Journals Proceedings

Abstract

This study investigates the effectiveness of multiple intelligence activities and creative drama sessions in a disadvantaged school from the perspectives of teachers and students. The data were collected in 2013-2014 academic year by using questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The participants of this study were 80 3rd grade students, 30 teachers from a public school and 40 parents in Ankara, Turkey. The students were assigned control and experiment groups. In the control groups teachers use traditional instructional methods, while in experiment group teacher used multiple intelligence and creative drama activities. At the end of the semester the students recall levels of the lesson objectives were compared. Findings revealed that the majority of classroom teachers have negative perceptions about the use of the multiple intelligence activities and creative drama sessions in the lessons. According to the teachers crowded classrooms, having many mainstream students, the necessities to complete curricula, lack of educational materials, economic deficiencies, and lack of appropriate place for the activities hinder the use of multiple intelligence and creative drama activities in education. On the other hand, it was seen that students’ recall levels of the lesson objectives in the control groups were significantly lower than the experiment group. That is, utilization of multiple intelligence and creative drama activities has an impact on student achievement.