“Intelligence is the capacity to do something useful in the society in which we live. Intelligence is the ability to respond successfully to new situations and the capacity to learn from one’s past experiences.”
—Dr. Howard Gardner, author, Frames of Mind and Multiple Intelligences: The Theory in Practice

Dr. Howard Gardner, a professor of cognition and education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, developed his theory of multiple intelligences twenty years ago. Simply put, Dr. Gardner posits that people employ several different types of intelligence, rather than one general type.

This site, Multiple Intelligences for Adult Literacy and Education, applies Dr. Gardner's theory to adult education. With this site we hope to inspire teachers and tutors to discover innovative ways to help their learners succeed, based on their learners' intelligences.

How to Use This Site

The site is divided into five main sections: Introduction, Assessment, Practice, Resources, and Contact. Within each section there is a menu that appears on the upper right that tells you which section you're in and provides links to the areas within that section.

The sections:

• In this Introduction section, you will learn about Multiple Intelligence (MI) theory and how it can be applied to adult literacy and education.
  
  
• In Assessment, you can learn how to identify your learners' preferred intelligences and take inventory of your learners' skills. The assessment activities are designed to help you tailor your teaching methods to your learners' strengths.
  
  
• The Practice section contains dozens of suggestions for approaching subjects in different ways to take advantage of different intelligences. To make the most out of this section it will be helpful for you to have the free Macromedia Flash player installed on your computer, though you can view any of the activities even if you don't have the Flash player.
  
  
• In Resources, you can explore links to other adult literacy and education sites.
  
  
• In the Contact section you can send us feedback about the site, including suggestions for activities you think should be included in the site. It's always great to see how creative learners, teachers, and tutors can be in generating innovative learning ideas!