Elementary School Student’s Multiple Intelligence in Mathematical

Problem Solving

Hanim Faizah

Mathematics Education Department, University of PGRI Adi Buana Surabaya, Jl. Ngagel Dadi IIIB/37, Surabaya

Keywords: Multiple Intelligence, Problem Solving, Elementary School’s Student.

Abstract: The characteristics of the students is very diverse, one of which is intelligence. There are eight kinds of

intelligence, namely 1) linguistic intelligence, 2) mathematical intelligence, 3) visual-spatial intelligence, 4)

kinesthetic intelligence, 5) musical intelligence, 6) naturalist intelligence, 7) interpersonal intelligence, and 8)

Intrapersonal intelligence. Based on the theory that Gardner has revealed, human intelligence is not single.

So multiple intelligences of the students’ needs to be analyzed through the way of problem solving done by

students. The aim of this research was to describe the multiple intelligences of elementary school students in

solving mathematical problems. The object of this research is the students of grade V MI Hasanuddin

Gedangan-Sidoarjo. The research was a qualitative descriptive research because of the data obtained is data

in the form of descriptive sentences and visual images. Implementation of this research is done in 5 stages,

that is initial phase include literature study and empiric study, test preparation phase, main stage giving

question to student, data analysis phase, and reporting stage. From the research that has been conducted, it is

known that the dominant multiple intelligences in the students influence the way students think in solving

math problems.

1 INTRODUCTION

Anita E. Woolfolk (in Joseph, 2006: 106) suggests

that according to the previous theories, the

intelligence includes three definitions, namely (1) the

ability to learn; (2) the overall knowledge gained; and

(3) the ability to adapt successfully to the situation or

the environment in general. The intelligence of the

students themselves is not only single but covers

various fields. According to Gardner (2011), there are

eight kinds of intelligence, 1) linguistic intelligence,

2) mathematical intelligence, 3) visual-spatial

intelligence, 4) kinesthetic intelligence, 5) musical

intelligence, 6) naturalist intelligence, 7)

interpersonal intelligence, and 8) Intrapersonal

intelligence. Schmidt (2003: 32) argues that

intelligence is a collection of pieces of ability that

exist in different parts of the brain. According to him,

all these pieces are interconnected, but do not work

independently. And most importantly this piece is not

static or determined since someone was born.

Intelligence can develop throughout origin is fostered

and improved. This opinion is almost similar to the

opinion of Armstrong (2003: 1) that the most

important thing for us is to realize and develop all

kinds of human intelligence and combinations.

Ariany, et. All (2017) said that the lecturer needs to

know the dominant intelligence in the students, so

that the lecturer can plan the learning which is

relevant to the students’ intelligence. Willis and

Johnson (2001) stated that teachers’ strategies may

vary from establishing specific times of direct

instruction using various methods to setting up

multiple-intelligence centers or stations that students

visit at flexible times throughout the day. Although

all children will benefit from experiences with all

intelligences, teachers can encourage students to

“learn” on their strengths to achieve mathematical

understanding.

The characteristics of multiple intelligences in

mathematics will be explained in detail.

1. Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence: According to

Munro (1994), students with verbal-linguistic

intelligence will feel easy to convert numerical

data into verbal data. they can think better through

discussion, argument, and verbal explanation.

2. Logical-Mathematical Intelligence: Logical-

mathematical intelligence is concerned with the

ability to process numbers and/or skills using

314

Faizah, H.

Elementary School Student’s Multiple Intelligence in Mathematical Problem Solving.

DOI: 10.5220/0008521303140318

In Proceedings of the International Conference on Mathematics and Islam (ICMIs 2018), pages 314-318

ISBN: 978-989-758-407-7

logic such as: interested in manipulating the

environment and tend to prefer a trial-and-error

strategy, relatively fast in counting activities, likes

to count, and likes strategy games like games

Javanese chess, tends to easily accept and

understand the explanation of cause and effect.

3. Visual-Spatial Intelligence: Visual-spatial

intelligence is concerned with the ability to

accurately capture color, direction, and space and

to change its capture into other forms such as

decoration, painting, painting, sculpture. A person

with visual-spatial intelligence can imagine

things, giving birth to ideas visually and spatially

(in the form of images or visible forms of the eye)

(Armstrong, 1996). According to Supit (2003: 39)

people with visual-spatial intelligence can

estimate the distance and existence of himself

with an object.

4. Kinesthetic Intelligence: The student with this

intelligence, can think easily through body

movement, for example he can understand the

graph by moving his finger through the graph, he

will do some movement to understand something.

(Munro, 1994)

5. Musical Intelligence: Musical intelligence deals

with the ability to capture sounds, differentiate,

compose, and express themselves through

rhythmic, rhythmic sounds or voices, and tapping

objects to the table at the time of writing or

drawing. They tend to enjoy playing musical

instruments or even playing music with unused

objects.

6. Naturalist Intelligence: Naturalist intelligence

relates to the proficiency in recognizing and

classifying flora and fauna in their environment.

This intelligence also relates to one's love of

natural objects, animals, and plants. Naturalist

intelligence also characterized by sensitivity to

natural forms, such as leaves, clouds, rocks.

7. Interpersonal Intelligence: This intelligence

involves many skills, namely the ability to

empathize with others, the ability to organize a

group of people toward a common goal, the ability

to recognize and read other people's thoughts, the

ability to make friends or establish contacts

(Armstrong 1993: 11, 2002: 21-22). Interpersonal

intelligence is built on the core ability to recognize

differences, especially major differences in mood,

temperament, motivation, and intention (Gardner

1993: 23).

8. Intrapersonal Intelligence: Intrapersonal

intelligence deals with the internal aspects of a

person, such as, the feelings of life, the range of

emotions, the ability to distinguish emotions,

mark them, and use them to understand and guide

their own behavior (Gardner 1993: 24-25).

According to Wardhani (2010: 39), mathematics

problems can be distinguished in two types, namely:

1) Routine problems, it can be solved by following

procedures that may have been studied. Routine

problems are often referred to as the problem of

translators because the description of the situation can

be translated from words into symbols. 2) Non-

routine problems lead to process problems, requiring

more than simply translating problems into

mathematical sentences and the use of known

procedures. Non-routine issues require solving the

problem by creating their own troubleshooting

methods. Based on Aldover (2018), mathematical

problem solving is a performance assessment test that

requires judging a student’s overall performance on a

problem, making it more complex than simply

marking an answer right or wrong.

In every type of the intelligences, students have

their own way to solve the problem. Therefore, Cheng

(2017) said that normal-school mathematics students

should give the answers to mathematical problems

through independent thinking and extensive reading

of literature, improve the process of solution through

team discussion, and turn MPSA internal force into

mathematical literacy through the problem

explaining. According Polya (1973: 222-224) step in

solving the problem are: 1) Understanding the

problem (understanding the problem) 2) Planning a

plan (devising a plan) 3) Carry out the calculation

(carry out a plan) 4) Re-examining the process and

results (looking back at the completed solution).

The important of multiple intelligence in solving

mathematics problems was known from the result of

the research done by Eissa and Mostafa (2013). It was

investigated the effect of using differentiated

instruction by integrating multiple intelligences and

learning styles on solving problems, achievement in

and attitudes towards math in six graders with

learning disabilities in cooperative groups. From this

research, it is known that differentiated instruction by

integrating multiple intelligences and learning styles

on solving problems , achievement in, and attitudes

towards math in the target students was effective.

Another study aims to investigate the relationship

between Gardner’s theory about multiple intelligence

and mathematics learning was done by Niroo, et. al.

(2012). The result of the study was indicated that in

the case of pre-test, there exists a significant

relationship between the mathematical intelligence

and students’ mathematical functioning in general

and in levels of application and reasoning; however,

in the level of knowing there does not exit such

Elementary School Student’s Multiple Intelligence in Mathematical Problem Solving

315

relation. The research done by Ariany, et. Al. (2017)

reported that every student has a dominant

intelligence, interpersonal intelligence is the

dominant intelligence that most students have from

the eight types of intelligence in multiple

intelligences. The implications of this study are that

students become aware of their dominant intelligence

so that they are more confident. So, according to the

result of recent study about multiple intelligence, it is

important to identify student’s multiple intelligence

to determine the effective method of teaching that can

facilitate student with diverse intelligence to learn in

the class.

2 RESEARCH METHOD

The research was a qualitative descriptive research

because of the data obtained were descriptive

sentences. This research was conducted in 5th grade

students of MI Hasanuddin Tebel-Gedangan-Sidoarjo

in the academic year 2015/2016. The steps of this

research were as follows:

2.1. The initial phase of the study was literature

studies and empirical studies. The study of this

literature was conducted to obtain various

theories about multiple intelligences. While the

empirical study is to get a description of the

student’s achievement of the students in grade 5

in MI Hasanuddin Tebel, as well as to get a

general overview of the student’s multiple

intelligences. Empirical study was done by

giving a questionnaire to find out the dominant

multiple intelligence of students in grade 5.

2.2. Implementation Phase. The implementation

phase was held in two phases that can be

explained as follows:

a. Compile the problems for mathematics

problem solving test. The problem compiled

has been adjusted to the characteristics of

each intelligence. The next step was expert

validation, this step was aimed to get advice

for the appropriateness of the problems

compiled.

b. The implementation of the research. The

problems that have been compiled will be

given to the subjects to be solved

individually. Then, they will be interviewed

to know the steps to get the test results.

During the students did the test, the

researcher observe the attitude shown by

students.

2.3. Data Analysis

a. Analysis of the data, the researcher

analyzed to know the multiple intelligences

of students who are known from the steps

of student work and it will be compared to

the characteristics of multiple intelligences

that have been obtained from the literature

study and empirical study in the early stages

of the research

b. Make a conclusion.

3 RESULT AND DISCUSSION

At the beginning of the research, all grade 5 students

in MI Hasanuddin were given a questionnaire to find

out the dominant multiple intelligences of each

student. From this test, researcher has known that the

students in the class have not only one intelligence.

But, from the result researcher would find out the

student with dominant intelligence to do the

mathematical problem-solving test. The researcher

selected seven research subjects with different

intelligence then given a mathematical problem-

solving test. After being given a problem-solving test,

the student was interviewed to get the validity of the

test results.

The result and discussion of the research was

explained as follows.

3.1 Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence

Polya

Problem

Solving

Steps

Number of Problem

Understand

the problem

Very

Good

Very

Good

Very

Good

Very

Good

Very

Good

Devise a plan

Good

Not

good

Good

Very

Good

Carry out the

plan

Very

Good

Not

good

Very

Good

Very

Good

Look back

Good

Not

good

Good

Very

Good

Based on the Polya’s steps, the work of students is

follows:

Students with linguistic intelligence like activities

related to Language. She loves reading or telling

stories. She easier to understand the meaning of the

story given by the researcher. As for the matter of

geometry that contains the image of a plane

combined, he found it difficult.

3.2 Logical-Mathematics

Based on the Polya’s steps, the work of students is

follows:

ICMIs 2018 - International Conference on Mathematics and Islam

316

Polya

Problem

Solving

Steps

Number of Problem

Understand

the problem

Very

Good

Very

Good

Very

Good

Very

Good

Very

Good

Devise a plan

Good

Very

Good

Carry out the

plan

Very

Good

Very

Good

Very

Good

Look back

Good

Very

Good

Students with logical-mathematical intelligence

like calculating activity. This student loves

mathematics subjects. Student with logical-

mathematical intelligence, in formulating the

problem, he wrote somethings that were known and

asked from the story in the answer sheet and solve it

well. This student did the test in order and every step

of the answer detailed. Students with logical-

mathematical intelligence cannot write a detailed

explanation of his answer.

3.3 Visual-Spatial Intelligence

Based on the Polya’s steps, the work of students is

follows:

Polya Problem

Solving Steps

Number of Problem

Understand the

problem

Good

Very

Good

Devise a plan

Good

Very

Good

Very

Good

Not

good

Very

Good

Carry out the plan

Very

Good

Very

Good

Very

Good

Not

good

Very

Good

Look back

Good

Very

Good

Not

good

Very

Good

Students with visual-spatial intelligence tend to

get easier to solve the geometric problem. He likes to

make some illustrations by drawing in the paper about

the problem to understand the meaning of the

problem. As in working on the story problem at

number 1, he understood the purpose of the matter by

drawing the shape of the wheels of the car and the

bicycle wheel, then he finished it in mathematical

form.

3.4 Kinesthetic Intelligence

Based on the Polya’s steps, the work of students is

follows:

Polya Problem

Solving Steps

Number of Problem

Understand the

problem

Not

good

Good

Not

good

Not

good

Not

good

Devise a plan

Not

good

Good

Not

good

Not

good

Not

good

Carry out the

plan

Not

good

Not

good

Not

good

Not

good

Not

good

Look back

Not

good

Not

good

Good

The favorite activities of kinesthetic students

were physical activities. Students with kinesthetic

intelligence tend to move around, such as moving

their legs and arms, such as tapping their ballpoint

pen on the table, shaking their legs, and like to move

places when they feel bored. When thinking, he tends

to make movements to describe his ideas.

3.5 Musical Intelligence

Based on the Polya’s steps, the work of students is

follows:

Polya

Problem

Solving

Steps

Number of Problem

Understand

the problem

Not

good

Very

Good

Devise a plan

Not

good

Good

Very

Good

Very

Good

Carry out the

plan

Not

good

Not

good

Very

Good

Very

Good

Not

good

Look back

Not

good

Not

good

Good

Not

good

Musical intelligence tends to influence a person

to play music. In reading the subject he tends to read

it aloud so that he himself can hear his voice. Students

with this intelligence, at the beginning of the test, he

did not solve the problem well because the test is done

in a quiet place. He can work well while working

while singing. Of the five test questions he can only

do two things well. As for the other three questions

he can only understand the problem of the problem,

only when he finds the results, he is not careful or not

check back results.

3.6 Interpersonal Intelligence

Based on the Polya’s steps, the work of students is

follows:

Polya

Problem

Solving

Steps

Number of Problem

Understand

the problem

Good

Very

Good

Devise a plan

Not

good

Not

good

Good

Very

Good

Carry out the

plan

Good

Not

good

Very

Good

Very

Good

Look back

Not

good

Not

good

Good

Very

Good

Students with interpersonal intelligence tend to be

sociable. In solving mathematical problems, he

prefers to work in groups. He likes to work in a

discussion, and he leads the discussion. This student

misinterpreted the number 1 problem as his friend

did. So, the answer is written less true. For question

number 2, he did not finish completely. Based on the

Elementary School Student’s Multiple Intelligence in Mathematical Problem Solving

317

interview, the student said forgot the formula

determines the plane area. At number 3, 4 and 5, can

be done well.

3.7 Intrapersonal Intelligence

Based on the Polya’s steps, the work of students is

follows:

Polya

Problem

Solving Steps

Number of Problem

Understand

the problem

Not

good

Good

Very

Good

Devise a plan

Not

good

Good

Not

good

Very

Good

Not

good

Carry out the

plan

Not

good

Not

good

Not

good

Very

Good

Not

good

Look back

Not

good

Not

good

Not

good

Good

Not

good

Unlike students with interpersonal intelligence,

students with intrapersonal intelligence tend to be

alone. This student can only solve the problem

number 4. While the other problems are not done

completely or the answers written are direct and

incorrect answers. During the test, the student is also

less active in asking questions, either to the researcher

or to her friends. Researchers judge that he is an

introvert person, so he cannot tell his

feelings/thinking to others well.

4 CONCLUSIONS

Based on Gardner’s Theory, there are eight multiple

intelligences. On this research, the students not only

have single intelligence, but also other intelligence as

their inferior intelligence. Teacher need to identify

student’s intelligence to determine the effective

method of teaching that can facilitate student with

diverse intelligence to learn in the class. It is because

of the intelligence of students influence their way to

solve the problem. Students usually use their

dominant intelligent to achieve their best way to

learn.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In this article, the author would like to sincere

gratitude to LPPM University of PGRI Adi Buana

Surabaya and all the committees of ICMIs 2018

Mataram, Indonesia.

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