Development of a Social Studies Curriculum Reflecting Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences
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California State University, San Bernardino CSUSB ScholarWorks Theses Digitization Project John M. Pfau Library 1997 Development of a social studies curriculum reflecting Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences Yvonne Rae Brahams Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project Part of the Curriculum and Instruction Commons Recommended Citation Brahams, Yvonne Rae, "Development of a social studies curriculum reflecting Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences" (1997). Theses Digitization Project. 1424. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/1424 This Project is brought to you for free and open access by the John M. Pfau Library at CSUSB ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses Digitization Project by an authorized administrator of CSUSB ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DEVELOPMENT OF A SOCIALSTUDIES CURRICULUM REFLECTING HOWARD GARDNER'S THEORY OF MULTIPLEINTELLIGENCES A Project Presented to the Faculty of California State University, San Bernardino In Partial FuMllment ofthe Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Education: Elementary hy Yvonne Rae Brahams June 1997 DEVELOPMENT OF A SOCIAL STUDIES CURRICULUM REFLECTING HOWARD GARDNER'S THEORY OF MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES A Project Presented to the Faculty of California State University^ San Bernardino by Yvonne Rae Brahams June 1997 Approvedby: S zon 7- Esteban Diazj Ed.D., First Reader Date Iris Riggs, Ph.D., Second Reader ABSTRACT Statement ofPurpose The purpose of this project was to address the need for making the subject matter of social studies accessible to all students. Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences was used to create social studies lessons,identify multiple instructional techniques and strategies,and integrate multiple intelligence theory into the assesment process. Procedures A comprehensive literature review ofeducational psychologistsfrom Alfred Binet's one dimensional view ofintelligence to Howard Gardner's cluster ofat least seven intelligences illustrates the evolution ofthinking about how children learn. The primary goal ofsocial studies is to develop the ability to make informed decisionsfor the public good. In order to meet this goal,curriculum,instruction, and assessment will be examined as it relates to an effective social studies program. Howard Gardner's theory of multiple ofintelligence provides aframework to use to create alternative ways ofteaching and assessing students with varying abilities. The project's handbook is a guide that provides social studies activities, with a focus on multiple intelligences,as a resource for unit planning. It provides a variety ofinstructional strategies that address students'dominant intelligences. Assessment becomes part ofthe learning process thatfocuses on the growth ofeach student through intelligence fair methods. Ill ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my appreciation to Dr.Diazfor the guidance and direction that he has given me throughout the course ofmy Master's degree project. I would also like to thank my second reader,Dr.Iris Riggs,for the time and effort she devoted to my project. I am also grateful to one of my colleagues,Vicki Lamborn,M.A.,for the reading and editing of my manuscript and her support and determination throughout the final stages ofcompletion. Extra special thanks to my family for their understanding,support,and patience during the past two years while we have accomplished this task. My daughter has graciously typed this project and has weathered many a storm throughout its completion. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract..................................;........... iii Acknowledgments iv Section I: Introduction 1 Section II: Literature Review 13 Historical Perspective ofIntelligence............. 13 Multiple Perspectives. 20 Multiple Intelligence Theory as a Modelfor Instruction^ 23 Social Studies Theory and Instructional Practices............................. 33 Changing Social Studiesfor the Schools ofTomorrow 40 Section III: Project Goals. 54 Section IV: Design ofthe Proposed Project... 55 Appendix A: Curriculum Handbook..., .... 57 Appendix B: Ipstruction and Methodology...... 95 Appendix C: Assessment................................................ 116 Appendix D: Resources 127 Bibliography.. —................. 130 SECTION 1; INTRODUCTION There been much discussion in the 1990's concerning public education as it relates to school reform and changes in curriculum and assessment in order to increase the level ofstudent achievement. Today there is general agreement that public education needs to create a system in which the established curriculum enables every learner to proceed at a rate and pace that is challenging and achievable,does not make unfair comparisons with the progress ofothers,assures positive reinforcement,and provides assessmentinstruments that reflect the learning styles of all students. The necessity ofschools to provide a curriculum that offers both excellence and equity for all students is a priority if all students are to he successful in the future. Instructional strategies need to he utilized which deliver the curriculum to all studeuts in an equitable manner and allow all students to reach their full potential. In order to accomplish this, methods ofteaching,learning,and assessment must be clearly coordinated and integrated^ Howard Gardner's research on multiple intelligences and the educational implicatiohs ofthat theory are being evaluated by educators worldwide in a variety ofapplications. His theory is one of the most promising developments in education today. Gardner's theory has the potential to change the way that students are perceived by teachers and to change the instructional strategies that we use to ensure that all students are successful. The educationalsystem is in a state oftransition regarding the beliefs and practices that have been embraced for decades. Major paradigm shifts have occurred in the education system at leastfour times in the history ofeducation. In the seventeenth century,the first schools were established in an environment of religious and theological devotion. In the eighteenth century,an enhanced curriculum included those subjects that were more functional. Communities also demanded that middle class and female students be given the opportunity to attend school. In the nineteenth century,the curriculum was expanded to include the subjects that we still teach today. The twentieth century and the industrial era brought about the need for more vocational courses in addition to college preparation and liberal studies courses. These shifts have been in direct response to the changes in our society. American society has made a series oftransitionsfrom an agrarian-based economy to an industrial-based economy to an information-based economy. Schools have reflected these changes in both curriculum content and instructional strategies. Schools in the early and mid 1900's were modeled after the industrial topdown authoritarian model where desks were in neat rows and students responded to questions and regurgitated information acquired from lectures and textbooks on their exams. Grades were assigned based on the percentage of correct answers. Public education has maintained this model ofindustrialized mass production so long that the academic quality ofeducation has suffered in schools, and the United States is no longer preparing our youth to be successful in the work place. Information doubles and triples every two to five years and we need an education system which prepares our students to he successful in this information rich environment. The basis for that preparation has to be based on a new perspective ofstudents and their abilities. Traditionally,a single view ofintelligence hasinfluenced education,one that said that students learn best by listening and reading to gather information. Then they recite the information hack to demonstrate their mastery ofthe subject. Students were taught in a very regimented and structured environment which did not require interaction in order to ensure learning. This may have worked for some students,it was not an effective method oflearning for many others. However,the education system appeared to work because oftbe many opportunities for students who were not successful in school to be successful in jobs that did not require a formal education. Today,those type ofjob opportunities nolonger exist and students need to be successful in schoolin order to be prepared for the futurejob market. About a century ago,the scientiflc study ofintelligence began with the early attemptin education to measure intelligence. In Paris,a psychologist named Alfred Binet was commissioned to devise a measure that would predict which youngsters would succeed and which would fail in the primary grades in Paris schools(Doris, 1988). These tests were individually administered to determine whether or not a youngster needed remedial education. The child was given a variety of brief, practical tests such as counting coins or naming body parts in order to try and determine a child's success or failure in school. This test became the intelligence test and resulted in a score derived from a quotient generated by dividing mentalage by chronological age. The results were the intelligent quotient,or IQ. This test later found its way to the United States and became psychology's useful scientific tool in theform ofthe Stanford Binet. Intelligence now became quantifiable and served as an indicator