In class, we looked at a couple examples of test questions from an IQ test from the 1920s. To begin with it appeared that the first question was related to harvest and farming, which I thought was appropriate for the time, however the question really had nothing to do with farming and was once again testing book smarts. So are IQ tests created to make those in the upper class and read literature have high IQs and those in the lower class have low IQs? Is a farmer that can grow his own food and fix machinery any less intelligent than a lawyer? I actually think the farmer is smarter because he would be able to survive on his own; grow his own food and fix things when they break. The lawyer would be able to argue that he deserves the food more than anyone else but would he actually be able to do anything to successfully acquire his food? But mostlikely the lawyer would have a higher IQ than the farmer. As mentioned in class, the IQ tests may be creating the differences that they are pretending to measure. I think it would be interesting to see an IQ test that a farmer created and to see how someone with a “high” IQ would do.
I think one of the most important things for us as teachers to remember is that everyone is different and is intelligent in a different way. This is very important when we create our own methods of assessment. I think most of us have been taught that we should create different types of assessment for the different types of learners in our classes, however I wonder how many of us actually know how to do this. I was thinking about this for my PSIII. I am mostly teaching math and wonder how I could differentiate the assessment methods. Traditionally for math, tests are written and students are expected to show their work for how they arrived at their answer. I suppose I could have some students explain how they would answer the question orally but it could be tough for students to create a dramatization for math…or maybe I just need to think a little more outside the box. We’ll see what I come up with. Any suggestions?
I totally agree. They are not only testing book smarts, but also what we learnt in class, and that is the beliefs and values of the dominant part of society. So, in other words, are you conforming to the beliefs of society?
ReplyDeleteI like this question "So are IQ tests created to make those in the upper class and read literature have high IQs and those in the lower class have low IQs?... I would say yes. Once again, who is making the tests? And what do they want the results to be? They wouldn't want the lower class individuals to score better on an IQ test than them.
The tests that we looked at in class were from the 1920s, but I would like to see what they are like now. I have never taken one before.
I don't have any suggestions for you as of yet. I will have to think of that a little bit more. Also, I think you will need to meet the students, if you haven't already, and see exactly what you need to do to meet their needs. What do they struggle with etc.. Good luck.
I appreciate Gardner's attempt to suggest there are more than one kind of smarts, but in the end he is still taking a reductionist, psychologist approach in accepting that these characteristics are fixed and unchanging. As a sociologist, I believe that a lot depends on context; that many of these intelligences can be taught (i.e., I can raise or lower your score based on what and how I teach you) and that the attempt to label people is inherently risky, given the power of the self-fulfilling prophecy.
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