College Majors and their Harmony with Students’ Multiple Intelligences

(Eiad Abdulhalim Mohammad Alnajjar)

---

Abstract

This study aims to explore the harmonisation of scientific specialisation for undergraduate science students using multiple intelligences (MI), their relationship to academic achievement (GPA) and the students’ attitudes towards science. The sample consists of 198 male and female students chosen randomly from different year groups in the departments of physics and chemistry at Al-Qunfudah College at Umm Al-Qura University in Saudi Arabia. The study used a tool to survey MI and a questionnaire to measure the sample’s attitudes towards science. The researcher obtained the students’ GPAs from the college administration department. The results showed that the ranking of intelligences for the sample, respectively, was existential, logical, interpersonal, kinaesthetic, naturalistic, visual, intrapersonal, linguistic and musical. There was consistency between the levels of students’ MI with their science specialisation. There was no significant correlation between the levels of study, GPA variables and attitudes towards science. There was a significant and positive increasing correlation between GPA and each of the following MI: logical, intrapersonal and existential. There was a significant difference between attitudes towards science in favour of chemistry, a significant difference between the medians of existential intelligence in females and a significant and positive increasing correlation between the attitudes towards science and existential intelligence.

KEYWORDS
Saudi universities, scientific attitudes, science specialisation, undergraduate students, academic achievement

PDF

References

Abu Alula, M.M. (2012). Prediction of academic achievement through learning styles and multiple intelligences among a sample of university students. Journal of Counselling, 32(2), 439497.
Alfrayhat, A.M. (2015). Multi-intelligence levels for Ajloun University College students and its relation with achievement. ‬Journal of Al-Quds Open University for Educational and Psychological Research and Studies, 3(11), 5788. 
Alumran, J.A. (2006). Multiple intelligences of Bahraini undergraduate students by gender and academic specialization: Is the right student in the right specialization? Journal of Educational and Psychological Sciences at Damascus University, 3(7), 1343. DOI: 10.12785/JEPS/070301
Balawy, M.Y. (2010). Predominant multiple intelligences of Al-Qassim University students. Educational Journal, 25(100), 121177.
Covey, S.R. (2004). The 8th habit: From effectiveness to greatness. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Gardner, H.E. (1993). Multiple intelligences: The theory into practice. New York: Basic Books.
Gardner, H.E. (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York: Basic Books.
Hillman, S.J., Zeeman, S.I., Tilburg, C.E. and List, H.E. (2016). My Attitudes Toward Science (MATS): The development of a multidimensional instrument measuring students’ science attitudes. Learning Environments Research, 19(2), 203219. DOI: 10.1007/s10984-016-9205-x
Ibrahim, A.H. and Alsaeed, B.A. (2017). The relationship of multiple intelligences and their impact on academic achievement among primary school students in Howtat Bani Tamim. Journal of Educational and Psychological Sciences, 1(1), 144156.
Ismaeel, H.M. (2016). Effect of proposed teaching model based on integrating multiple intelligences and learning styles to develop inquiry thinking skills and attitude toward science teaching for science departments students in the Faculty of Education. The Educational Journal at Sirte University, 30(120), 99170.
Koksal, M.S. and Yel, M. (2007). The effect of multiple intelligences theory (MIT)-based instruction on attitudes towards the course, academic success, and permanence of teaching on the topic of ‘Respiratory systems’. Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice, 7(1), 231239.
Nisbet, R.E., Aronson, J.A., Blair, C. A., Dickens, W.A., Flynn, J.B., Halpern, D.F. and Turkheimer, E.T. (2012). Intelligence new findings and theoretical developments. American Psychologist, 2(67), 59130. DOI: 10.1037/a0027240 
Voyer, D.D. and Voyer, S.D. (2014). Gender differences in scholastic achievement: Meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 140(4), 11741204. DOI: 10.1037/a0036620