An Investigation of the Students’ Required Intelligence Profiles for Different Fields of Study

Gardner’s theory of intelligence drew considerable attention from educational area. Although there are appreciations to Multiple Intelligences Theory in elementary and primary schools, enough attention is not paid to the practical usage of Multiple Intelligences Theory at university level. Also, even though researchers highlighted the importance of career guidance of students during their transition to university education in the light of Multiple Intelligence Theory, there is no known empirical study done to reveal the necessary intelligence profiles for different fields of study. Students do not have the opportunity to be guided in terms of their multiple intelligence profiles which can be one of the reasons of lack of motivation and leaving school without graduating. Therefore, with this survey research it is aimed to develop a Multiple Intelligence Inventory for the adult learners which can be a self-check tool so that adult learners can use to find out their dominant intelligence areas. Secondly, a Multiple Intelligence Scale for Fields of Study was developed so that it can be used to find out the relevant Multiple Intelligence areas for different field of studies. As a final step, Multiple Intelligence Scale for Fields of Study was administered to instructors teaching at Faculty of Education and Faculty of Engineering aiming to find out their students’ required multiple intelligence areas in order to be successful in their faculties. The results showed that considerable differences exist between the expectations of instructors from Faculties of Education and Engineering in terms of Multiple Intelligence profiles of students studying at the Faculty of Engineering and Education. Keywords: learning styles, intelligence, intelligence quotient, multiple intelligence theory.