. Logical-mathematical / number-reasoning smart;
3. Spatial / picture smart;
4. Bodily-Kinesthetic / body smart;
5. Musical /music smart;
6. Interpersonal/ people smart;
7. Intrapersonal / self-smart;
8. Naturalist intelligence/ nature smart; and
9. Exisential intelligence/ spritual smart.

The last two categories were added in 1999, in his book Intelligence Reframed. Gardner’s theory has garnered great acceptance, and it is an important basis for differentiating instruction in the classroom.

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Another construct that influences my teaching strategies is that different people learn in different ways. Dr. Richard Feldman has written much on the subject, and co-developed the Felder-Silverman model to support this teaching and learning initiative.  This model acknowledges that we recognize and process information through various channels. The implication is, that how much a person learned has more to do with whether their educational experience converged with their particular style of learning, rather than if they are "smart." These channels explain a person’s cognitive modality of thinking, problem solving and remembering things.  According to Felder and Silverman, “students learn in many ways— by seeing and hearing; reflecting and acting; reasoning logically and intuitively; memorizing and visualizing and drawing analogies and building mathematical models.”

Several learning styles have been quantified and studied over the years. There are four Jungian pairs of styles: Extrovert/Introvert; Sensate/Intuitive; Feeler/Thinker, and Judger/Perceiver, resulting in 16 types. A chart for Effective Teaching across Type Dimensions can be found at the Oswego State University web site. Knowing these styles should translate to choosing the right approach for instructing a given individual. Created by Bernice McCarthy in 1979, the 4MAT framework suggests 4 learning modes: Analytic, Imaginative, Common Sense, and Dynamic that are applicable to education. In practice, this translates to alternating instructional methods and student activities to appeal to all of the learning styles.

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Core Knowledge is a framework of what to teach, rather than how to teach it. Many feel that it is at odds with Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences and other ‘progressive’ approaches. Developed by E. D. Hirsch, this is an educational reform movement that is traditional by nature and based on content, not process. It seeks to ensure a solid and fair elementary education for all students by using a grade-by-grade specific, shared core curriculum to help children establish strong foundations of knowledge. The content of this core curriculum is outlined in two books – the Core Knowledge Preschool Sequence and the Core Knowledge Sequence, K-8 - and states explicitly what students should learn at each grade level.

Why core knowledge? The key concept at the heart of the Core Knowledge philosophy is that knowledge begets more knowledge. We learn by building on what we already know. Hirsch claims “there is a consensus in cognitive psychology that it takes knowledge to gain knowledge,” and points to research conducted by Prof. George A. Miller, Herbert A. Simon and Jill Larkin, Betty Hard and Todd Risley (“Meaningful Differences”). This research highlights that vocabulary in particular is a reflection of knowledge. It is estimated that you need to already know 95% of the words in what you read or hear to comprehend the information. Therefore, the child with the better vocabulary will naturally learn more than another child with a weaker vocabulary.

In an earlier book, “Philosophy of Composition,” we find the essential kernel of his thinking – “the reason students wrote such poor essays was not that they lacked competency in writing skills, but that they lacked the background knowledge assumed by questions. They couldn’t answer a test question about the Civil War because they didn’t recognize the names Grant and Lee.” By using a Core Knowledge curriculum, a disadvantaged child has the opportunity to catch up to the advantaged child.

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In most public schools, the student population is very diverse. Mandates to include all students in the general curriculum have further diversified the student body and created classrooms with students of widely differing abilities, and capabilities. In order to effectively present and teach in this setting, instruction needs to be modified to accommodate varying learning styles and recognize and take advantage of the strengths of different intelligences.

How can teachers best do this? In my personal practice I have found that cooperative learning creates a great environment to capitalize on these concepts. With cooperative learning strategies, I can configure student groups for optimal learning and allow greater opportunities for the development of different intelligences. Materials and techniques that encompass the learning styles of individual students can be better incorporated into the varying roles and tasks of student groups. Cooperative learning plans vary, from the simple, "think-pair-share" to the complex "jigsaw," but they are all about collaboration and sharing with other students to enhance their learning.

In my technology class, I recently presented a unit on inventions that were critical to the development of the computer. In an attempt to engage as many students as possible, I decided on a jigsaw strategy, assembling four groups in each class. I chose the members of each group to carefully combine students with different abilities and capabilities in each group. Their first task was to brainstorm on a group name and create a poster for their group.

As a whole class, we read about the invention of the battery and the electric generator. This text was provided online, in print, and we read it aloud in class. In their groups, students answered some questions in writing, and we shared their answers with the entire class. Using an LCD projector, I reviewed table creation in MS Word, and, with the class, completed two rows of information about these inventions, with information about what the invention was, who invented it and where, a picture of the invention, and highlights of that invention. In the next phase, one student from each group studied one of four inventions, the vacuum tube, transistor, integrated circuit and microprocessor. One of the reasons I chose to teach about these innovations, was student ignorance of these stepping stones to today’s computers. While many had an idea about what a CPU is, none of them had any knowledge of its evolution. Students were given printed materials about each of these inventions, as a class we watched videos about computing history, and the manufacture of circuit boards. I provided website addresses to focus their research as well. Their task was to gather data to complete the table for their invention, return to their original groups to share that information, and each student was required to complete their own table, using that information. They were individually responsible for sharing that information and learning from each other about the other inventions.In the course of completing the table, I instructed them on various software features. I used an LCD projector to demonstrate these features, and accompanied that with precise rubrics and hand-outs.

My curriculum was guided by what I consider to be important general information in line with the Core Knowledge philosophy. By using cooperative learning strategies, I was able to mix together students with different strengths and assign the study of the inventions according to cognitive capabilities. My hope in providing a mixture of discussion, reading, writing, drawing, research and social interaction, was to engage all students with differing aspects of the project, appeal to a variety of learning styles and utilize their various intelligences in a meaningful learning experience.

References

Armstrong, Thomas. Multiple Intelligences. [Online] July, 2006 at http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.htm

Armstrong, Thomas. (November, 1994) Multiple Intelligences: Seven Ways to Approach Curriculum, Educational Leadership. [Online] July, 2006 at http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/articles/7_ways.htm

Felder, Richard M. and Soloman, Barbara A., Learning Styles and Strategies, North Carolina State University web site, [Online] July, 2006 at http://www.ncsu.edu/felder-public/ILSdir/styles.htm

Felder, Richard M. Learning Styles and Strategies, North Carolina State University web site, [Online] July, 2006 at http://www.ncsu.edu/felder-public/Learning_Styles.html

Funderstanding. Learning Styles. On Purpose Associates: Author. [Online] July, 2006 at  http://www.funderstanding.com/learning_styles.cfm

Hirsch, E.D., Jr. (Spring/Summer, 2000). You Can Always Look It Up—Or Can You? Common Knowledge, Volume 13. [Online] July, 2006 at http://www.coreknowledge.org/CKproto2/about/articles/lookItUp.htm

Oswego State University. Paragon Learning Style Inventory. [Online] July, 2006 at
http://www.oswego.edu/plsi/index.html

Thirteen|ed online Concept to Classroom, Workshop: Cooperative and Collaborative Learning. [Online] July, 2006 at http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/coopcollab/index.html

Theory Into Practice Database. Cognitive/Learning Styles.[Online] July, 2006 at http://tip.psychology.org/styles.html

Traub, James. (1999). Better by Design? A Consumer’s Guide to Schoolwide Reform. The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation. [Online] July, 2006 at http://www.edexcellence.net/library/bbd/better_by_design.html