Module 17 - Sternberg’s Successful Intelligence Theory and WICS Model 187

Sternberg’s Successful Intelligence

lilin .lU ff Theory and WICS Model

Take the Challenge!

In this Module, challenge yourself to attain the following learning
outcomes:
• explain Sternberg’s Successful Intelligence Theory and WICS
Model
• demonstrate enjoyment of working on WICS-based tasks and
activities
• prepare a lesson guide that is based on the WICS model
Introduction
Robert J. Sternberg
Robert Sternberg did extensive work in the field o f intelligence. As a -Is a cognitive
psychologist who is
youngster, he had difficulty with intelligence tests. He did not perform well on currently the Provost
such tests. This might have fueled his interest in the field that led him to come and Professor of
Psychology at the
up with the Triarchic Theory of Intelligence in the 1980’s. Over the years, his Oklahoma State
theory evolved from the more complicated, componential Triarchic Theory to University.
- Ph.D. Stanford
the simpler, successful Intelligence Theory. More recently, in collaboration with University, 1975
other prominent psychologists, he proposed the WICS (Wisdom, Intelligence, (Psychology)
-BA, summa cum
Creativity, Synthesized) Model. It is an alternative paradigm to deliver more laude, Yale University,
1972 (Psychology)
relevant admission, instruction and assessment in education. This Module will - has 13 honorary
introduce you to the theory and the model. It is hoped that it will spawn your doctorate degrees
including one
interest and make you want to explore more. conferred by De
La Salle University,
ZTjn Manila Philippines in
2011 .
k
- received numerous
awards for his
contribution and
service to psychology
and education
Applying the - has written 20
W IC S Model major books with
Successful
- Teaching topics ranging
Intelligence
S ternberg’s W IC S Model Analytically
from intelligence,
‫ ־‬Memory
Successful
giftedness, creativity,
‫ ־‬Analytical - Wisdom - Teaching love and hate
Intelligence Intelligence - Intelligence creatively - can be emailed at
- Creative robert.stemberg@
Th eo ry and - Creativity ‫ ־‬Teaching
Intelligence
practically
okstate.edu
W IC S M odel ‫ ־‬Practical - Synthesized (information from
Intelligence ‫ ־‬Teaching for Oklahoma State
Wisdom University website)
URL: http://psychology.
okstate.edu/
component/content/
article?id=153 )
 Module 17 - Sternberg’s Successful Intelligence Theory and WICS Model 189

nished a lesson The tasks in the activity above correspond to the four skills or intelligences
test what you that compose the successful intelligence theory o f Robert Sternberg. Task#l
involves memory skills. Task #2 is on analytical skills. Task #3 focuses on
5 below. Which creative skills. Task #4 involves practical skills. Each individual may have
aswer? Please a preference for one or two of these skills because we have our own unique
Dr. Sternberg and
tendencies. However, we shall see that all these four skills are useful.
Dr. R. Lucas

it bullying. Successful Intelligence Theory

is the case, The four skills included in the theory are described below:
nd up against
1. Memory skills help us recall facts and pieces of information. It helps
us retain the knowledge we acquire.
lo to address
2. Analytical skills help the person determine if a certain idea is good.
3. Creative skills allow a person to come up with a new idea, usually to
answer a need or solve a problem. It makes one flexible and able to
adjust to changes in one’s situation.
4. Practical skills enable a person to apply what one has learned. It also
allows one to carry through or implement a plan.
Sternberg believed that traditional views of intelligence focused heavily
on memory and analytical skills. This traditional view led to teaching strategies
x.‫״‬it focused mainly on memory and analytical skills as well. It naturally
followed that assessment of learning likewise concentrated heavily on these
two skills.
Memory and analytical skills are very much necessary. Being able to
recall information or have knowledge is needed to begin thinking creatively.
One cannot apply knowledge which he cannot remember. Analysis is important
before one can think of new and better ideas. However, memory and analytical
skills should not be the only focus of education.
Sternberg also emphasized creative and practical intelligence. Creativity is
what moves people forward. Creativity gives birth to new and better solutions
to problems. Without creativity we will get trapped in things and ways that
don’t work anymore. Practical intelligence, on the other hand, makes us apply
what we have learned. It gets us to actually do what needs to be done.
According to Sternberg, successful intelligence is “tiie ability to succeed
in life, given one’s own goals, within one’s environmental contexts.” It is
maximizing one’s own strengths not only to adapt to one’s environment, but to
also contribute significantly to society.
Each person may have his/her own unique way o f practicing the four
skills because each has different strengths. The idea is to further develop one’s
unique strengths in the context of the four skills rather than simply making it
the goal of the school to just develop memory and analytical skills. The theory
of successful intelligence points “that some students who do not do well in
conventional courses may, in fact, have the ability to succeed, if they are taught
in a way that better fits their patterns of abilities.”
The balanced combination o f the four skills o f memory, analytical,
190 F a c il it a t in g L e a r n in g

creative and practical skills is what leads to successful intelligence. It is vital reflect and m
that we remember what we learn (memory); use critical thinking to evaluate and assess y<
the things we learn (analytical"); be innovative in finding better wavs of doing practically a
things and solving problems (creative); and apply and put to action what we preferences a
learn (practical). preschool to
examples reli

The WICS Model How do

Design tasks
In the WICS model, intelligence is viewed as a set of fluid abilities to
learn from experience and to adapt to one’s surroundings. Individuals possess 1. Anal
abilities that can be nurtured into competencies and further cultivated into 2. Critii
expertise. The WICS is a more recent model of how humans think and reason 3. Judg
that can help us understand how students will learn most effectively. It aims to 4. Com
develop basic abilities to true expertise. 5. Evali
6. Asse
WICS stands for Wisdom, Intelligence, Creativity, Synthesized.
Sternberg (2010) described the WICS Model as follows:
Here are son
“The basic idea is that citizens of the world need creativity to a. Anal
form a vision of where they want to go and to cope with changes in Tang
the environment, analytical intelligence to ascertain whether their b. Critii
creative ideas are good ones, practical intelligence to implement c. Judg
their ideas and to persuade others of the value o f their ideas, and Life.
wisdom in order to ensure that the ideas will help achieve some d. Com
ethically-based common good, over the long and short terms, rather Emil
than just what is good for them and their families and friends.” e. Eval
this,
Sternberg presents a model for education that is relevant to the need of the
f. Asse
times. Time and again the world has seen leaders in countries, corporations,
situa
religious groups and other institutions who have been considered intelligent.
They were capable o f serious analysis of issues and problems. They were How dc
good at coming up with new ideas. However, some of these leaders lacked the sustain your
moral and ethical “muscles” to really act for the good of their people and not taking the ris
just for their own. Your role as a teacher is not to educate the mind alone, tasks and act
but to educate the soul as well. Accept this not just as a job but embrace it 1. Crea
as a mission. 2. Inva
Sternberg proposed that while education develop analytical and practical 3. Disc
intelligence as well as creativity, wisdom should be an integral part o f the 4. Imaj
whole process. Whatever topic you will be teaching, it is important to 5. Sup!
integrate questions, tasks or activities that target the development of wisdom. 6. Pred
You should also come up with creative ways for your learners to put together
or synthesize intelligence, creativity and wisdom. Here are son
a. Crea
b. Inve
Applying the WICS Model Aqu
The uses of the WICS model include admission, instruction and c. Disc
assessment. However, for this Module, we shall focus only on the model’s d. Imaj
instructional and assessment uses. thinl
Pam
One way that you can apply the WICS model in instruction is when you
 Module 17 - Sternberg’s Successful Intelligence Theory and WICS Model
2. It is vital reflect and make choices on the tasks and activities that you will give to teach
to evaluate and assess your students. You may choose to teach analytically, creatively,
ays of doing practically as well as teach fo r wisdom. Your choice can be based on the
ion whatTwe preferences and strengths of your learners. This is useful for any level, from
preschool to higher education. Sternberg described each o f these. Some
examples relevant to education in the Philippines are also provided below.
How do you teach analytically? Make your students use critical thinking.
i abilities to Design tasks and activities that provide opportunity for your learners to
uals possess 1. Analyze
Itivated into 2. Critique
k and reason 3. Judge
ly. It aims to 4. Compare and contrast
5. Evaluate
liesized.
6. Assess

Here are some examples for analytical intelligence :

vity to a. A nalyze the developm ent o f the character o f Ibarra in N oli Me
tiges in Tangere
;r their b. Critique the design and features of the latest smart phone
lement c. Judge the artistic merits of Filipino cartoonist, Larry Alcala’s “Slice of
is, and Life.”
: some d. Compare and contrast the Italian approaches of Montessori and Reggio
rather Emilia in early childhood education
5?
e. Evaluate the validity the theory of evolution. Write a term paper on
need of the this.
orporations, f. Assess the strategy of the Manila city government to improve the traffic
intelligent. situation around the city.
They were How do you teach creatively? It is important for you to encourage and
s lacked the sustain your students’ creative ideas. Remember to be an example to them by
pie and not taking the risk to share your own creative ideas. Think out of the box. Design
aind alone, tasks and activities that help students to:
embrace it 1. Create
2. Invent
id practical 3. Discover
part of the 4. Imagine if..
lportant to 5. Suppose that.
of wisdom, 6. Predict
‫׳‬ut together
Here are some examples for creative intelligence:
a. Create an alternative ending to Florante at Laura (Literature)
b. Invent a dialogue that would transpire if Jose Rizal and Ninoy
Aquino met (Araling Panlipunan)
ction and c. Discover a way to explain why heavy ships float at sea. (Science)
!e model’s d. Imagine if the EDSA Revolution did not happen in 1986. What do you
think our country will be like at present and 10 years later? (Araling
Panlipunan)
when you
192 F a c i l i t a t i n g L e a r n in g

e. Suppose that you were to design a computer game to help children Here are some
learn about love and sacrifice. Describe the game you will create. a. W hat:
(Computer Education, Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao) and Cl
f. Predict changes that will happen if humans had a third eye at the Scienc
back of their heads. Choose an appliance or gadget that would need b. Think
to be changed in order to be useful. Propose a new functional design. person
(HELE) as poss
person
How to do you teach practically? Have in mind real life situations where Should
students can use what they learn to meet their own and also others’ practical old? W
needs. Design tasks and activities that allow your students to: How is
1. Apply in part
2 . Use Pagpai
3. Put into practice Is it e\
4. Implement on boa
5. Employ thousai
6 . Render practical what they know f. How d
7. differei
Here are some examples for practical intelligence: be pres
a. Apply addition concept in determining number of boys and girls in Pagpai
the classroom (Mathematics)
b. Use the knowledge of Excel to keep track o f daily household The WIC!
expenses (Computer Education, Mathematics) admission and £
c. Put into practice what you learn about classroom rules in making your studied creative
own classroom rules poster (Classroom Management) learning. Base(
Implement a lesson plan that one has made (Principles of Teaching) and their leame
e. Employ the formula of computing the area of one’s living room to a supportive le
determine the number of 12”x l2 ” tiles needed to cover the floor. they learned, (3
f. Render practical a proposed assembly design for a computer PC motivations of I

How do you teach for wisdom? One of the goals is for learners to learn
to see and understand the point of view of others. It is important for your
learners to balance one’s own needs with the needs of other people and also that
of the world or the environment. It is developing your learners to consistently
act based on positive ethical values. You teach for wisdom when you are able
to move your students to:
1. try to find a common good
2. see things from others’ points of view
3. balance your own interests with those of others and of institutions.
4. look at the long term as well as the short term
5. reflect about how one can base his every decision on positive ethical
values
6. appreciate that in life what is seen as true and effective may vary over
time and place
 Module 17 - Sternberg’s Successful Intelligence Theory and WICS Model 193
to help children Here are some examples for wisdom:
you will create. a. What might be a solution for the common good in the Philippines
and China claim on Spratly Islands (Araling Panlipunan, Political
third eye at the Science)
that would need b. Think of a person you had a conflict or fight with. Put yourself in the
mctional design. person’s place. Write down her point of view and concerns as detailed
as possible. What can you do or say to express that you understand the
person now? (Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao, General Psychology)
situations where c. Should parents expect their children to take care of them when they are
others’ practical old? Why? (Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao)
d. How is global warming going to affect the world, and the Philippines
in particular? What can you do? (Science, Geology, Edukasyon sa
Pagpapakatao)
e. Is it ever ethical to shoot down a plane with civilians and terrorists
on board if the terrorists plan to slam the plane to a building with
thousands of people? (Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao)
f. How does parenting change over time? W hat would you say are
different now than before? What are the constant things that should
be present to make the parent-child relationship work? (Edukasyon sa
rs and girls in Pagpapakatao)

usehold The WICS Model has been used not only for instruction but also for
admission and assessment. Sternberg and his colleagues proposed, tried out and
in making your studied creative ways of doing student admission as well as assessing students’
learning. Based on their studies, the WICS model was successful for teachers
s of Teaching) and their learners because it (1) celebrated the differences of learners through
; living room to a supportive learning environment, (2) made students remember better what
r the floor, they learned, (3) build on the strengths of the learners, and (4) strengthened the
nputer PC motivations of the learners.

learners to learn
portant for your
pie and also that
s to consistently
ien you are able

f institutions,

positive ethical

ï may vary over