Assidere Spring 2000: "Just Tell Me What I Have to Do to Get an 'A' in Your class!"

Have you ever noticed a young child in awe of the world around her as she explores and is open to learning in many different ways because she uses her imagination and creativity to solve problems while having fun?

I recently was speaking with a friend about her seven year old son. It seems as if this very capable kindergartner was not doing well on his spelling tests. Instead of writing down the word after the teacher said it, the little boy was in awe of and wondering why the 'C' in CAT went one way and not another. His mother went on to explain that he was asking other questions, "What is happening between my brain and my hand as I begin to write?"

Wow! I hope I get this kid in one of my classes someday! Sad to say, his mother informed me the school (teacher, principal, school psychologist) is recommending the little boy be kept back a year because "he is off in his own little world" and not progressing as he should.

Multiple Intelligences/Learning for Understanding
What happens to many of these students who grow up and proceed through a school system, including higher education, that does not recognize or acknowledge the many ways people are "intelligent?" How many bright, intelligent people do you know who have fallen between the cracks because they learn in a different way? Your son, daughter? Hmmm. On the other hand, I don't know how many times I have heard students ask, (or sometimes demand!) "What do I have to do to get an 'A' in your class?" Quite a paradox and dilemma for those who chose to teach and reach today's student.

Changes in education come about slowly, perhaps too slowly for the rapid pace of change that marks modern systems. In an open letter to every president of an institution of higher learning in America, The Wingspread Group on Higher Education (1993) urged "Putting learning at the heart of the academic enterprise will mean overhauling the conceptual, procedural, curricular, and other architecture of post secondary education on most campuses" (14).

Community colleges are often the first institutions of higher education to feel the impact of change because they are so closely positioned to work with communities which represent a microcosm of society and its values.

Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences theory (MI) asserts that all people possess at least eight capacities for solving problems and creating products (Gardner, 1983). In addition, according to Gardner, to understand means to be able to express information through a "performance of understanding," which involves students giving presentations that demonstrate their knowledge of academic material. This gives them an opportunity to act as "mini experts" on a subject and allows them to teach their peers (and instructors!) information they have learned themselves.

Multiple intelligences/learning for understanding is one approach around which a group of dedicated Glendale Community College faculty members, representing a variety of disciplines (biology, anthropology, Spanish, chemistry, nursing, psychology, mathematics, art) have been focusing their efforts over the past few years. The MI/LfU project at GCC allows students to explore different approaches to learn academic material in college level classes through performances of understanding called "Learning Options," which use one or more of the intelligences identified by Gardner.

Assessment and the MI Learning Options
Students are assessed in order to discuss what their dominant or preferred intelligences are, and they are given a variety of learning options to choose from in learning course content. The learning options sculpture, collage, poetry, drawing, interview, book report, mime, role playing/acting, creative dance and musical/rhythmic provide students with guidance and an opportunity of learning academic material in a different way. This "different way" is, hopefully, a way in which they can understand the material better. The basic premise of the learning option maintains:

Not all students learn or understand the material in the same way. Yet, for many paper/pencil testing is the only method used for assessing how they are "smart."
The teacher is the content expert and makes the decision on what terms, concepts, topics students need to know. These terms and key topics are included in the learning option format.
The purpose of the learning option is to provide choices and creative options accentuating the different intelligences. Creativity and use of one's imagination is highly encouraged. The written and reflective component in an integral part of the student's learning experience.
The learning option provides an opportunity to reinforce material which is covered in class or information in the textbook.
Learners are encouraged to be creative, use their imagination, get out of their "comfort zones," and have fun!

A Creative Grading Rubric for Understanding
Upon completion of the learning option, students are expected to satisfy the following criteria to successfully complete the assignment and earn the maximum number of points or earn the highest grade.

Most teachers view the assignment of grades as burdensome and unpleasant, yet something we have been doing and will continue to do for a long time. I am not going to spend time arguing the pros and cons on the effectiveness (or non effectiveness) of grades. In my opinion, grades are detrimental to real learning and understanding. The title of this paper suggests a widespread belief among students, their parents, employers, and others, that a letter grade equates what a person knows and understands. The long history of assigning grades does not promisean end to this important component of evaluation soon. I suggest no blame; I can, however, propose a different evaluation and assessment format that is being utilized in the MI/LfU project at Glendale.

A rubric is a set of guidelines for comparing students' work. Rubrics provide descriptors for varying levels of performance, and rubrics answer these questions: by what criteria is performance judged? What does the range in the quality of the performance look like? How are different levels of quality described and distinguished from another? The rubric faculty use provides a tangible way of grading for understanding. The learner is assessed by utilizing five criteria: creativity/imagination, demonstration/performance, organization/format, reflection/metacognition, and evidence of understanding. Indicators within the criteria provide specific areas of competence. This type of assessment helps teachers and students to set standards, create instructional pathways, motivate performance, provide diagnostic feedback, evaluate progress, and communicate progress to others. Learners are given the grading rubric at the beginning of the course so they know right at the start of the course what they need to do to get an "A!"

In Their Own Voices
Reactions, evaluations, and comments from project participants have been favorable and supportive. Willie, a 26-year-old returning student sums up his experience in an MI/LfU class,

I believe an MI approach probably could be utilized in any college class, although I don't believe that will ever happen. You are still learning the material; you're only doing it in a different wayÐÐa better way if you ask me. I get through so many classes by cramming the night before the test; I don't learn much, but it gets me an "A" in the class. In this class, I actually learned something. It was a little more work, but as much as I hate to admit it, I enjoyed it. The poem took me all weekend to write, but it felt great when it was done. I will never forget it. Thank you for challenging me to try something different. I had a BLAST!

Comments from the project faculty have reflected similar sentiments on the teaching and learning outcomes from applying the MI/LfU concept based format of assessment and evaluation. One of the project faculty states,

By far the greatest reward of this experience thus far has been realizing the depth of thought and feeling shown in the works presented as part of the MI project. The poetic soul is very close to the artistic soul, and when given the opportunity, the two will merge in a wonderful ways. I had some strong pieces of poetry presented this semester. Even some of the most hard boiled personalities allowed themselves to reveal that part in some of the work presented. When asked, many said that doing the MI projects did open doors to learning that they had not considered. They did have to reach into a part of themselves to complete the circle of learning. It did not come from the teacher. The students had to take more responsibility for what they accomplished in this class.

The MI/LfU Institute
On April 27-29, 2000, Glendale Community College will host the first international Multiple Intelligences/Learning for Understanding Institute. You are invited to join the project faculty members and their students as they share their dedication to design educational experiences for students that encourage learning information in creative, imaginative, and different ways. The theme of the Institute is "The Sky's The Limit: Unlocking Student Creativity." One of the highlights of the Institute will be Dr. Howard Gardner who will participate in a dialogue on Friday, April 28. In 1999 he published two books on education: The Disciplined Mind: What All Students Should Understand and Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century. For more information visit our web site at: http://www.gc.maricopa.edu/mi-lfu-inst or call (623) 845-3616.

References
Díaz-Lefebvre, R., and P. Finnegan. "Coloring Outside the Lines: Applying the Theory of Multiple Intelligences to the Community College Setting. "Community College Journal 68.2 (October/November 1997): n. pag.

Díaz-Lefebvre, R., Siefer, N., and Pollack, T. "What If They Learn Differently: Applying Multiple Intelligences Theory in the Community College. "Leadership Abstracts 11.1 (January 1998): n. pag.

Díaz-Lefebvre, R. "I Can Never Go Back." The Forum: Sharing Information on Teaching and Learning. Maricopa Community Colleges 6.2 (Spring 1998): pp.3-4.

Díaz-Lefebvre, R. Coloring Outside the Lines: Applying Multiple Intelligences and Creativity In Learning. New York: Wiley, 1999.

Gardner, H. Frames of Mind. New York: Basic Books, 1983.

Gardner, H. Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century. New York: Basic Books, 1999.

Gardner, H. The Disciplined Mind: What All Students Should Understand. New York: Simon & Shuster, 1999.

O'Banion, T. "A Learning College for the 21st Century." Community College Journal 66.3 (December/January 1995-96) pp 18-23.

Palmer, P. J. The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher's Life. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1998.

Perelman, L. J. Schools Out: A Radical New Formula for the Revitalization of America's Educational System. New York: Avon Books, 1992.

Wingspread Group on Higher Education. An American Imperative: Higher Expectations for Higher Education. Racine, WI: The Johnson Foundation, Inc., 1993.

assidere: to sit by (ad=nearto; sedere=to sit)

Assidere is published by the Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction for the faculty of Maricopa Community Colleges