EDUC 12.

FACILITATING LEARNER-CENTERED TEACHING

Module 02. Cognitive Capabilities and Learning Styles of Learners
Coverage: February 15- 26, 2021
I. INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
LO1. Determined the different mental capabilities and learning styles of learners.
LO2. Identified one’s learning styles and applied in learning.
LO3. Cited real-life learning situations of the theories of intelligence.
LO4. Produced learning activities/projects of the multiple intelligences.

II. LEARNING CONTENTS

UNIT II. COGNITIVE CAPABILITIES AND LEARNING STYLES OF LEARNERS

The learner is endowed with different mental abilities and capabilities including learning styles
preferences, which makes each learner unique and different from others.

STERNBERG/TRIARCHIC THEORY OF INTELLIGENCE

Triarchic theory intelligence was formulated by Robert Sternberg, who believed that the
ability to achieve success in life is based on one's personal standards–and within one's
sociocultural context.  The ability to achieve success depends on the ability to capitalize
on one's strengths and to correct or compensate for one's weaknesses. Success is attained
through a balance of analytical, creative, and practical abilities–a balance that is achieved
in order to adapt to, shape, and select environments.

     Information-Processing Components Underlying Intelligence

1. Metacomponents, or executive processes, enable a person to plan what to do, monitor things as
theyare being done, and evaluate things after they are done.
2.  Performance components. execute the instructions of the metacomponents. 
3. Knowledge-acquisition components are used to learn how to solve problems or simply
to  acquire new  knowledge based on the activity done  or experienced. 

           For example, a student may plan to write a paper (metacomponents), write the paper 
                    (performance components), and learn new things while writing (knowledge-
acquisition   components).

Types of Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

  1. Analytical (Componential).    It is the ability to  analyze, evaluate, judge compare and

contrast  certain situations that require problem solving or decision making. 

  2. Practical (Contextual).  It involves individuals applying their abilities to the 

         kinds of problems that confront them in daily life, such as on the job,  in the home or any 
       situations that require practical solutions.   They easily adapt to environmental situations in 
       order to meet their  goal or needs.  

3.  Creative (Experiential). People that are skilful at managing a new situation can 
       take the task and find new ways of solving it. It involves a person’s ability to apply prior or 
      existing knowledge to new problems or situations. 

Key Functions in each Aspects of Intelligence

Analytical/ Componential Creative/ Experiential Practical/Contextual

Analyze Create Apply
Critique Invent Use
Judge      Discover Put into practice     
Compare/Contrast            Innovate Implement   
Evaluate Imagine if…          Employ       
Assess Suppose that …            
Predict
         

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MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES (Review)

Clip & Checklist: Learning Activities That Connect With Multiple Intelligences
by Diane Connell

Dr. Howard Gardner, a researcher and professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education,
developed a theory of Multiple Intelligences in 1988. According to him, every individual may have one or
more predominant multiple intelligences that must be developed to the fullest. One’s success or failure in life
does not wholly depend on one’s intelligence or lack of it, but on one’s determination and opportunity given
to develop the dominant multiple intelligences, which a person believes is the strongest in himself/herself.
Eight Multiple Intelligences
1. Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence (Word Smart). Excels in oral speaking, writing, or giving
talks. Can face the class and talk on a topic even with the shortest notice and preparation.
They can play word games, use big words, and fluent in language.

Suggested Learning Activities and Project Ideas for the Learners:

Completing crossword puzzles with vocabulary words.

Playing games like Scrabble, Scrabble Junior, or Boggle.
Writing short stories for a classroom newsletter.
Writing feature articles for the school newspaper.
Writing a letter to the editor in response to articles.
Writing to state representatives about local issues.
Using digital resources such as electronic libraries, desktop publishing, word games,
and word processing
Creating poems for a class poetry book.
Entering their original poems in a poetry contest.
Listening to a storyteller.
Studying the habits of good speakers.
Telling a story to the class.
Participating in debates.

2. Logical-Mathematical Intelligence (Math Smart). Excels in figures, pattern, and logic

such as puzzles and problem solving. Logical-mathematical students enjoy working with
numbers. They can easily interpret data and analyze abstract patterns. They have a
well-developed ability to reason and are good at chess and computer programming.
They think in terms of cause and effect.

Suggested Learning Activities and Project Ideas for the Learners:

Playing math games like dominoes, chess, checkers, and Monopoly.

Searching for patterns in the classroom, school, outdoors, and home.
Conducting experiments to demonstrate science concepts.
Using math and science software such as Math Blaster, which reinforces math skills,
or King's Rule, a logic game.
Using science tool kits for science programs.
Designing alphabetic and numeric codes.
Making up analogies.

3. Visual-Spatial Intelligence (Picture Smart). Deeply interested in drawing, painting, or

working through puzzles, mazes, build with blocks, follow maps and flowcharts with ease.

Suggested Learning Activities and Project Ideas for the Learners:

Taking photographs for assignments and classroom newsletters.

Taking photographs for the school yearbook, school newsletter, or science assignments.
Using clay or play dough to make objects or represent concepts from content-area lessons.
Using pictorial models such as flow charts, visual maps, Venn diagrams, and timelines to
connect new material to known information.
Taking notes using concept mapping, mind mapping, and clustering.
Using puppets to act out and reinforce concepts learned in class.
Using maps to study geographical locations discussed in class.

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 Illustrating poems for the class poetry book by drawing or using computer software.
Using virtual-reality system software.

4. Body-Kinesthetic Intelligence (Body Smart) Very good at sports, dances, and any kind of
hand and leg movements. Bodily-kinesthetic students are highly aware of the world through
touch and movement. There is a special harmony between their bodies and their minds. They
can control their bodies with grace, expertise, and athleticism.

Suggested Learning Activities and Project Ideas for the Learners:

Creating costumes for role-playing, skits, or simulations.

Performing skits or acting out scenes from books or key historical events.
Designing props for plays and skits.
Playing games like Twister and Simon Says.
Using charades to act out characters in a book, vocabulary words, animals, or other
Content -area topics.
Participating in scavenger hunts, searching for items related to a theme or unit.
Acting out concepts. For example, for the solar system, "student planets" circle around
a "student sun." Students line up appropriately to demonstrate events in a history
timeline.
Participating in movement breaks during the day.
Building objects using blocks, cubes, or Legos to represent concepts from content-area
lessons.
Using electronic motion-simulation games and hands-on construction kits that interface
with computers.

5. Musical-Rhythmical Intelligence (Music Smart). Musical students think, feel, and process
information primarily through sound. They have a superior ability to perceive, compose, and/or perform
music. Musically smart people constantly hear musical notes in their head. Inclined in singing, playing
musical instruments.

Suggested Learning Activities and Project Ideas for the Learners:

Writing their own songs and music about content-area topics.

Putting original poems to music, and then performing them for the class.
Setting a poem to music, and then performing it for the class.
Incorporating a poem they have written with a melody they already know.
Listening to music from different historical periods.
Tape recording a poem over "appropriate" background music (i.e., soft music if describing
a kitten, loud music if they are mad about pollution).
Using rhythm and clapping to memorize math facts and other content-area information.
Listening to CDs that teach concepts like the alphabet, parts of speech, and states and
capitals (i.e., Schoolhouse Rock!).

6. Interpersonal Intelligence (People Smart). Good at interacting with varied kinds of people.
Likes social activities, tends to become a leader. Students strong in interpersonal intelligence
have a natural ability to interact with, relate to, and get along with others effectively. They are
good leaders. They use their insights about others to negotiate, persuade, and obtain
information. They like to interact with others and usually have lots of friends.

Suggested Learning Activities and Project Ideas for the Learners:

Working in cooperative groups to design and complete projects.

Working in pairs to learn math facts.
Interviewing people with knowledge about content-area topics (such as a veteran to learn
about World War II, a lab technician to learn about life science, or a politician to
understand the election process).
Tutoring younger students or classmates.
Using puppets to put on a puppet show.

7. Intrapersonal Intelligence (Self Smart). Perform well by being alone. Prefers to work and
study by himself. They believe they can perform better with the least intervention. People
with a strong intrapersonal intelligence have a deep awareness of their feelings, ideas, and

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 goals. Students with this intelligence usually need time alone to process and create.

Suggested Learning Activities and Project Ideas for the Learners:

Writing reflective papers on content-area topics.

Writing essays from the perspective of historical figures, such as Civil War soldiers or suffragettes.
Writing a literary autobiography, reflecting on their reading life.
Writing goals for the future and planning ways to achieve them.

Using software that allows them to work alone, such as Decisions, Decisions, a personal
choice software, or the Perfect Career, a career choice software.
Keeping journals or logs throughout the year.
Making a scrapbook for their poems, papers, and reflections.

8. Natural Intelligence (Nature Smart). Nature lover, enjoys gardening, landscaping, and
other form of beautification in the surroundings. This intelligence refers to a person's natural
interest in the environment. These people enjoy being in nature and want to protect it from
pollution. Students with strong naturalistic intelligence easily recognize and categorize plants,
animals, and rocks.

Suggested Learning Activities and Project Ideas for the Learners:

Caring for classroom plants.

Caring for classroom pets.
Sorting and classifying natural objects, such as leaves and rocks.
Researching animal habitats.
Observing natural surroundings.
Organizing or participating in park/playground clean-ups, recycling drives, and
beautification projects.

LEARNING STYLES/ MODALITIES PREFERENCES

According to this theory on Learning Styles/ Modalities, every learner has its own preference on
how she/he learns best in the different aspects of life including the physical environment as to:
physiological psychological, sociological, emotional, and environmental

I. Elements  of Physiological Preference  

Auditory:        Likes to learn by listening
Visual:            Likes to learn by reading or seeing
Tactile:           Likes to learn by doodling, highlighting or underlining text
Kinesthetic:    Likes to learn by being physically involved
Intake:                With food intake     No food intake
Time-of-Day:        Evening-Morning   Late Morning  - Afternoon
Mobility:               Frequent breaks      Fewer breaks

II. Elements of Psychological Preference

Left Hemisphere (Whole Brain Thinking) Right Hemisphere

Analytical: Thinks sequentially: Global: Thinks conceptually:

Sees the trees before the forest Sees the forest before the trees

Reflective: Needs time to think things through Impulsive: Thinks in a snap

III. Elements of Sociological Preference

Alone: Likes to work alone
Pair: Likes to work with a partner
Peers: Likes to work with peers
Team: Likes to work as a team
Authority:     Conformist    - Non-conformist
Variety:         Self-Process-Oriented      - Direction-Oriented      

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 IV. Elements of Emotional Preference 
Motivation:  Practical Achiever  - Academic Achiever
Persistence:  Multiple Starter      -  One-at-a-time
Responsibility: Conformist          - Non-Conformist
Structure:     Self-Process-Oriented   -  Direction-Oriented

V. Elements of Environmental Preference 

Sound:   With Sound - Without Sound               Light:  Bright - Dim
Temperature:   Cool  - Warm                              Design:  Formal  - Informal

DUNN AND DUNN LEARNING STYLES 

Theoretical Foundations 
●Personal learning style is the biological and developmental set of characteristics that make the identical
instructional environments, methods and resources effective for some learners and ineffective for others.
● Most people have learning style preferences, but the learning style preferences of each
   individual differ significantly from each other. 
● The stronger the preferences, the more important it is to provide compatible instructional strategies. 
● Accommodating individual learning style preferences through complementary educational, 
    instructional, teaching, and counselling interventions results in increased academic 
    achievement and improved student attitudes toward learning.
● Given responsive environments, resources, and approaches, student attain statistically higher
    achievement and aptitude test scores is matched rather than mismatched treatments. 
●  Most teachers and counsellors can learn to use learning styles as a cornerstone of their 
    instructional and counselling programs. 
● Most students can learn to capitalize on their learning styles’ strengths when concentrating on
    new or difficult academic material.
● The less academically successful the individual, the more important it is to accommodate 
    learning style preferences. 

Fifteen Fallacies (misjudgement) about Learning

1. Youngsters who cannot remember verbal instructions tend to be less intelligent than those who can.
2. Students learn best in well-illuminated areas and damage their eyes when they read in low light.
3. Homework should reinforce what has been taught and should be assigned from an appropriate text after
a lecture.
4. Student  learn best when seated upright before or in front of a desk or table.
5. Generally, the older the students are, the easier it is for them to adapt to a teacher’s style. 
6. Most students could achieve well academically if only they were self-motivated.
7. Whole group instruction is the best way to teach.
8. Students concentrate best when classroom temperature is maintained at a level ranging from 68- 72 F or
30.9 -32.9 C). 
9. Truancy (absenteeism) is related to poor attitudes, home problems, and lack of motivation.
10. Students perform better on tests and learn more from their homework in an absolutely quiet
atmosphere.
11. Students who do not sit still are not ready to learn.
12. Effective teaching requires clearly stated objectives followed by detailed, step-by-step, sequential
explanations until students understand what is being taught. 
13. Students learn best in blocks of time approximately 40 to 55 minutes with variations for laboratory
period (80 to 110 minutes.)
14. Eating should not be permitted in classroom except at snack time, food belongs to the canteen.
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 15. Students learn difficult subjects best in the early morning, when they are most alert.

Good Learning Conditions and Situations

 1. Many adolescents think and remember best when they study with music. 
 2. Low light relaxes while bright light makes the students restless.
 3. Sitting on wooden and steel chairs for long periods of time makes students uncomfortable.
4. Motivation is enhanced when instructional packages match the learning styles of the students.
5.  Students learn differently from each other.
6. Truancy is related to unmatched learning style preferences between the students and the teacher.
7.  Students can achieve higher scores when taught through their strongest perceptual strengths.
8. Sociological preferences of each student vary.
9. Food intake plays a great role in the students’ performance.
10. Learning is improved when student are allowed to study at their preferred time-of-day.
11.  Students are highly mobile.  Allow them to move.
12.  Some students are analytic; others learn globally.
13. Allow focus and dispersal in giving lectures.

BEHAVIORAL DOMAINS OF LEARNING/BLOOM’S TAXONOMY OF LEARNING

Learning takes place when there is change in the behaviour of the learner. These behavioural
domains are:
1. Knowledge/ (K) Cognitive (C ) . Refers to the mental aspect of life.
2. Attitude/Values (A) Affective (A). Pertains to the psychosocial aspect of life
(social & emotional)
3. Skills / (S) Psychomotor (P). Refers to locomotor movements of the hands and body.

III. NON- GRADE LEARNING ACTIVITIES ( Do not submit)

Learning Activity 02. Small Group Discussion
1. Download and print the learning contents of the module.
2. Have a small group discussion with your group mates and/or with other groups in your class.
If possible, request the help of More Knowledgeable Others (MKO) like teachers, or older siblings
that could explain further the concepts and theories in the module.

Prepared:

LAINE T. TUMAMANG, PH.D.

Professor, College of Education