Unit 3.

2 – Cognitive Processes

Lesson 4- Sternberg’s Successful Intelligence Theory and WICS Model

Learning Outcomes

 Explain Sternberg’s Successful Intelligence Theory and WICS model

 Demonstrate enjoyment of working on WICS-based tasks and activities
 Prepare a lesson guide that is based on the WICS model

Stimulating Learning

In the 1980s Sternberg develop his Triarchic Theory of Intelligence. Over the year, his theory
evolve from the more complicated componential Triarchic theory to a simple, Successful Intelligence
Theory and more recently, in collaboration with other experts, he proposed the WICS (Wisdom,
Intelligence, Creativity, Synthesized) Model. It is an alternative paradigm to deliver relevant admission,
instruction and assessment in education.

Inculcating Concepts

According to Sternberg, there are four skills or intelligences that are compose what is called
successful intelligence. These are:

 Memory skills help us recall facts or pieces of information. It helps us to retain the
knowledge e acquire.
 Analytical skills allow a person to determine if a certain idea is good.
 Creative skills allow a person to come up with a new idea, usually to answer a need or
solve a problem. It makes one flexible and able to adjust to changes in one’s situation
 Practical skills enable a person to apply what was learned. It also allows one to carry
through or implement a plan.

Sternberg believed that traditional views of intelligence focused heavily on memory and
analytical skills, However memory and analytical skills should not be the only focus of education. He
emphasized creative nd practical intelligence. Creativity is what moves people forward,, give new and
better solutions to problems. Without creativity we will get trapped in things and ways that don’t work
anymore. Practical intelligence, on the other hand, makes us apply what we have learned. It gets us
actually do what needs to be done.

According to Sternberg, successful intelligence is the “ability to succeed in life, given one’s
own goals, within one’s environmental contexts” It ias maximizing one’s own strengths not only to adapt
to one’s environment, but also contribute significantly o society. The theory of successful Intelligence
points the idea that “some students who do not do well in conventional courses may, in fact, have the
ability to succeed if they are taught in a way that better fits their patterns of abilities.”

The WICS Model::

In the WICS model, intelligence is viewed as a set of fluid abilities to learn. Individuals possess
abilities that can be nurtured into competencies and further cultivated into expertise. The WICS is a
more recent model of how humans think that can help us understand how students will learn most
effectively. It aims to develop basic abilities to true expertise.

WICS stands for WISDOM, INTELLIGENCE, CREATIVITY, SYNTHESIZED. Sternberg describes the
WICS Model as follows:

“The basic idea I that citizens of the world used creativity to form vision of where they want to
go and to cope with the changes in the environment , analytical intelligence to ascertain whether their
creative ideas are good ones, practical intelligence to implement their ideas and wisdom on order to
ensure that the idea will help achieve some ethically-based common good, over the long and short
terms, rather than just what is good for them and their families and friends.”

Sternberg present a model for education that is relevant to the need of thetimes. Time and
again the world has seen leaders in countries, corporations, religious groups and other institutions who
have been considered intelligent. They were caable of serious analysis of issues and problems. They
were good at coming up with new ideas. However, some of these leaders lacked the morl and ethical
“muscles” to really act for the good of their people and not just for their own. Your role as a teacher is
not just to educate the mind alone, but to educate the souls as well. Accept this not just as a ajob but
embrace it as a mission.

Sternberg proposed that while education develops analytical and practical intelligence, wisdom
should be an integral part of the whole process. Whatever topic you will be teaching, it is important tp
integrate questions, tasks or activities that target the development of wisdom. You should also come up
with creative ways for your learners to put together or synthesize intelligence, creativity and wisdom.

Applying the WICS Model

The uses of the WICS Model includes admission, instruction and assessment. However, for this
lesson we will focus only on the model’s instructional and assessment uses.. In instruction, when you
reflect and make choices on the tasks and activities that you will give to teach and assess your students.
You may choose to teach analytically, creatively, practically as well as to teach for wisdom. Your choice
can be based on the preferences and strengths of your students. This is useful for any level from
preschool to higher education.

How do you teach analytically? Design tasks and acivities that provide opportunity for your
learners to: analyse, criticize, judge, compare and contrast, evaluate, assess. Examples:

 Analyse the development of the character of Ibarra in Noli Me Tangere..

 Critiques the design ad features of the latest smartphone.
 Judge the artistic merits of Filipino cartoonist, Larry Alcala’s “Slice of Life.”
 Compare and contrast the Italian approaches of Montessori and Regio Emilia in early
childhood education.
 Evaluate the validity of the theory of evolution. Write a term paper on this.
 Assess the strategy of the Manil city government to improve the traffic situation around
the city.
 How do you teach creatively? (thinking out of the box)Design tasks and activities to help
students to: create, invent, discover, imagine if…, suppose that… predict. Examples:

 Create an alternative ending to “Florante at Laura.”

 Invent a dialogue that would transpire if Jose Rizal and Ninoy Aquino met.
 Discover a way to explain why heavy ships float at sea.
 Imagine if EDSA Revolution did not happen in 1986. What do you think our country will
be like at present and 10 years later.
 Suppose that you were to design a computer game o help children learn about love and
sacrifice. Describe the game you will create.
 Predict changes that will happen if humans had a third eye at the back of their heads.
Choose an appliance or a gadget that would need to be changed in order to be useful.
Propose a new functional design.

How do you teach practically? (Think about real-life situations)Design tasks and activities that
allow your students to:apply, use, put into practice, implement, employ,render practical wat they know;
Examples:

 Apply addition concepts in detemininh number of boys and girls in the classroom
 Use the knowledge of Excel to keep tract og daily householde expenses.
 Put into practice what you learn about classroom rules in making your own classroom
rules poster .Implement a lesson plan that one has made.
 Employ the formula in computing the area of one’s living room to determine the
number of 12”x12” tiles needed to cover the floor.
 Render practical a proposed assembly design for a computer PC

How do you teach for wisdom? One of the goals is for the learners to learn to see and
understand the point of vew of others and to consistently act based on positive ethical values. To teach
for wisdom, try to move your students to: try to find out the common good, see things from other
people’s perpectives, balance your own interests with those of others and of institutions, look at the
long term as well as the short terms goals./effects.. reflect about how one can base his every decision on
positive ethical values, appreciate hat in life what is seen as true and effective may vary over time and
place ( the true and the good are relative..) Examples:

 What migh be the solution for the common good of the Philippines and China on Spratly
Islands?
 Think of a person you had a conflict with or fight with. Put yourself in the place of that
person.Write down her point of view and concerns as detailed as possible. What can
you do or say to express that you understand the person now?
 Should parents expect their children to take care of them when they become old? Why?
 Is it ever critical to shoot a plane with civilians and terrorists on board if the terrorists
plan to slam the plane to a building with thousands of people?
 How does parenting change over time. What would you say are different now than
before? What are the constant things that should be present to make the prent-child
relationship work
End of Lesson Activity

1. (Individual) Visit the url:

http://www.saggepub.com/upm-data/27532_090319_Sternberg__Part_1.pdf

You will find an excerpt of the book that Sternberg and his colleagues wrote. Read the
introduction and answer the WICS questionnaire. Find out your “Pattern of Strength. You will be able to
find out your preferences are more memory-based, analytically based creativity-based or practically-
based. Describe your preferences. What did you discover about yourself?

2. (Group) Think of a topic you are interested to teach. Based on the WICS Model, prepare a unit
guide by writing the tasks and activities you will give to your students. Use the format below:

Unit Guide

Topic______________________________________ Grade Level______________________

Subject_________________________________________________

WICS model Tasks or Activities for your learners (at least 3

each)
Teaching Analytically

Teaching Practically

Teaching Creatively
References
1. Lucas, Maria Rita & Brenda Corpuz. (2014). Facilitating learning: A metacognitive process.
Lorimar Publising, Quezon City, Ph

2. Santrock, J.W. (2002) Educational psychology, 6th ed.

3. Aquino, A. M. (2010). Facilitating human learning. Quezon City, Phil. Rex Book Store

4. Schunk, D.H. (2002). Learning theories: An educational perspective, 6 th ed. Mass., USA.:
Pearson