CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.3. Theoretical Framework
2.3.5. Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences
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In addition, the ability to use one's full body or sections of the body (such as the hand or the mouth) to solve issues or fashion items is known as bodily kinesthetic intelligence. Through mind–body union, people with bodily-kinesthetic intelligence are able to produce goods, execute tasks, and solve issues using their own bodies. Also, musical intelligence is the ability to recognize, play, compose, and appreciate musical patterns. Musical intelligence is the capacity to identify and generate pitch, rhythm, timbre, and tone in music. Further, Intrapersonal intelligence is the ability to comprehend oneself, to have an effective working model of oneself (including one's own wants, anxieties, and talents), and to utilize that information to regulate one's own life.
Intrapersonal intelligence refers to the capacity to detect and comprehend one's own emotions, goals, motives, and goals. This intelligence can assist a person in determining which life objectives are most essential and how to attain them. Last but not least, naturalistic intelligence entails an understanding of the flora and fauna of one's surroundings, as well as the ability to recognize and classify them. Naturalistic intelligence is the capacity to recognize and discriminate between various sorts of plants, animals, and weather forms in the natural world.
Figure 2.3: The Chart of Multiple Intelligences (MI) by Howard Gardner
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2.3.5.1. Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences in Relation to Collaborative Learning in English Classroom
Collaborative learning is a teaching and learning strategy in which students work together to investigate a relevant subject or complete a project, such as a research paper. A group of students discussing a topic or collaborating on a common assignment in English classroom. In other words, cooperative learning is a type of collaborative learning in which two or more people work together to achieve a common goal. Small groups of students’ work face to face as a team on an organized task with clearly stated objectives in cooperative learning. Though the group's work is evaluated as a whole, each member is responsible for their own effort. It tries to improve interpersonal skills by allowing students to discuss their strengths while simultaneously working on their weaknesses.
Collaborative learning activities can be designed with a variety of educational principles in mind, ranging from mastery of basic skills to higher-order thinking, and thus can be linked with a variety of educational principles depending on the specific learning objective that the teacher wishes to achieve. These may include the following:
Students may share their skills in English language and use group activities to build a range of intelligences that are linked with the notion of multiple intelligences.
Constructivism concepts are naturally applied to activities that require the building of new concepts based on personal and shared experiences and understandings such in grammar or vocabulary in English classroom.
Learners study serious, real-world problems using an inquiry-based method, which includes debate and questions in reading comprehension lessons.
Moreover, the students will investigate and comprehend the nature of the topic by drawing on their prior knowledge and experiences, as well as finding connections with the new information they are learning through cognition and conversation.Consequently, collaborative learning leads to enhanced material knowledge, greater overall grade accomplishment, enhanced self-esteem, and more desire to stay on target. It encourages students to participate actively and constructively in material, to take responsibility for their own learning, to settle group issues, and to enhance collaboration skills. As a result, collaborative learning redefines a teacher's conventional
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function as a disseminator of knowledge to a facilitator of learning. Students benefit from collaborative learning activities in a variety of ways, including:
Become engaged, inquisitive students.
Use their cognitive abilities to read and comprehend difficult materials and concepts.
Improve your language and cognitive abilities.
Interact with their peers in a constructive manner
Relate the curriculum to their own cultural and language experiences, as well as their understanding of the world.
Learn to collaborate with individuals of various backgrounds, therefore promoting diversity.
Individual attention is provided because the instructor recognizes and accommodates individual variances in her instructional preparations.
On the other hand, researchers argue over how to make up a group, especially whether to divide students into groups based on ability or mix them up so that stronger students may help lesser students learn while themselves learning by tutoring. Therefore, some scholars, such as Mills and Durden (1992), believe that when bright individuals are paired with lesser ones, they are held back. However, more studies favor variety in small groups. According to Radencich and McKay (1995), grouping by ability does not always increase total success and might lead to disparities.
Most teachers make decisions based on their objectives, despite the fact that there are compelling reasons on both sides.
They sometimes put students in groups based on their talents or interests, and other times they change it up so that students may learn to work with a variety of people. The effective size of a group is also a point of contention, with consensus ranging from couples to 4-5 persons per group. The size of the group, on the other hand, can be decided by the activities scheduled and the anticipated result. As they work together in groups, students learn to relate to their classmates, strengthening their interpersonal abilities, which may be especially beneficial for students who struggle with social skills.
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The activities are neither designed to replace teacher-led learning with resource-based learning, nor are they designed to leave students completely on their own. Instead, they improve the learning process by allowing students to analyze, discuss, and share their ideas in small groups.
Various groupings can be utilized depending on the subject and activity, however heterogeneous or mixed groups decided by the instructor based on students' talents and capabilities typically seems to function better than self-selected friendship groups.
Although Gardner's hypothesis has been criticized by both psychologists and educators by saying that his concept of intelligence is too wide, and that his eight "intelligences" are nothing more than a collection of talents, personality traits, and abilities, many teachers incorporate Gardner's theory into their teaching philosophies and try to integrate it into the classroom. Therefore, learning more about the various intelligences can aid in a better understanding of one's own abilities.
2.3.5.2. Critical Perspectives of Collaborative Learning
Despite the numerous advantages of collaborative learning, skeptics are sometimes suspicious of its effectiveness. The following are some of the criticisms leveled about collaborative learning:
Group learning is frequently symptomatic of hazy goals and low responsibility expectations.
Overuse of group work helps the instructor to avoid genuine instruction and so evade accountability, to the cost of pupils who gain more from studying alone.
Making group members responsible for each other's learning might put too much pressure on certain pupils. In mixed-ability groups, stronger students are frequently left to instruct lesser pupils and undertake the majority of the work.
In mixed groups, gender imbalances might be a source of worry.
Group learning promotes primarily lower-level thinking while disregarding the methods required for critical and higher-order thinking.
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Time management is a problem in group work since there is only enough time to focus on the activity at its most basic level. Individual contributions and learning are also difficult to measure.