Abstract

The purpose of this study is to provide phases in developing a multiple intelligence based instructional module for preschool children of four years old. The methodology used is Design and Development Research based on Richey and Klein (2007). The study aims to design and develop a Multiple Intelligence Based (MI-Based) Instructional Module for Malaysia preschool children of four years old and to assess the usability of the developed module.

The construction of this module was developed based on Howard Gardner (1983), a Harvard psychologist, who defines intelligences broadly. The MI-Based Instructional Module was supported by Sidek and Hilda Taba module development models. Phase one of the study was a need analysis phase involving the use of questionnaires conducted on 40 preschool teachers and operators to gain insights and approvals on rationalization to develop a MI-Based Instructional Module.

The data obtained were analysed descriptively using IBM Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0. The second phase of the study covers the design and development phase of the research using the Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) and the construction of Statistical Model of Structural Equation (SEM).

This phase involves the view of 16 experts of various fields in early childhood education. The final phase of the study is the evaluation phase of the usability of the MI-Based Instructional module. The Instrument used for this phase involved the use of questionnaires to 30 potential users and data is analysed using Modified Nominal Group Technique (NGT). To support the overall finding, a total of 40 teaching materials nationally and internationally were selected in this study.

Researcher analysed the components of multiple intelligences in each teaching material. Result showed clearly that national books contain some of the multiple intelligences components as in word smart, number smart and self-smart. However, other components like picture, body, music, nature and people smarts were not fully emphasized. The life smart in the international teaching materials is rarely shown. Life smart is the latest intelligence found by Gardner which is not fully proven yet. The empirical study shows that there are 12 themes within a year with 48 smart features to be implemented in the MI-Based Instructional Module for Malaysian preschool children of four years old based on experts’ consensus.

The finding of the second phase shows that the construction of the study indicated that all panels of experts reach agreement and consensus. The experts’ consensus findings show that all module items constructed reach a consensus of experts, which is more than 75% of experts’ agreement, the value of “d” is less than 0.2 and defuzzication (Amax) exceeds 0.5 as determined.

This finding shows that there is a good agreement between the expert panels in the construction of the research module items. The findings also show that convergent factor (CFA) and discrete discrimination exceed the prescribed threshold value of AVE above 0.5, composite reliability exceeds 0.7 and the individual load value exceeds 0.7. The findings of this study are expected to contribute to the early childhood education industry, sectors, particularly to Malaysian preschool children of four years old.