Successful intelligence in the classroom

Theory Into Practice, Autumn, 2004 by Robert J. Sternberg, Elena L. Grigorenko

Each of the methods of teaching is described below. For many more examples of each method at grade levels ranging from primary to college, see Sternberg and Grigorenko (2000).

Teaching analytically

Teaching analytically means encouraging students to (a) analyze, (b) critique, (c) judge, (d) compare and contrast, (e) evaluate, and (f) assess. When teachers refer to teaching for "critical thinking," they typically mean teaching for analytical thinking. How does such teaching translate into instructional and assessment activities? Consider various examples across the school curriculum:

(a) Analyze the development of the character of Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights. (Literature)

(b) Critique the design of the experiment (just gone over in class or in a reading) showing that certain plants grew better in dim light than in bright sunlight. (Biology)

(c) Judge the artistic merits of Roy Lichtenstein's comic-book art, discussing its strengths as well as its weaknesses as fine art. (Art)

(d) Compare and contrast the respective natures of the American Revolution and the French Revolution, pointing out ways they were similar and ways they were different. (History)

(e) Evaluate the validity of the following solution to a mathematical problem, and discuss weaknesses in the solution, if there are any. (Mathematics)

(f) Assess the strategy used by the winning player in the tennis match you just observed, stating what techniques she used in order to defeat her opponent. (Physical Education)

Teaching creatively

Teaching creatively means encouraging students to (a) create, (b) invent, (c) discover, (d) imagine if ..., (e) suppose that ..., and (f) predict. Teaching for creativity requires teachers not only to support and encourage creativity, but also to role-model it and reward it when it is displayed (Sternberg & Lubart, 1995; Sternberg & Williams, 1996). In other words, teachers need not only to talk the talk, but also walk the walk. The following examples of instructional or assessment activities encourage students to think creatively:

(a) Create an alternative ending to the short story you just read that represents a different way things might have gone for the main characters in the story. (Literature)

(b) Invent a dialogue between an American tourist in Paris and a French man he encounters on the street from whom he is asking directions on how to get to the Rue Pigalle. (French)

(c) Discover the fundamental physical principle that underlies all of the following problems, each of which differs from the others in the "surface structure" of the problem but not in its "deep structure." (Physics)

(d) Imagine if the government of China keeps evolving over the course of the next 20 years in much the same way it has been evolving. What do you believe the government of China will be like in 20 years? (Government/Political Science)

(e) Suppose that you were to design one additional instrument to be played in a symphony orchestra for future compositions. What might that instrument be like, and why? (Music)