What is Intelligence?
To me is the ability to think, analyze, rationalize, conceptualize, take a step back and see one's own mistakes and learn from them. I do not believe intelligence is the ability to just memorize things, but the capacity to solve problems through sound well-informed judgement.
Peter,
I know many students do not believe it but school is the safest place to make mistakes and learn from them. This is because they have instructors like you that are there to share your knowledge and expertise with them as they acquire the knowledge and skills needed to be successful in their careers. This is the only time in their lives they will have such a resource available for an extended period of time.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
This is something that I tell all of my students; That there is no one person that is perfect, and everyone makes mistakes including myself. I give students stories directly from my experiences as a professional and let them know that they will make mistakes, and its all in what you do from the experience and how you react to the mistakes.
Edward,
This is where the saying "it isn't how smart you are but how you are smart" that comes into play here. Coming from the construction field I am amazed at how much money I have made doing basic home repairs for people that have extensive education but lack in basic skills, much like your friends. The big thing is to learn how to use the intelligence we have in creative ways to be successful. Often this is call common sense, which seems to have gone away for a lot of people.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I was sitting with a friend that works at a prestigious college with Masters and PhD. Her and her husband cannot fix the leaking faucet in their kitchen. Which for the average homeowner is a simple task? Who is more Intelligent. The person with formal schooling and certificates or the person who can use critical thinking to solve simple problems ?
Craig,
There is a saying that supports your comments and it is " It isn't how smart you are but how you are smart.". This is what we try to help our students to understand as they move through the program.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I agree, there is less importance in society given to someone who can do / fix anything but has no formal schooling, compared to someone that has spent many years in higher education and "couldn't fix a sandwich".
I agree , learning from your own mistakes is the best way , it doesn't make someone less intelligent but makes them more rational
Lisa,
Not sure what you mean by this. Can you expand on this? Thanks.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I agree on this, I just had a student that did this very thing. I advised him to look at what he did the last time he was not successful and choose another path, he did the same thing again, and got the same results. He walked away from the course never to return.
Philip,
Learning from one's mistakes is suppose to be an effective way to learn but some of my students don't seem to get this point. They continue to make the same mistakes because they don't want to invest the time or effort to learn from the mistake and then come up with a better solution.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I oftentimes mention in my class something I remember my mother telling me ... if she was going somewhere and made a wrong turn, she'll only make that mistake once. The next time she need to get to that same destination, she knows when she gets to that intersection that she make that wrong turn before and won't make it again.
Martin,
This is a tough one because I have experienced the same thing. If it failed and you tried it again and it failed it is time to try another solution but often the students just repeat and repeat again and then walk away. Critical thinking and the use of experience will help students to look for alternatives that will work.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I agree, Martin. I often tell my students, "If you want a better grade, then you have to change your way of studying. You cannot do the same thing and expect a different outcome"
I think the key point you made here is learning from one's mistakes. I have seen people do the same mistake over and over and failing to learn from that mistake.
