The Effect of Using Multiple Intelligences-Based Activities on the Achievement and Attitudes towards Science in Tenth Grade in Oman

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of using multiple intelligences-based activities on chemistry achievement and attitudes towards science. The sample consisted of 133 tenth grade female students. A multiple intelligences survey was designed to determine what type of intelligences each student was practicing. Several activities were designed to enhance visual, linguistic, interpersonal and logical intelligences in chemistry. The sample was divided into three main groups: 1- the multiple intelligences (MI) group, which was given individual activities to enhance their different intelligences, 2- the scientific group, which was given scientific information regarding the applications of the concepts they were studying, and 3- the control group, where no special treatment was given. The MI group was further divided into four subgroups, each of which belonged to one of the four intelligences, and included both: students who practiced that type of intelligence before the study, and those who did not. All intelligences subgroups and the scientific group studied in the same classrooms. This was possible by designing individual activities given to each student in the classroom based on the group she belonged to. This was done in three classrooms. A fourth classroom was chosen randomly from the same school for the control group.
An attitudes-toward-science instrument was designed and administered before and after the study. Students’ achievement scores were based on their final score in chemistry. The results indicated that there was an improvement in attitudes towards science in the MI group, especially in the visual intelligence subgroup for students who had weak practice for this type of intelligence before the study. There was no significant improvement in the attitudes in the scientific or control group. In addition there were no significant differences among the three groups regarding students’ achievements.

Stream: Curriculum and Pedagogy; Student Learning, Learner Experiences, Learner Diversity

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Dr. Sulaiman Al- Balushi is an assistant professor in science education at Sultan Qaboos University. He did his PhD at the University of Iowa, USA. He has published several research papers in scientific imagination, scientific inquiry, creativity, and portfolios. He participated in several conferences around the world in general education, science education, chemistry education, and imagination. He published a book in science teaching methods (in Arabic) as a co-author. He works now as an assistant head for the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Sultan Qaboos University in the Sultanate of Oman.

Fatema Al-Maqbali is a senior science teacher at the Ministry of Education in Oman. She got her MA in Science Education from Sultan Qaboos University in Oman.