Chapter 12: MI and Cognitive Skills

Chapter twelve in Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom titled "MI Theory and Cognitive Skills" discussed how the cognitive development of students and their own personal learning styles affect their ability to think and remember different materials that are presented during the class. Many comments were made about how much of the material being learned and then not retained. Students are presented the materials in a way that are not specific to their own personal learning style which affects how it is stored in their long term memory. It is almost as though current teaching styles are encouraging rote learning. Another cognitive skill that was discussed was problem solving and how students from the United States are one of the lowest ranked in the world in their ability to solve problems. A students ability to process and solve problems is also related to their particular learning style. Gardner’s idea of “Christopherian encounters” was also discussed. The chapter concluded by discussing Bloom’s taxonomy and the multiple intelligence theory and how they are interrelated.

Overall, the general consensus on this chapter was incredibly interesting because cognitive development, the ability of students to recall details, and think in depth is becoming more and more of an issue. Many of us have emphasized the desire, as future teachers, to teach our lessons and materials in various learning styles so that long term memory will be increased and more learning will take place in the classroom. The section on problem solving was also great to read because it reinforced the importance of multiple intelligences on our students learning abilities.