How To Be A Better Student

and A Smarter Person

F o r co llege stu d en ts

By
Gian Fiero

For my nephew Jaysen a.k.a. Bambino

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How To Be A Better Student and A Smarter Person

What if you were told exactly what you needed to do to become a better student and a smarter person
would you do it? You are now reading an e-book that when read, understood, and applied, can have this
very effect; which is also my goal in writing it.
Who am I?
A former adjunct professor at San Francisco State University
A former high school teacher for Oakland School for the Arts
A Montessori trained educator
More importantly, Im a scholar of success and a student of human nature who is passionate about real
education; not the rote memorization of facts, or getting good grades, but the science of true learning.
Im also an advocate, purveyor, and champion of knowledge application; which is the process of applying
knowledge obtained through formal, informal, observational, and experiential learning.
As an educator, student, and citizen, Ive always been more impressed with degreed thinkers (which are
rare) than I am with people who merely have degrees (which are common). History will show, and
research will prove, that most of the worlds greatest inventions, innovations, and cutting edge companies
were created by degreed thinkers.
Do you have the desire and ambition to become a degreed thinker?
Through my empirical observations, ongoing research, and mastery of Yales Dr. Robert Sternbergs
successful intelligence theory, I have accurately identified what enables students to improve their
intellectual faculties and academic abilities (which are not the same). As an educator I have worked
diligently, for decades, to provide my students and mentees with the best guidance, direction, and tools
that I can offer to facilitate their intellectual, academic, and personal growth.
This e-book was created for that purpose. In it you will find:
Tips on how to be a better student and a smarter person
An analysis of the differences between being smart, educated, and intelligent
Bonus articles: Minor Considerations In Choosing A College Major &
What Teachers Learn From Teaching
I hope you enjoy this e-book. Please forward it to others who can benefit from it. I wish you luck and
persistence in your efforts to become a better student, and a smarter person.

Gian Fiero
Growth Expert

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How To Be A Better Student and A Smarter Person

o become a better student, and a smarter person, embrace the following:

Curiosity

Parents love to see the fascination that babies, toddlers, and children
have with their environment. Everything seems to stimulate them;
prompting them to investigate everything in sight through their senses.
Its a great time of wonder for them because every experience is a
novel experience. This natural curiosity is vital to their learning and
development, and it behooves parents to nurture it.
As we age, a process that evolutionary psychologists call habituation occurs. Habituation is a decrease in behavioral
responsiveness that occurs when a stimulus is repeated frequently without a subsequent reward or punishment. In other
words, the things that we are exposed to most often tend to stimulate us less. The result? Our natural curiosity level
begins to diminish.
When we discover and learn new things, structural changes occur in the brain and neurons are built. New connections
between existing neurons occur - making you smarter. These connections only occur through this cognitive process.
Ironically, when we grow up, the trait that once characterized childhood behavior gets defined as a personality trait.
This personality trait in students has been recognized as being equally as important as intelligence, and is one of the
largest determining factors in why some students do better than others in school - in every grade level.
Curiosity drives us to explore, figure things out, make new things, and make old things better. Curiosity enables us to
take interest, and to take note, when those who lack curiosity may overlook. Curiosity is not what killed the cat; its what
made his nine lives more fascinating and rewarding to live.
Curiosity is an indication of a hungry mind that yearns to be fed. Feed it daily.

Focus

How do you maintain the curiosity of a child when your world expands and so many things
demand your attention? The reason why focus is number two on this list is because it directs our
curiosity. We are all meant to be specialists in something because we all have interests. Your
curiosity will lead you to your interests. Some will pass, others will stick. Those are the ones that
become passions which may consume you, and spark the motivation you need to find out
everything you possibly can about a subject; thus providing you with focus, and a specialty.
Focus helps you see what you are curious about more closely.

Context = Meaning.
Some professors are better at relaying their teachings beyond the classroom than
others. To become a better student, and a smarter person, you have to see how
the knowledge presented applies to real life scenarios. The question to always
ask yourself in class is this: how does what we are covering affect me, my life,
my (future) profession, people, and the world in which I live? In other words,
why and how, does it matter? This is called contextualizing thinking.
Contextualization helps you see the big picture in terms of real life knowledge application.

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Become More Studious

This is one is obvious, right? I guess it depends on how you define studious.
Studious means marked by care and effort, thats the first definition. The second is:
characterized by diligent study and fondness for reading. I will address the reading
portion later in this list, but its the first definition that I must tackle at this juncture.
Students who are truly studious do the following:

Educate themselves on the requirements for success in any class they take
Study assigned materials with the goal of comprehension
Document unfamiliar terms and vocabulary and then define and research them

Students who truly care and make an effort in the scope of being studious (a.k.a great students) do the following:

Confirm their comprehension of assignment instructions with their professor

Bring questions to class for the purpose of knowledge expansion and context
Form study groups to share notes and discuss individual insights

There are many students in college, but not as many studious individuals as you might think.

Read A Lot.
Reading, and reading comprehension, is often mentioned in the same breath. But
educators know all too well that they are two separate and distinct skills. To
comprehend what one has read, one has to process it cognitively.
Comprehension involves constructing meaning. Prior knowledge is a major
component to increasing reading comprehension, as we tend to build upon what
we already know (words, schemas, terminologies, etc.). This is why its crucial
to read early, and often, so that college textbooks arent overwhelming.

In academia, many educators are trained to teach a method of reading called SQ3R, which stands for Survey,
Question, Read, Recite, Review. This means to survey, look over what you are going to read, formulate questions about
topics/chapter headings; read the material thoroughly to answer those questions; recite what you learned; and review all
notes you have taken. SQ3R enables students to fully embrace and recall subject matter when practiced.
Studies show that students who read - for class and pleasure - excel academically and intellectually.

Challenge Yourself.
Students who challenge themselves to study more, and put forth greater
effort in the comprehension of what they are studying, tend to be smarter.
The key is too demand more from yourself than your professor does,
which is also the key to being a smarter person.
Of course no conversation about being smart is complete without defining what it means to be smart. We all have our
interpretations. But are there scientific or universal definitions? And how do they differ from intelligence? And are those
who are educated - highly educated - regarded as both?
What follows is my widely read and heavily cited article, which tackles these questions.

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The Difference Between Being Smart, Educated, and

Intelligent

Ive always been intrigued by the subject of intelligence. As a child my

mother would refer to me as "smart," but I quickly noticed that all parents refer
to their children as smart. In time I would discover that all children are not
smart, just as all babies are not cute. If that were the case, we'd have a world full
of beautiful, smart people - which we don't.
Some of us are smart; but not as smart as we think, and others are smarter than
they seem, which makes me wonder, how do we define smart? What makes one
person smarter than another? When do "street smarts" matter more than "book
smarts"? Can you be both smart and stupid? Is being smart more of a direct
influence of genetics, or one's environment?
Then there are the issues of education, intelligence and wisdom.
What does it mean to be highly educated? What's the difference between being
highly educated and highly intelligent? Does being highly educated
automatically make you highly intelligent? Can one be highly intelligent
without being highly educated? Do IQs really mean anything? What makes a
person wise? Why is wisdom typically associated with old age?
My desire to seek answers to these questions inspired many hours of intense research which included the reading of 6
books, hundreds of research documents, and countless hours on the Internet; which pales in comparison to the lifetime of
studies and research that pioneers in the fields of intelligence and education like Howard Gardner, Richard Sternberg,
Linda S. Gottfredson, Thomas Sowell, Alfie Kohn, and Diane F. Halpern whose work is cited in this article.
My goal was simple: Amass, synthesize, and present data on what it means to be smart, educated and intelligent so that it
can be understood and used by anyone for their benefit.
PRENATAL CARE
With this in mind, there was not a better (or more appropriate) place to start than at the very
beginning of our existence: as a fetus in the womb.
There is mounting evidence that the consumption of food that's high in iron both before and
during pregnancy is critical to building the prenatal brain. Researchers have found a strong
association between low iron levels during pregnancy and diminished IQ. Foods rich in iron
include lima beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, spinach, asparagus, broccoli, seafoods, nuts, dried
fruits, oatmeal, and fortified cereals.
Children with low iron status in utero (in the uterus) scored lower on every test and had
significantly lower language ability, fine-motor skills, and tractability than children with
higher prenatal iron levels. In essence, proper prenatal care is critical to the development of
cognitive skills.
COGNITIVE SKILLS
Cognitive skills are the basic mental abilities we use to think, study, and learn. They include
a wide variety of mental processes used to analyze sounds and images, recall information
from memory, make associations between different pieces of information, and maintain
concentration on particular tasks. They can be individually identified and measured.
Cognitive skill strength and efficiency correlates directly with students' ease of learning.

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DRINKING, PREGNANCY, AND ITS INTELLECTUAL IMPACT

Drinking while pregnant is not smart. In fact, it's downright stupid.
A study in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research has found that even light to
moderate drinking - especially during the second trimester - is associated with lower IQs in
offspring at 10 years of age. This result was especially pronounced among AfricanAmerican rather than Caucasian offspring.
"IQ is a measure of the child's ability to learn and to survive in his or her environment. It predicts the potential for
success in school and in everyday life. Although a small but significant percentage of children are diagnosed with Fetal
Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) each year, many more children are exposed to alcohol during pregnancy who do not meet
criteria for FAS yet experience deficits in growth and cognitive function," said Jennifer A. Willford, assistant professor
of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Paul D. Connor, clinical director of the Fetal Alcohol and Drug Unit and assistant professor in the department of
psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington, has this to say about the subject:
"There are a number of domains of cognitive functioning that can be impaired even in the face of a relatively normal IQ,
including academic achievement (especially arithmetic), adaptive functioning, and executive functions (the ability to
problem solve and learn from experiences). Deficits in intellectual, achievement, adaptive, and executive functioning
could make it difficult to appropriately manage finances, function independently without assistance, and understand the
consequences of - or react appropriately to - mistakes."
This is a key finding which speaks directly to the (psychological) definition of intelligence which is addressed later in
this article.
ULTRA SOUNDS
Studies have shown that the frequent exposure of the human fetus to ultrasound waves is
associated with a decrease in newborn body weight, an increase in the frequency of lefthandedness, and delayed speech.
Because ultrasound energy is a high-frequency mechanical vibration, researchers
hypothesized that it might influence the migration of neurons in a developing fetus. Neurons
in mammals multiply early in fetal development and then migrate to their final destinations.
Any interference or disruption in the process could result in abnormal brain function.
Commercial companies (which do ultrasounds for "keepsake" purposes) are now creating more powerful ultrasound
machines capable of providing popular 3D and 4D images. The procedure, however, lasts longer as they try to make 30minute videos of the fetus in the uterus.
The main stream magazine New Scientist reported the following: Ultrasound scans can stop cells from dividing and make
them commit suicide. Routine scans, which have let doctors peek at fetuses and internal organs for the past 40 years,
affect the normal cell cycle.
On the FDA website this information is posted about ultrasounds:
While ultrasound has been around for many years, expectant women and their families need to know that the long-term
effects of repeated ultrasound exposures on the fetus are not fully known. In light of all that remains unknown, having a
prenatal ultrasound for non-medical reasons is not a good idea
NATURE VERSUS NURTURE...THE DEBATE CONTINUES
Now that you are aware of some of the known factors which determine, improve, and
impact the intellectual development of a fetus, it's time for conception. Once that baby is
born, which will be more crucial in the development of its intellect: nature (genetics) or
nurture (the environment)?

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Apparently for centuries, scientists and psychologists have gone back and forth on this. I read
many comprehensive studies and reports on this subject during the research phase of this
article, and I believe that it's time to put this debate to rest. Both nature and nurture are equally
as important and must be fully observed in the intellectual development of all children.
A recent study shows that early intervention in the home and in the classroom can make a big
difference for a child born into extreme poverty, according to Eric Turkheimer, a psychologist
at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. The study concludes that while genetic makeup
explains most of the differences in IQ for children in wealthier families, environment - and not
genes - makes a bigger difference for minority children in low-income homes.
Specifically, what researchers call "heritability"- the degree to which genes influence IQ - was significantly lower for
poor families. "Once you're put into an adequate environment, your genes start to take over," Mr. Turkheimer said, "but
in poor environments genes don't have that ability."
But there are reports that contradict these findings...sort of.
Linda S. Gottfredson, a professor of educational studies at the University of Delaware, wrote in her article, The General
Intelligence Factor, that environments shared by siblings have little to do with IQ. Many people still mistakenly believe
that social, psychological and economic differences among families create lasting and marked differences in IQ.
She found that behavioral geneticists refer to such environmental effects as "shared" because they are common to
siblings who grow up together. Her reports states that the heritability of IQ rises with age; that is to say, the extent to
which genetics accounts for differences in IQ among individuals increases as people get older.
In her article she also refers to studies comparing identical and fraternal twins, published in the past decade by a group
led by Thomas J. Bouchard, Jr., of the University of Minnesota and other scholars, show that about 40 percent of IQ
differences among preschoolers stems from genetic differences, but that heritability rises to 60 percent by adolescence
and to 80 percent by late adulthood.
And this is perhaps the most interesting bit of information, and relevant to this section of my article:
With age, differences among individuals in their developed intelligence come to mirror more closely their genetic
differences. It appears that the effects of environment on intelligence fade rather than grow with time.
Bouchard concludes that young children have the circumstances of their lives imposed on them by parents, schools and
other agents of society, but as people get older they become more independent and tend to seek out the life niches that
are most congenial to their genetic proclivities.
BREAST-FEEDING INCREASES INTELLIGENCE
Rsearchers from Christchurch School of Medicine in New Zealand studied over
1,000 children born between April and August 1977. During the period from
birth to one year, they gathered information on how these children were fed.
The infants were then followed to age 18. Over the years, the researchers
collected a range of cognitive and academic information on the children,
including IQ, teacher ratings of school performance in reading and math, and
results of standardized tests of reading comprehension, mathematics, and
scholastic ability. The researchers also looked at the number of passing grades
achieved in national School Certificate examinations taken at the end of the
third year of high school.
The results indicated that the longer children had been breast-fed, the higher
they scored on such tests.

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TALKING WITH YOUR CHILDREN MAKES A DIFFERENCE

Thomas Sowell, author of Race, IQ, Black Crime, and facts Liberals Ignore uncovered some fascinating information that
every parent should take note of. He writes:
There is a strong case that black Americans suffer from a series of disadvantageous environments. Studies show time and
again that before they go to school, black children are on average exposed to a smaller vocabulary than white children, in
part due to socioeconomic factors.
While children from professional households typically exposed to a
total of 2,150 different words each day, children from working class
households are exposed to 1,250, and children from households on
welfare a mere 620.
Yes, smart sounding children tend to come from educated,
professional, two-parent environments where they pick-up valuable
language skills and vocabulary from its smart sounding inhabitants.
Mr. Sowell continues: Black children are obviously not to blame for their poor socioeconomic status, but something
beyond economic status is at work in black homes. Black people have not signed up for the "great mission" of the white
middle class - the constant quest to stimulate intellectual growth and get their child into Harvard or Oxbridge.
Elsie Moore of Arizona State University, Phoenix, studied black children adopted by either black or white parents, all of
whom were middle-class professionals. By the age of 7.5 years, those in black homes were 13 IQ points behind those
being raised in the white homes.
ACCUMULATED ADVANTAGES
At this juncture in my research it dawned on me, and should be fairly
obvious to you, that many children are predisposed to being smart,
educated, and intelligent, simply by their exposure to the influential factors
which determine them long before they start school.
An informed mother, proper prenatal care, educated, communicative
parents, and a nurturing environment in which to live, all add up to
accumulated advantages that formulate intellectual abilities. As you can see,
some children have unfair advantages from the very beginning.
Malcolm Gladwell, author of top-selling book Outliers, wrote that "accumulated advantages" are made possible by
arbitrary rules...and such unfair advantages are everywhere. "It is those who are successful who are most likely to be
given the kinds of social opportunities that lead to further success," he writes. "It's the rich who get the biggest tax
breaks. It's the best students who get the best teaching and most attention."
With that in mind, we turn our attention to education and intelligence.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE WELL EDUCATED?
Alfie Kohn, author of the book What Does It Mean To Be Well Educated? poses this question: Does the phrase well
educated refer to a quality of schooling you received, or something about you? Does it denote what you were taught? Or
what you remember?
I contend that being well educated is all in the application; the use of ones education.
Until that occurs, education is really just information, and any information has to be
utilized in order to be retained and transformed into knowledge. And yes, that kind of
knowledge is power.
Most people are aware of the floundering state of education in this country on some
level. We tell our children that nothing is more important than getting a "good"
education, and every year, due to government budget shortfalls, teachers are laid off,
classes are condensed, schools are closed, and many educational programs - especially
those which help the underprivileged - are cut.

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The painful reality is we don't really value education. We value it as a business, an industry, political ammunition, and as
a means to get a good job, but not for what it was intended: to make us better people and citizens.
According to an April 2011 study by the Pew Center on the States, spending for prisons quadrupled over the last two
decades, making it the second fastest growing area of state budgets, behind Medicaid. California allocates and spends
more of its state budget on prison system than it does on its educational system, and to add insult to injury, students have
faced steep fee increases annually for the past five years at public state universities. Meanwhile, the amount we spend
each year to house and take care of inmates has been raised from $40,000 to $50,000 per year.
Can teachers get a raise? Why should they? The public perception is that teaching is an
honorable profession that special people go into who are not (i.e., should not be) motivated
by money. There is some truth to that. The best teachers don't go into the education profession
for money; they teach because they want to make a difference. Its not a job or a career for
them; it's a calling. Most were influenced by a really good teacher of their own who mentored
them. Many students are not able to cultivate the mentoring relationships because so many teachers are leaving the
profession - voluntarily and involuntarily - within an average of three years. Lack of adequate compensation and budget
cuts are the primary reasons. But there are others
At the high school level, where I got my start, the emphasis is not on how to educate the students to prepare them for life
or even college, (all high schools should be college-prep schools, right?) it was about preparing them to excel on their
standardized tests. Then the controversial "exit" exams were implemented and literally, many high schools were
transformed into testing centers. Learning has almost become secondary.
This mentality carries over into college, which of course, there's usually a test one must take in order to enroll (the SAT
or ACT). This explains why so many college students are more concerned with completing a course, than learning from
it. They are focused on getting "A's" and degrees, instead of becoming degreed thinkers. The latter of which are in
greater demand by employers and comprise the bulk of the self-employed. The "get-the-good-grade" mindset is directly
attributable to the relentless and often unnecessary testing that our students are subjected to in schools.
Alfie Kohn advocates the "exhibition" of learning, in which students reveal their understanding by means of in-depth
projects, portfolios of assignments, and other demonstrations.
He cites a model pioneered by Ted Sizer and Deborah Meier. Meier has emphasized the importance of students having
five "habits of mind," which are: the value of raising questions about evidence ("How do we know what we know?"),
point of view, ("Whose perspective does this represent?"), connections ("How is this related to that?"), supposition ("How
might things have been otherwise?"), and relevance ("Why is this important?").
Kohn writes: It's only the ability to raise and answer those questions that matters, though, but also the disposition to do
so. For that matter, any set of intellectual objectives, any description of what it means to think deeply and critically,
should be accompanied by a reference to one's interest or intrinsic motivation to do such thinking...to be well-educated
then, is to have the desire as well as the means to make sure that learning never ends...
HISTORY AND PURPOSE OF IQ
Weve always wanted to measure intelligence. Ironically, when you look at some the first methods used to evaluate it in
the 1800s, they were not, well, very intelligent. Tactics such as subjecting people to various forms of torture to see what
their threshold for pain was (the longer you could withstand wincing, the more intelligent you were believed to be), or
testing your ability to detect a high pitch sound that others could not hear.
Things have changed...or have they?
No discussion of intelligence or IQ can be complete without mention of Alfred
Binet, a French psychologist who was responsible for laying the groundwork
for IQ testing in 1904. His original intention was to devise a test that would
diagnose learning disabilities of students in France. The test results were then
used to prepare special programs to help students overcome their educational
difficulties.
It was never intended to be used as an absolute measure of one's intellectual
capabilities.

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According to Binet, intelligence could not be described as a single score. He said that the use of the Intelligence Quotient
(IQ) as a definite statement of a child's intellectual capability would be a serious mistake. In addition, Binet feared that
IQ measurement would be used to condemn a child to a permanent "condition" of stupidity, thereby negatively affecting
his or her education and livelihood.
The original interest was in the assessment of 'mental age' -- the average level of intelligence for a person of a given age.
His creation, the Binet-Simon test (originally called a "scale"), formed the archetype for future tests of intelligence.
H. H. Goddard, director of research at Vineland Training
School in New Jersey, translated Binet's work into English
and advocated a more general application of the Simon-Binet
test. Unlike Binet, Goddard considered intelligence a solitary,
fixed and inborn entity that could be measured. With help of
Lewis Terman of Stanford University, his final product,
published in 1916 as the Stanford Revision of the BinetSimon Scale of Intelligence (also known as the StanfordBinet), became the standard intelligence test in the United
States.
Its important to note that the biggest fallacy about IQ is that
it is fixed and cant be changed. The fact is that IQ scores are
known to fluctuate - both up and down during the course of
one's lifetime. It does not mean that you become more, or less intelligent, it merely means that you tested better on one
day than another. Studies show that academic intelligence decreases, while tacit knowledge increases during ones
lifetime.
One more thing to know about IQ tests: They have been used for racist purposes since their importation into the U.S.
Many of those who were involved in the importation and refinement of these tests believed that IQ was hereditary and
are responsible for feeding the fallacy that it is a "fixed" trait.
Many immigrants were tested in the 1920s and failed these IQ tests miserably. As a result, many of them were denied
entry into the U.S., or were forced to undergo sterilization for fear of populating America with "dumb" and "inferior"
babies. If you recall, the tests were designed for white, middle class Americans. Who do you think would have the most
difficulty passing them?
Lewis Terman developed the original notion of IQ and proposed this scale for classifying IQ scores:
000 - 070: Definite feeble-mindedness
070 - 079: Borderline deficiency
080 - 089: Dullness
090 - 109: Normal or average intelligence
110 - 119: Superior intelligence
115 - 124: Above average (e.g., university students)
125 - 134: Gifted (e.g., post-graduate students)
135 - 144: Highly gifted (e.g., intellectuals)
145 - 154: Genius (e.g., professors)
155 - 164: Genius (e.g., Nobel Prize winners)
165 - 179: High genius
180 - 200: Highest genius
200 - higher ?: Immeasurable genius

*Genius IQ is generally considered to begin around 140 to 145, representing only 25% of the
population + 1 in 400.
*Einstein was considered to "only" have an IQ of about 160.
*Leonardo Da Vincis IQ was estimated to be around 220.

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DEFINING INTELLIGENCE
Diane F. Halpern, a psychologist and past-president of the American Psychological
Association (APA), wrote in her essay contribution to Why Smart People Can Be So Stupid
that in general, we recognize people as intelligent if they have some combination of these
achievements (1) good grades in school; (2) a high level of education; (3) a responsible,
complex job; (4) some other recognition of being intelligent, such as winning prestigious
awards or earning a large salary; (5) the ability to read complex text with good comprehension;
(6) solve difficult and novel problems.
Throughout my research and in the early phases of this article, I came across many definitions
of the word intelligence. Some were long, some were short. Some I didnt understand. The
definition that is most prevalent is the one created by the APA which is: the ability to adapt to
one's environment, and learn from one's experiences, which include ones mistakes.
How about that? There's the word environment again. We just can't seem to escape it. This adds deeper meaning to the
saying, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." It means recognizing what's going on in your environment, and having
the intelligence adapt to it - and the people who occupy it - in order to survive and succeed within it.
There are also many different forms of intelligence, most notably, those cited by Dr. Howard Gardner, professor of
education at Harvard University.
Dr. Gardner believes (and I agree) that our schools and culture focus most of their attention on linguistic and logicalmathematical intelligence. We esteem the highly articulate or logical people of our culture. However, Dr. Gardner says
that we should also place equal attention on individuals who show gifts in the other intelligences: the artists, architects,
musicians, naturalists, designers, dancers, therapists, entrepreneurs, and others who enrich the world in which we live. He
believed that its not about how smart someone is, but how they are smart.
He also felt that the traditional notion of intelligence, based on IQ testing, was far too limited and created the Theories Of
Multiple Intelligences in 1983 to account for a broader range of human potential in children and adults.
These intelligences are:
Linguistic intelligence ("word smart")
Logical-mathematical intelligence ("number/reasoning smart")
Spatial intelligence ("picture smart")
Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence ("body smart")
Musical intelligence ("music smart")
Interpersonal intelligence ("people smart")
Intrapersonal intelligence ("self smart")
Naturalist intelligence ("nature smart")
Not associated with Dr. Gardner, but equally respected are:
FLUID & CRYSTALLIZED INTELLIGENCE
According to About.com, Psychologist Raymond Cattell first proposed the
concepts of fluid and crystallized intelligence, and further developed the theory
with John Horn. The Cattell-Horn theory of fluid and crystallized intelligence
suggests that intelligence is composed of a number of different abilities that
interact and work together to produce overall individual intelligence.
Cattell defined fluid intelligence as "...the ability to perceive relationships
independent of previous specific practice or instruction concerning those
relationships." Fluid intelligence is the ability to think and reason abstractly and
solve problems. This ability is considered independent of learning, experience, and
education. Examples of the use of fluid intelligence include solving puzzles and
coming up with problem solving strategies.

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Crystallized intelligence is knowledge gained from past experiences and learning. Situations that require crystallized
intelligence include reading comprehension and vocabulary exams. This type of intelligence is based upon facts and
rooted in experiences. This type of intelligence becomes stronger as we age and accumulate new knowledge and
understanding.
Both types of intelligence increase throughout childhood and adolescence. Fluid intelligence peaks in adolescence and
begins to decline progressively beginning around age 30 or 40. Crystallized intelligence continues to grow throughout
adulthood.
SUCCESSFUL INTELLIGENCE
Then there's Successful Intelligence, which is authored by intelligence psychologist and Yale
professor, Robert J. Sternberg, who believes that the whole concept of relating IQ to life
achievement is misguided. He also believes that IQ is a pretty miserable predictor of life
achievement.
His Successful Intelligence theory focuses on 3 types of intelligence which are combined to
contribute to one's overall success: Analytical Intelligence; mental steps or components used to
solve problems; Creative Intelligence: the use of experience in ways that foster insight
(creativity/divergent thinking); and Practical Intelligence: the ability to read and adapt to the
contexts of everyday life.
With regard to environment, Dr. Sternberg writes in his book Successful Intelligence: Successfully intelligent people
realize that the environment in which they find themselves may or may not be able to make the most of their talents.
They actively seek an environment where they can not only do successful work, but make a difference. They create
opportunities rather than let opportunities be limited by circumstances in which they happen to find themselves.
As an educator, I subscribe to Dr. Sternberg's Successful Intelligence approach to teaching. It has proven to be a highly
effective tool and mindset for my college students. Using Successful Intelligence as the backbone of my context-driven
curriculum really inspires students to see how education makes their life goals more attainable, and motivates them to
apply their education, and develop their expertise.
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
In his best-selling 1995 book, Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman reported that research shows that conventional
measures of intelligence - IQ - only account for 20% of a person's success in life. Thats pretty low. For example,
research on IQ and education shows that high IQ predicts 10 to 25% of grades in college. The percentage will vary
depending on how we define success. Nonetheless, Goleman's assertion begs the question: What accounts for the other
80%?
You guessed it...Emotional Intelligence. What exactly is emotional intelligence? Emotional intelligence (also called EQ
or EI) refers to the ability to perceive, control, and evaluate emotions. Many corporations now have mandatory EQ
training for their managers in an effort to improve employee relations and increase productivity.
TACIT KNOWLEDGE aka "STREET SMARTS"
You've heard the phrase, "Experience is the greatest teacher..."
Knowledge gained from every day experience is called tacit knowledge. The colloquial term is "street smarts," which
implies that formal, classroom instruction (aka "book smarts") has nothing to do with it. The individual is not directly
instructed as to what he or she should learn, but rather must extract the important lesson from the experience even when
learning is not the primary objective.
Tacit knowledge is closely related to common sense, which is sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception
of the situation or facts. As you know, common sense is not all that common.
Tacit knowledge, or the lessons obtained from it, seems to "stick" both faster and better when the lessons have direct
relevance to the individual's goals. Knowledge that is based on one's own practical experience, will likely, be more
instrumental to achieving one's goals, than knowledge that is based on someone else's experience, or that is overly
generic and abstract.

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BEING BOTH SMART AND STUPID

Yes, it's possible to be both smart and stupid. I'm sure someone you know comes to mind at this precise
moment. But the goal here is not to ridicule, but to understand how some seemingly highly intelligent, or
highly educated individuals can be so smart in one way, and incredibly stupid in others.
The woman who is a respected, well paid, dynamic executive who consistently chooses men who don't
appear to be worthy of her, or the man who appears to be a pillar of the community, with a loving wife
and happy kids, ends up being arrested on rape charges.
It happens, but why? I found the answer in the book, Why Smart People Can Be So Stupid. Essentially, intellect is
domain specific. In other words, being smart (knowledgeable) in one area of your life, and stupid (ignorant) in another is
natural. Turning off one's brain is quite common especially when it comes to what we desire. A shared characteristic
among those who are smart and stupid is the difficulty in delaying gratification.
Olem Ayduk & Walter Mischel who wrote the chapter summarized: Sometimes stupid behavior in smart people may
arise from faulty expectations, erroneous beliefs, or merely a lack of motivation to enact control strategies even when one
has them. But sometimes it is an inability to regulate one's affective states and the behavioral tendencies associated with
them that leads to stupid and self-defeating behavior. The central character in this book that many of these lessons
regarding being both smart and stupid revolve around is Bill Clinton.
WISDOM & CONCLUSION
My great grandmother, Leola Cecil, maybe had an 8th
grade education at the most. By no stretch of the
imagination was she highly educated, but she had what
seemed like infinite wisdom. She was very observant and
could "read" people with startling accuracy. Till the very
end of her life she shared her "crystallized intelligence"
with whoever was receptive to it.
She died at the age of 94. I often use many of her sayings
as a public speaker, but most importantly, I use her
philosophies to make sure that I'm being guided spiritually
and not just intellectually. Many of us who are lucky
enough to have a great grandparent can testify that there is
something special about their knowledge. They seem to
have life figured out, and a knack for helping those of us
who are smart, educated and intelligent see things more
clearly when we are too busy thinking.
What they have is what we should all aspire to end up with if we are lucky: wisdom.
The best definition of wisdom that Ive come across happened while I was studying Human Development. In the third
edition of the text by Robert K. Vail and John C. Cavanaugh, it states that wise people have empathy, and are able to get
to the heart of the matter rather than being caught in the superficial aspects (Wink & Helson, 1997). They know a great
deal about how to conduct life, interpret events, and what life means. They are able to integrate thinking, feeling, and
acting into a coherent approach to problem.
Those are great textbook definitions, but my definition, through observation of my great grandmother would be this:
Wisdom is the ability to look through a person, when others can only look at them. Wisdom slows down the thinking
process and makes it more organic; synchronizing it with intuition. Wisdom helps you make better judgments regarding
decisions, and makes you less judgmental. Wisdom is knowing what's important to other people, and knowing that
people are of the utmost importance. Wisdom is both a starting point, and a final conclusion.

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Minor Considerations In Choosing A College Major

by Gian Fiero
The month of May is the time of year when thousands of college graduates will receive their
diplomas and head into "the real world." Studies have shown that most of these graduates will
find work in fields that are not directly related to their degrees.
This is a startling reality that those who are at the beginning of their college journeys should pay
close attention to when considering their choice of major.
While there has been much said (and written) about the process of choosing a major, this article is an attempt to simplify
the process and direct focus to what should be the primary concerns of those planning to attend college. Simply answer
the following questions:
1. Is college right for you?
As simple (and to some, absurd) as this may sound, you should honestly - and carefully evaluate whether college is right for you in terms of the investment of money, expenditure of
time, and use of energy that it will inevitably require. Can those resources be invested
elsewhere, for an equal, or possibly greater return?
Before you attempt to answer this question, I need to make one thing abundantly clear: I'm not advocating not going to
college; I'm advocating the analyzation of career options for which a college degree may not be necessary.
Since college loans are this countrys number one form of personal debt (now surpassing credit cards), and recent
estimates are that half of college graduates are either unemployed or underemployed (2012), the value of a college
degree, when viewed as a means to a vocational end, should in fact be analyzed.
Some high school graduates (and Im speaking from my experiences with those that Ive mentored)
simply lack intrinsic motivation, need more time for self-discovery, lack maturity, and suffer from low
academic ability. These students tend to fair much better, educationally, by attendinf
vocational/technical schools, obtaining a certificate in a niche area, or undergoing specific job training.
For example: Air traffic controllers and some plumbers (thats right, plumbers) make over $100,000 in
some cities and their job does not require a college degree; but they do require extensive training.
2. Have you explored building your own business?
Many of our nation's top companies were started by those who did not have college degrees, but received some college
education including Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison,
founder of Dell Computers, Michael Dell, and entertainment moguls Walt Disney and Sean "Diddy" Combs - all
possessed uncanny skill, talent, and vision. They were all en route to millionaire/billionaire status by 19.
Do you have what they had - an idea or a belief in an idea? Extreme focus and discipline in
developing your idea so that it can blossom into a real business opportunity? An opportunity that
others would be willing to contribute to, or pay you to develop? An opportunity that solves
problems for consumers? With real determination, a solid game plan, and modest financing, you
too could be on your way to millionaire/billionaire status. If you drop out of college and make
your mark the way they did, the university that you briefly attend may give you an "honorary"
degree anyway. How ironic.
3. Are you doing what YOU want? Or what someone else wants you to do?
Every semester I hear my students say, "I'm here because my parents say I have to be." Good college professors can
always tell when that's the case. Great college professors inspire students to find their own motivation and career paths. If
you don't choose a path that corresponds with your values, interests, and motivations, it's very unlikely that you will find
success and fulfillment in your vocational endeavors once you graduate.

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4. Have you thoroughly researched your major?

Most students don't. Most high school students put more thought and research into who to ask (or what to wear) to the
prom. Researching your career means getting as much information on your career choice as possible before committing
to it. This includes obtaining vital information on the industry, reading trade magazines and biographies of industry
leaders, researching salaries, and investing industry trends and forecasts. In addition, getting real-life exposure to the
industry and the professionals that comprise it via informational interviews, interning, or volunteer work is always
advisable. Research can take 6 months to a year (at the very least) when conducted properly.

4. Do you know your greatest strengths?

Today it's estimated that most people will change careers four to eight times over the course of
their lives. Students who choose a major that speaks to their core competencies (a combination
of natural talents and strengths that enable a person to deliver unique value to others) will be
happier in the long term with their career choices. The best way to determine your core
competency is to closely examine your strengths, interests, and skills in which you are most
proficient, and closely match them with the professions which appeal to you.
5. What do you love enough to do for free?
This is perhaps the best question I pose to my students. Studies show that the number one factor in developing expertise
and prominence is purposeful engagement. That is found through having intense interest in something that your passions
allow you to fully immerse yourself in. The aforementioned people in this article (section 2) serve as shining examples.
They took the motto "Do what you love" to heart and made a fortune. The money was the byproduct; not the goal.
Hopefully your choice of a college major will be afforded the proper time and consideration that it rightfully deserves.
After all, it's not just a degree we are talking about; it's what you are going to do with the degree to make your life more
fulfilling.

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What Teachers Learn From Teaching

by Gian Fiero

y freshman year in high school was my worst year academically in any

grade level. It's not that the work was hard, or that the workload was heavy, I was
simply having difficulty adjusting to life at a Catholic, all-boys, college-prep school
after spending more time dancing than studying the previous year in the 8th grade.
My mother's decision to uproot me from the public school system (and my wayward friends) would ensure that
I would spend more time in the books than on the dance floor. Because of my apathetic attitude, I failed some
courses and barely passed others. One day while reviewing homework assignments (which I didn't complete),
my Spanish teacher and eventual mentor, Mr. Pacheco, looked me in the eye with a stern gaze and said,
"When are you going to stop pretending to be a muchacho bruto?"
Roughly translated that means stupid boy. I took offense at the statement. He told me to stop wasting my
mother's money and take advantage of the opportunity that I have been blessed with. I was still offended.
After class he talked to me about my "attitude." It was during this conversation that my academic fortunes
changed (I ended up winning Spanish honors), and little did I know, it planted the seeds for my career as an
educator.
Fast-forward many years later...I'm now a college professor.
I'm the one dealing with students who have attitude issues. Because "higher" education is voluntary, you
would assume that the apathy that I blatantly displayed as a freshman in high school would not be an issue
for university students... guess again. The sad reality is that most college students are more concerned with
completing a course and getting credit for it, than they are in what they can learn from it. For many of them,
there is no difference between a "B" and an "A."
I once asked my students what they felt was the difference between the two grades and a student replied,
"More paperwork." What a profound statement. Marty Nemko, a career counselor based in Oakland,
California writes in his book, How to Get an Ivy League Education at a State University, "Employers report
repeatedly that many new graduates they hire are not prepared to work, are lacking the critical thinking,
writing and problem-solving skills needed in today's workplaces." Apparently avoiding "more paperwork" is
habit forming.
Mr. Pacheco once told me that the real purpose of school is to learn how to think; not what to think. Many of
today's students aren't being challenged to think; they are merely being graded - and passed - based upon
their ability to regurgitate or recall information on a test, which more than likely is multiple choice or true/false
(which students overwhelmingly prefer).
What teachers learn from teaching is that those types of exams only test the short-term memory and
deductive reasoning skills of students. It's because of this reason that I was never in favor of multiple choice
or true/false tests.
Constructing tests or projects that reflect the kind of work that calls upon the education being taught is how
teachers should measure a student's true comprehension of the subject matter. It also allows us to accurately
gage their ability to think in a solution oriented manner. After all, education does not become knowledge until
it is coupled with experience; therefore, it behooves us to simulate the circumstances that will be encountered
in real-life situations. Sadly, this is the exception, not the rule, for underpaid and overworked teachers who
often recycle the same exams used year after year for convenience.
What teachers from teaching is that students who take interest in their subject matter and have a plan to apply
their education to some endeavor in the immediate future, are the ones who excel academically and
professionally. Their personal interest compels them to dig deeper and fully wrap their minds around subjects,
as a result, they become degreed thinkers; students who are degreed thinkers are in shorter supply and

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greater demand than those with college degrees. It's this very point that today's teachers must speak to especially when you consider that the marketplace is now saturated with workers who have degrees.
Entrepreneurs rise from the ranks of degreed thinkers, and employers love (and reward) them once they've
meet the challenge of demonstrating the depth and breadth of their thinking abilities. What teachers learn
from teaching is that degreed thinkers are also happier people.
Statistics show that those with college degrees earn more. By some accounts it's 50% more (depending on
the job and the degree). In terms of dollars, it's about $23,000 more per year. The government uses these
stats as marketing tools for higher education; colleges use them to promote higher attendance at their
campuses. The correlation between obtaining a degree and having a more fulfilling life as a result of
opportunities created through the use of education is not trumpeted enough. Institutions of higher learning
need to do a better job of teaching students about that correlation.
What teachers learn from teaching is that our educational system is designed to maintain the status quo of
our nation's discontented workforce. Students mirror the nation's apathetic workforce with their mere
preoccupation with survival (survival; defined as vocational and economic complacency), while only a minority
is driven enough to succeed (succeed; defined as vocational and economic gratification).
This apathy is the root of the reason why far too many people hate their jobs. What's even worse is that so
many people accept and live with their hatred. This hatred stems in part from being misemployed or
underemployed; resulting in your passions being neglected and your true talents not being utilized.
Somehow people have been conditioned to think that if they compartmentalize the disdain they have for their
jobs, their dissatisfaction will become easier to ignore. Those with demanding and time consuming jobs
predictably offer the prosaic justification of money as an excuse, while they suck it up and suffer in silence.
To them I offer these simple facts: There are 8,760 hours in a year. You spend
2,555 hours per year sleeping (a generous estimate based on 7 hours of sleep
per night). You have 2,496 hours of weekend time each year. We spend 2,080
hours (or more) at work each year, based on an 8 hour work day. Is 2,080
hours a lot of time to spend doing something that you hate? If you find out what
you love to do as a student before you graduate, you will be able to breathe
freely everyday once you join the workforce.
What teachers learn from teaching is that students take time for granted.
Time spent in college is prep time; time to prepare you for life. The classes you take, the activities that you are
involved in, and the people you spend time with represent investments that you should seek a return on. Bad
investments are tough to overcome. They result in money being squandered (bachelor's degrees are
estimated to be $50,000 on average), and most importantly, time lost. Mr. Pacheco would occasionally have
us put away our textbooks so that we could talk about "real life." It was during these talks that we got a
chance to share our life experiences with him, and he in turn would bestow his wisdom upon us.
In retrospect I realize that he was getting to know us better while seeking opportunities and different ways to
educate us while breaking down the barriers of resistance. He made sure that we saw how the subject matter
was relevant and useful to the lives and pursuits of every student in the class.
What I've learned from teaching, perhaps most importantly, is that the real difference between being good and
being great is putting forth extra effort; which is also the difference between a "B" student and an "A" student not paperwork (though there is more work involved).
Mr. Pacheco always said that "the key to being outstanding in anything is to demand more from yourself than
you allow others to." It's a proven formula for success that teachers can use to maximize their effectiveness
so that struggling or average students who are - in Mr. Pacheco's words - "pretending to be muchachos
brutos," can start to really learn what they are being taught.
May he rest in peace.

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Visit my blog, The Growth Tree, inspiration for intellectual, personal, and professional growth.

www.thegrowthtree.blogspot.com
Media inquiries & feedback: [email protected]

www.gianfiero.info
(510) 924-6079

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