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The Multiple Intelligences/Learning for Understanding (MI/LfU) Program: Its Evolution and Far-Reaching Potential

In the 21st century, the world of learning is ripe for change, especially in the area of student assessment. For too long, higher education, deeply mired in the mindset of paper=pencil testing and a lecturedelivery method, has imprisoned students in a system that places emphasis on linguistic (word-smart) and logical=mathematical (number-smart) intelligences. Focusing solely on these learning strategies has encouraged rote-memory learning, low motivation, and poor performance. Memorization and ‘‘regurgitation’’ become standard, and often little value is placed on remembering the material, much less understanding it. Effective assessment of this (frequent) nonlearning has, therefore, been a major issue in higher education in recent years. In 1994, a pilot study was created in the Glendale Community College (GCC) psychology department to explore the application of Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences (MI) theory to form the basis of a new paradigm—one where creative forms of learning would result in real understanding. Based on students’ intelligences, they chose creative ‘‘learning options,’’ such as acting=role-playing, mime, book reports, creative dance, collage, sculpture, original poetry, interviews, musical=rhythmic applications, drawing=painting, and traditional tests to demonstrate mastery of core principles, theories, and other material. Students demonstrate understanding of academic material through a ‘‘performance of understanding,’’ as they teach concepts to classmates using their learning options. Over time enthusiastic faculty were recruited from 10 other disciplines (English, nursing, music, art, chemistry, anthropology, child=family studies, biology,