ABSTRACT
Given that uncertainty has become the signe des temps for our students in the current Covid-19 climate, one can pose the question: what types of skills would be relevant for the current and the next generation of students that would help them make sense of the changing world? School curricula and testing still anchored in the traditional mode of the 3Rs has resulted in a cadre of gifted students who have performed well academically but who have not been educated to reflect on using their "gifts" to transform society in just and meaningful ways. As opposed to being purely speculative on what transformative giftedness could be, we describe the genesis of a gifted academy- a school within a school situated within an impoverished community grounded in the principles of equity, social justice, and transformational giftedness. In this academy, the curriculum based on both socio-emotional learning (SEL) and problem-based learning (PBL), in tandem with interdisciplinary projects, provides avenues for the potential to transform students into making sense of uncertainty in the changing world in meaningful ways. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Stephens uses Shakespeare to address societal problems. Teaching William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet's relevance to struggling readers is challenging. Like Kelly Gallagher's argument that struggling writers do not do enough writing, she thinks struggling readers suffer from similar failures: teachers do not do enough reading with students. Like Gallagher, she believes it is best to focus on what teachers can control. So, when she was required to teach Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet to her ninth graders last year, she paused to reflect on undertaking this task with struggling readers while making the text accessible and meaningful. Here she describes her attempt to meet this task.
ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to explore the effects of the moral cognition of gifted elementary schools students on their attitudes toward COVID-19. The study further investigated the changes in their emotions during the pandemic and the moderating effects of their emotions on the relationship between their moral cognition and attitudes toward patients with COVID-19. Various factors influence the moral cognition of children, such as age, sex, intelligence level, and personality. Moreover, their surrounding environments, particularly home and school environments, strongly affect their moral cognition. Therefore, various studies have explored relevant factors, such as education level, role replacement, peer relationship, family economic status, family structure, family emotion, religious belief, and sociocultural background. Nevertheless, the question regarding the attitudes of gifted children with outstanding potential toward moral issues should be explored. Lovecky (1997) indicated that gifted children are highly concerned about moral issues since childhood and that they have an excellent understanding of moral issues. Compared with their peers with a relatively low level of intelligence, gifted children have an improved understanding of fairness, justice, and responsibility toward he self and others (Gross, 1993), and this thus engenders high levels of moral sensitivity (Piechowski, 1991). Therefore, the question of whether the levels of these students' moral perceptions vary depending on grade, sex, or sociocultural identity warrants exploration. Gifted students differ from others intellectually, socially, emotionally, and physically;however, their ability to cognitively understand moral issues is higher than their ability to emotionally adjust to such issues (Clark, 2002/2007). Accordingly, they need opportunities to discuss moral issues around them and promote their moral growth (Lovecky, 1997). Epidemics exert strong negative effects on the general public;this fact invoked curiosity in the research fraternity regarding the effects of epidemics on gifted students belonging to different grades, sexes, and sociocultural identities. Questions arose regarding the effects of emotions on the moral perceptions of gifted students and whether such effects further affect the students' moral behaviors and attitudes. Studies on moral education in gifted students have not reported any major outcomes;this might be because of the lack of an association between moral cognition and moral practice (Liu, 2002). From an educational perspective, studies have explored the efforts of schools in educating children and constructing their moral cognition;gifted students perform better in making ethical choices than do other students. The COVID-19 may be the first real-life pandemic situation experienced by young students. Therefore, students must receive information related to health and epidemic prevention. The question of whether the attitudes of gifted and ordinary elementary school students vary depending on various factors (grade, sex, and sociocultural identity) in a real setting must be explored. Moreover, whether cognition and attitude are related remains to be determined. Whether the levels of students' moral cognition can help predict their attitudes toward epidemics and diseases also warrants clarification. Accordingly, on the basis of the theory of moral cognition development in children, the present study investigated the current status of moral cognition levels, emotions, and attitudes toward epidemics and patients in gifted and ordinary students and compared the findings between the two cohorts. The study findings may serve as a reference for designing ethics courses for gifted students with special needs in order to cultivate their sense of social responsibility and civic awareness and cultivate the virtues of knowing, loving, and doing good. This study included a total of 887 elementary school students (gifted, 515;ordinary, 372). Three research tools - the Behavior Defining Questions Test, Epidemic and Patient Attitude Scale, and Emotion Scale - were used for data collection and analysis. The results revealed no significant differences between gifted and ordinary students in terms of moral cognitive performance. Regarding the epidemic-related emotions of students belonging to various grades and sexes, this study determined that the ordinary students expressed higher levels of belief, fear, surprise, and sadness than did the gifted students;middle- and higher-grade gifted students expressed fear, surprise, sadness, and disgust;and boys expressed higher levels of sadness than did girls. The levels of moral attitudes toward epidemics and patients were more prominent in the gifted students than in the ordinary students. Upper-grade students exhibited improved attitudes compared with middle-grade students. Furthermore, emotions exerted no moderating effects on the relationship between moral cognition and epidemic-related attitudes among the gifted elementary students. On the basis of the findings, this study proposes the following recommendations: 1. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals may experience slight mood changes due to psychological adjustment to the new normal. In the present study, the students had different perspectives of COVID-19 and thus experienced different emotions. Future studies may investigate the suitable approach and time point for evaluating emotions. The relationship between moral attitudes and behaviors remains to be clarified in an actual classroom setting. Qualitative studies may be conducted to investigate this relationship. 2. In terms of moral cognition and attitudes toward the pandemic and patients, middle-grade gifted students appear to experience more negative emotions than do others;this may pose a considerable psychological burden on them. Thus, teachers must provide psychological support and counseling to gifted students with different needs and teach them to actively process and analyze situational information to help them devise strategies for stress relief. 3. Enhancing the belief and positive expectation of students regarding social issues may help improve their attitudes toward moral issues, thus improving their ethical behaviors.
ABSTRACT
Gifted children exhibit advanced cognitive abilities, usually beyond their emotional development, which puts them at higher risk of the negative consequences of isolation. This study investigates the effects of distance learning and home confinement on the emotional and social stability, motivation, and attitudes of gifted and non-gifted children in Greece. Our study includes two subsets, from before (September 2017 to March 2020) and after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic (April 2020 to March 2022). The analysis indicated that home confinement and distance learning caused children to create a stronger attachment with their parents, and it increased the involvement of parents in their child's school experience. Non-gifted children displayed high levels of certain attitudes (perfectionism, desire for acceptance, and condescending behavior) and demonstrated elevated motivation. Gifted children in the pre-COVID-19 period had already displayed increased levels of condescending attitude, which is assumed to be the result of already existing expectations from their parents. The pandemic further increased this attitude, as a result of the higher expectations of their parents. Overall, the study highlighted the importance of children to have more than one support system and the need for them to strengthen their self-image.
ABSTRACT
Due to the effects of a worldwide outbreak of COVID-19, as in many countries, students in Turkey started to have online education since March 2020. Factors such as their motivation and need for learning, and higher cognitive arousal would make it more difficult for gifted students to become away from schools. In this context, this research aimed to examine the experiences of gifted students during the online education process from their parents' viewpoint. The data, obtained from 15 parents via telephone interviews, were analyzed by descriptive interpretive approach, one of the qualitative research methods. The validity and reliability of the data were ensured. According to the results, seven categories emerged: reflections on education, advantages, disadvantages, psychological impacts, solutions, observed emotions, and suggestions. The results were discussed in terms of gifted students' characteristics, previous online education practices, and suggestions for future use of online education for gifted children after the pandemic period. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
COVID-19 began to spread all over the world in the Spring of 2020. All schools, including the institutions serving students with special needs, were closed to decrease the spread of the virus. The schools had to shift to online education, which was a new experience for most students. In addition to the negative effects of the pandemic itself, the new learning format required extra effort from students. Gifted and talented students as a special group with special educational and socio-emotional needs may have experienced the pandemic differently. In the present study, we aimed to explore gifted and talented students' subjective well-being, feelings of hope, and stress coping strategies with a quantitative method. In addition, we used a qualitative method and asked a few open-ended questions to dig deeper into these students' experiences during the pandemic. We found a statistically significant correlation among subjective well-being, hope, and stress coping strategies. Effective stress coping strategies are used more frequently than negative ones. We revealed that although there are some positive sides to the process, the students described some difficulties with social interaction, access and use of technology, motivation, and physical health. Based on the findings, we suggested some important implications and recommendations for parents, educators, and policymakers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
The present mixed methods study aimed to understand the challenges faced by teachers of the gifted and how elementary gifted learners were supported and taught during the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey was administered to 310 elementary school teachers of the gifted across the United States between March and June 2021, one year after initial school closings. Focus groups were utilized to further explore how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the work of teachers of the gifted in their schools. Educators shared lessons learned from this experience related to (a) a better understanding of how to utilize remote instruction, (b) reimagining the gifted education classroom, and (c) use of a variety of strategies to provide more student choice, differentiation, and individualized pace. Results from this study provide insights that can guide educators, curriculum specialists, and school administrators to improve online instruction for gifted learners in the future. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
The present study used an explanatory mixed-method design to examine the effects of the Achievement Motivation Enhancement (AME)+Cyber enrichment program and teachers' perception of procedures and outcomes in the context of emergency remote teaching, including online and hybrid formats, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three teachers implemented the program with 57 students in grades 9 through 12. To evaluate the program, we combined change score analysis of pretest and posttest data on academic self-perception, self-regulation, goal valuation, cyber-related interest, as well as descriptive interpretative analysis of interview data. We found the online learning format was more effective than the hybrid format for the affective and cognitive outcomes. Qualitative findings suggested pedagogical concerns and struggle with online learning due to emergency remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, centered around a lack of student engagement and interaction that appropriate levels of training and practice could remedy. Implications and future research suggestions are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Gifted support services were directly impacted by the COVID-19 shutdown in Spring 2020. This qualitative research study consisting of parents (n = 110) and gifted support teachers (n = 53) explored the impact on gifted students' services and instruction. Utilizing surveys, open-ended response questions, and in-depth interviews, teachers and parents shared their thoughts and perceptions about challenge, enrichment, and students' social-emotional health throughout the shutdown. Data analysis found that gifted services were directly impacted by the COVID-19 shutdown and parents and teachers shared that challenge and enrichment were lacking. However, data collected also showed that there is much potential to meet students' academic and social-emotional needs virtually. Utilizing the data collected, a model was created to help teachers, parents, and school districts provide challenge, enrichment, and acceleration, as well as address social-emotional concerns in a virtual environment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
During the school closure in the COVID-19 pandemic, students with special needs including gifted students faced many challenges in terms of educational support. The Turkish Ministry of National Education released a mobile app named "I am special, I am in education" to overcome these challenges. This study aimed to explore how gifted children perceived the experience of learning through this mobile app. Using a phenomenological design, the data were collected from 10 gifted students through focus group interviews and student journals. An inductive approach was used to analyze the data. The findings indicated that although gifted students referred to this experience as weird and different, they also stated that using the app helped their learning. They foregrounded that the app needed improvements and a section for live interaction with other gifted students and teachers to increase their motivation. This study suggests some implications for mobile app developers, educators, and parents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
[LANGUAGE=”English”] The aim of this study was to explore the effects of the moral cognition of gifted elementary schools students on their attitudes toward COVID-19. The study further investigated the changes in their emotions during the pandemic and the moderating effects of their emotions on the relationship between their moral cognition and attitudes toward patients with COVID-19. Various factors influence the moral cognition of children, such as age, sex, intelligence level, and personality. Moreover, their surrounding environments, particularly home and school environments, strongly affect their moral cognition. Therefore, various studies have explored relevant factors, such as education level, role replacement, peer relationship, family economic status, family structure, family emotion, religious belief, and sociocultural background. Nevertheless, the question regarding the attitudes of gifted children with outstanding potential toward moral issues should be explored. Lovecky (1997) indicated that gifted children are highly concerned about moral issues since childhood and that they have an excellent understanding of moral issues. Compared with their peers with a relatively low level of intelligence, gifted children have an improved understanding of fairness, justice, and responsibility toward he self and others (Gross, 1993), and this thus engenders high levels of moral sensitivity (Piechowski, 1991). Therefore, the question of whether the levels of these students' moral perceptions vary depending on grade, sex, or sociocultural identity warrants exploration. Gifted students differ from others intellectually, socially, emotionally, and physically;however, their ability to cognitively understand moral issues is higher than their ability to emotionally adjust to such issues (Clark, 2002/2007). Accordingly, they need opportunities to discuss moral issues around them and promote their moral growth (Lovecky, 1997). Epidemics exert strong negative effects on the general public;this fact invoked curiosity in the research fraternity regarding the effects of epidemics on gifted students belonging to different grades, sexes, and sociocultural identities. Questions arose regarding the effects of emotions on the moral perceptions of gifted students and whether such effects further affect the students' moral behaviors and attitudes. Studies on moral education in gifted students have not reported any major outcomes;this might be because of the lack of an association between moral cognition and moral practice (Liu, 2002). From an educational perspective, studies have explored the efforts of schools in educating children and constructing their moral cognition;gifted students perform better in making ethical choices than do other students.The COVID-19 may be the first real-life pandemic situation experienced by young students. Therefore, students must receive information related to health and epidemic prevention. The question of whether the attitudes of gifted and ordinary elementary school students vary depending on various factors (grade, sex, and sociocultural identity) in a real setting must be explored. Moreover, whether cognition and attitude are related remains to be determined. Whether the levels of students' moral cognition can help predict their attitudes toward epidemics and diseases also warrants clarification. Accordingly, on the basis of the theory of moral cognition development in children, the present study investigated the current status of moral cognition levels, emotions, and attitudes toward epidemics and patients in gifted and ordinary students and compared the findings between the two cohorts. The study findings may serve as a reference for designing ethics courses for gifted students with special needs in order to cultivate their sense of social responsibility and civic awareness and cultivate the virtues of knowing, loving, and doing good.This study included a total of 887 elementary school students (gifted, 515;ordinary, 372). Three research tools — the Behavior Defining Questions Te t, Epidemic and Patient Attitude Scale, and Emotion Scale — were used for data collection and analysis.The results revealed no significant differences between gifted and ordinary students in terms of moral cognitive performance. Regarding the epidemic-related emotions of students belonging to various grades and sexes, this study determined that the ordinary students expressed higher levels of belief, fear, surprise, and sadness than did the gifted students;middle- and higher-grade gifted students expressed fear, surprise, sadness, and disgust;and boys expressed higher levels of sadness than did girls. The levels of moral attitudes toward epidemics and patients were more prominent in the gifted students than in the ordinary students. Upper-grade students exhibited improved attitudes compared with middle-grade students. Furthermore, emotions exerted no moderating effects on the relationship between moral cognition and epidemic-related attitudes among the gifted elementary students.On the basis of the findings, this study proposes the following recommendations:1. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals may experience slight mood changes due to psychological adjustment to the new normal. In the present study, the students had different perspectives of COVID-19 and thus experienced different emotions. Future studies may investigate the suitable approach and time point for evaluating emotions. The relationship between moral attitudes and behaviors remains to be clarified in an actual classroom setting. Qualitative studies may be conducted to investigate this relationship.2. In terms of moral cognition and attitudes toward the pandemic and patients, middle-grade gifted students appear to experience more negative emotions than do others;this may pose a considerable psychological burden on them. Thus, teachers must provide psychological support and counseling to gifted students with different needs and teach them to actively process and analyze situational information to help them devise strategies for stress relief.3. Enhancing the belief and positive expectation of students regarding social issues may help improve their attitudes toward moral issues, thus improving their ethical behaviors.[LANGUAGE=”Chinese”] 本研究旨在探討國小資優生的道德認知、在真實情境的新冠肺炎疫情下對疫情與病患的態度，以及疫情下情緒的現況與差異性，並分析其道德認知與對病患態度之相關及探究其預測情形。本研究以北區國小資優生515人與普通生372人共887人為研究對象，共使用「行為界定問題測驗」、「對新冠肺炎疫情情緒量表」、「新冠肺炎病患態度量表」為研究工具，進行資料蒐集與分析處理。研究之結果如下：一、不同學生類別、不同年級與不同性別之學生在道德認知表現上資優生與普通生無明顯差異；二、不同學生類別、不同年級與不同性別之學生在情緒上的表現在疫情下，普通生「相信」、「害怕」、「驚訝」、「悲傷」高於資優生，中年級資優生「害怕」、「驚訝」、「悲傷」及「討厭」較高年級明顯，而普通班男生「悲傷」之情緒高於女生；三、不同身分、年級與性別之資優生在疫情情境下，對疫情與病患之態度高於普通生，資優生態度高於普通生，高年級資優生與普通生比中年級有較佳的態度；四、新冠肺炎疫情與病患態度之預測及調節效果資優生的道德認知能預測態度，情緒在道德認知和病患態度間不具有調節效果。Alternate abstract:”English”] The aim of this study was to explore the effects of the moral cognition of gifted elementary schools students on their attitudes toward COVID-19. The study further investigated the changes in their emotions during the pandemic and the moderating effects of their emotions on the relationship between their moral cognition and attitudes toward patients with COVID-19. Various factors influence the moral cognition of children, such as age, sex, intelligence level, and personality. Moreover, their surrounding environments, particularly home and school environments, strongly affect their moral cognition. Therefore, various studies have explored relevant factors, such as education level, role replacement, peer relationship, family economic status, family structure, family emotion, religious belief, and sociocultural background. Nevertheless, the question regarding the attitudes of gifted children with outstanding potential toward moral issues should be explored. Lovecky (1997) indicated that gifted children are highly concerned about moral issues since childhood and that they have an excellent understanding of moral issues. Compared with their peers with a relatively low level of intelligence, gifted children have an improved understanding of fairness, justice, and responsibility toward he self and others (Gross, 1993), and this thus engenders high levels of moral sensitivity (Piechowski, 1991). Therefore, the question of whether the levels of these students' moral perceptions vary depending on grade, sex, or sociocultural identity warrants exploration. Gifted students differ from others intellectually, socially, emotionally, and physically;however, their ability to cognitively understand moral issues is higher than their ability to emotionally adjust to such issues (Clark, 2002/2007). Accordingly, they need opportunities to discuss moral issues around them and promote their moral growth (Lovecky, 1997). Epidemics exert strong negative effects on the general public;this fact invoked curiosity in the research fraternity regarding the effects of epidemics on gifted students belonging to different grades, sexes, and sociocultural identities. Questions arose regarding the effects of emotions on the moralperceptions of gifted students and whether such effects further affect the students' moral behaviors and attitudes. Studies on moral education in gifted students have not reported any major outcomes;this might be because of the lack of an association between moral cognition and moral practice (Liu, 2002). From an educational perspective, studies have explored the efforts of schools in educating children and constructing their moral cognition;gifted students perform better in making ethical choices than do other students.The COVID-19 may be the first real-life pandemic situation experienced by young students. Therefore, students must receive information related to health and epidemic prevention. The question of whether the attitudes of gifted and ordinary elementary school students vary depending on various factors (grade, sex, and sociocultural identity) in a real setting must be explored. Moreover, whether cognition and attitude are related remains to be determined. Whether the levels of students' moral cognition can help predict their attitudes toward epidemics and diseases also warrants clarification. Accordingly, on the basis of the theory of moral cognition development in children, the present study investigated the current status of moral cognition levels, emotions, and attitudes toward epidemics and patients in gifted and ordinary students and compared the findings between the two cohorts. The study findings may serve as a reference for designing ethics courses for gifted students with special needs in order to cultivate their sense of social responsibility and civic awareness and cultivate the virtues of knowing, loving, and doing good.This study included a total of 887 elementary school students (gifted, 515;ordinary, 372). Three research tools — the Behavior Defining Questions Test, Epidemic and Patient Attitude Scale, and Emotion Scale — were used for data collection and analysis.The results revealed no significant differences between gifted and ordinary students in terms of moral cognitive performance. Regarding the epidemic-related emotions of students belonging to various grades and sexes, this study determined that the ordinary students expressed higher levels of belief, fear, surprise, and sadness than did the gifted students;iddle- and higher-grade gifted students expressed fear, surprise, sadness, and disgust;and boys expressed higher levels of sadness than did girls. The levels of moral attitudes toward epidemics and patients were more prominent in the gifted students than in the ordinary students. Upper-grade students exhibited improved attitudes compared with middle-grade students. Furthermore, emotions exerted no moderating effects on the relationship between moral cognition and epidemic-related attitudes among the gifted elementary students.On the basis of the findings, this study proposes the following recommendations:1. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals may experience slight mood changes due to psychological adjustment to the new normal. In the present study, the students had different perspectives of COVID-19 and thus experienced different emotions. Future studies may investigate the suitable approach and time point for evaluating emotions. The relationship between moral attitudes and behaviors remains to be clarified in an actual classroom setting. Qualitative studies may be conducted to investigate this relationship.2. In terms of moral cognition and attitudes toward the pandemic and patients, middle-grade gifted students appear to experience more negative emotions than do others;this may pose a considerable psychological burden on them. Thus, teachers must provide psychological support and counseling to gifted students with different needs and teach them to actively process and analyze situational information to help them devise strategies for stress relief.3. Enhancing the belief and positive expectation of students regarding social issues may help improve their attitudes toward moral issues, thus improving their ethical behaviors.Alternate abstract:”Chinese”] 本研究旨在探討國小資優生的道德認知、在真實情境的新冠肺炎疫情下對疫情與病患的態度，以及疫情下情緒的現況與差異性，並分析其道德認知與對病患態度之相關及探究其預測情形。本研究以北區國小資優生515人與普通生372人共887人為研究對象，共使用「行為界定問題測驗」、「對新冠肺炎疫情情緒量表」、「新冠肺炎病患態度量表」為研究工具，進行資料蒐集與分析處理。研究之結果如下：一、不同學生類別、不同年級與不同性別之學生在道德認知表現上資優生與普通生無明顯差異；二、不同學生類別、不同年級與不同性別之學生在情緒上的表現在疫情下，普通生「相信」、「害怕」、「驚訝」、「悲傷」高於資優生，中年級資優生「害怕」、「驚訝」、「悲傷」及「討厭」較高年級明顯，而普通班男生「悲傷」之情緒高於女生；三、不同身分、年級與性別之資優生在疫情情境下，對疫情與病患之態度高於普通生，資優生態度高於普通生，高年級資優生與普通生比中年級有較佳的態度；四、新冠肺炎疫情與病患態度之預測及調節效果資優生的道德認知能預測態度，情緒在道德認知和病患態度間不具有調節效果。
ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to explore the effects of the moral cognition of gifted elementary schools students on their attitudes toward COVID-19. The study further investigated the changes in their emotions during the pandemic and the moderating effects of their emotions on the relationship between their moral cognition and attitudes toward patients with COVID-19. Various factors influence the moral cognition of children, such as age, sex, intelligence level, and personality. Moreover, their surrounding environments, particularly home and school environments, strongly affect their moral cognition. Therefore, various studies have explored relevant factors, such as education level, role replacement, peer relationship, family economic status, family structure, family emotion, religious belief, and sociocultural background. Nevertheless, the question regarding the attitudes of gifted children with outstanding potential toward moral issues should be explored. Lovecky (1997) indicated that gifted children are highly concerned about moral issues since childhood and that they have an excellent understanding of moral issues. Compared with their peers with a relatively low level of intelligence, gifted children have an improved understanding of fairness, justice, and responsibility toward he self and others (Gross, 1993), and this thus engenders high levels of moral sensitivity (Piechowski, 1991). Therefore, the question of whether the levels of these students' moral perceptions vary depending on grade, sex, or sociocultural identity warrants exploration. Gifted students differ from others intellectually, socially, emotionally, and physically;however, their ability to cognitively understand moral issues is higher than their ability to emotionally adjust to such issues (Clark, 2002/2007). Accordingly, they need opportunities to discuss moral issues around them and promote their moral growth (Lovecky, 1997). Epidemics exert strong negative effects on the general public;this fact invoked curiosity in the research fraternity regarding the effects of epidemics on gifted students belonging to different grades, sexes, and sociocultural identities. Questions arose regarding the effects of emotions on the moral perceptions of gifted students and whether such effects further affect the students' moral behaviors and attitudes. Studies on moral education in gifted students have not reported any major outcomes;this might be because of the lack of an association between moral cognition and moral practice (Liu, 2002). From an educational perspective, studies have explored the efforts of schools in educating children and constructing their moral cognition;gifted students perform better in making ethical choices than do other students. The COVID-19 may be the first real-life pandemic situation experienced by young students. Therefore, students must receive information related to health and epidemic prevention. The question of whether the attitudes of gifted and ordinary elementary school students vary depending on various factors (grade, sex, and sociocultural identity) in a real setting must be explored. Moreover, whether cognition and attitude are related remains to be determined. Whether the levels of students' moral cognition can help predict their attitudes toward epidemics and diseases also warrants clarification. Accordingly, on the basis of the theory of moral cognition development in children, the present study investigated the current status of moral cognition levels, emotions, and attitudes toward epidemics and patients in gifted and ordinary students and compared the findings between the two cohorts. The study findings may serve as a reference for designing ethics courses for gifted students with special needs in order to cultivate their sense of social responsibility and civic awareness and cultivate the virtues of knowing, loving, and doing good. This study included a total of 887 elementary school students (gifted, 515;ordinary, 372). Three research tools — the Behavior Defining Questions Test, Epidemic and Patien Attitude Scale, and Emotion Scale — were used for data collection and analysis. The results revealed no significant differences between gifted and ordinary students in terms of moral cognitive performance. Regarding the epidemic-related emotions of students belonging to various grades and sexes, this study determined that the ordinary students expressed higher levels of belief, fear, surprise, and sadness than did the gifted students;middle-and higher-grade gifted students expressed fear, surprise, sadness, and disgust;and boys expressed higher levels of sadness than did girls. The levels of moral attitudes toward epidemics and patients were more prominent in the gifted students than in the ordinary students. Upper-grade students exhibited improved attitudes compared with middle-grade students. Furthermore, emotions exerted no moderating effects on the relationship between moral cognition and epidemic-related attitudes among the gifted elementary students. On the basis of the findings, this study proposes the following recommendations: 1. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals may experience slight mood changes due to psychological adjustment to the new normal. In the present study, the students had different perspectives of COVID-19 and thus experienced different emotions. Future studies may investigate the suitable approach and time point for evaluating emotions. The relationship between moral attitudes and behaviors remains to be clarified in an actual classroom setting. Qualitative studies may be conducted to investigate this relationship. 2. In terms of moral cognition and attitudes toward the pandemic and patients, middle-grade gifted students appear to experience more negative emotions than do others;this may pose a considerable psychological burden on them. Thus, teachers must provide psychological support and counseling to gifted students with different needs and teach them to actively process and analyze situational information to help them devise strategies for stress relief. 3. Enhancing the belief and positive expectation of students regarding social issues may help improve their attitudes toward moral issues, thus improving their ethical behaviors. © 2022, National Taiwan Normal University. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
This article draws on case study findings of educator leadership in an online gifted education school, which emerged from a larger study exploring online engagement practices used by specialist gifted education teachers to (re)engage gifted learners. The gifted education teachers and their team leader were interviewed about leadership practices for supporting online engagement of gifted primary and high school students. Semi-structured interview data were transcribed, coded, and thematically analysed. Findings related to teachers voicing the importance of a passionate and committed team leader who understood giftedness and who acted as a facilitator in both the continuous development of teaching team skills and facilitation of online engagement practices for gifted students. Findings indicated five key themes related to transformational leadership practices: (1) understanding requirements of online practices for teaching gifted students, (2) supporting digital and online innovation and creativity for engaging gifted students, (3) leveraging the unique skills of the specialist teaching team for teaching gifted students in the online space, (4) actively facilitating and encouraging (re)engagement of gifted students through online participation, (5) follow-through to meet the needs and concerns of the specialist teaching team, gifted students, and their parents and/or carers. These leadership practices are of importance for actively supporting gifted education teachers and their students in online learning environments in order to achieve positive student engagement and learning outcomes commensurate with student potential.
ABSTRACT
We offered blended learning models for high schools in Nam Dinh province to satisfy Vietnam's new criteria. These models were based on general approaches to issues, theoretical research, and field research based on surveys and anket questionnaires conducted throughout the area. The results of a survey demonstrate that high school teachers in Nam Dinh have gained a fundamental grasp of blended learning and have, in practice, embraced both online and face-to-face instruction, particularly during the height of the Covid-19 outbreak. However, there was not a standard model for blended learning, therefore it was only used by a few persons. In other contexts, the concept of "blended learning" referred to what was effectively a face-to-face session that was broadcast over the Internet without the necessary adjustments being made to the content, methodology, or evaluation. As a result, we offer a number of different ways to blended learning for high schools in Nam Dinh in order to improve the quality of education provided throughout the province.
ABSTRACT
COVID-19 caused widespread changes in how people worked. The education community was dramatically impacted. Teachers were forced to quickly pivot from teaching students in person on-campus to virtually online. Among the challenges educators faced were the inequity of technology access and unreliable internet options. The move to virtual instruction necessitated creative use of educators’ existing technology skills and development of new skills to teach with technology. Among the technologies that teachers continued to use once they returned to the in-person classroom were video conferencing, incorporating student interactions and feedback into visual presentations, and continuing to explore virtual learning experiences outside the classroom. Some educators’ experimentation during the pandemic with different technology options to guide self-directed student learning shows promise for developing gifted students’ talents and interests.
ABSTRACT
COVID-19 has caused a global disturbance, increased anxiety, and panic, eliciting diverse reactions. While its cure has not been discovered, new infection cases and fatalities are being recorded daily. The focus of the present study was to analyze the reaction of gifted undergraduate students on social media during the quarantine period of the COVID-19. A special group of gifted students, who joined the program of attracting and nurturing talents at the University of Jeddah, University students as were the target sample of this study. To analyze online reactions during the pandemic;the choice of university students was arrived at as they are perceived to be gifted academically. Hence, the analysis of the impacts on their behavior on social media use is imperative. This study presented accurate and consistent data on the effects of social media using Twitter platforms on gifted students during the quarantine occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic. The behavior of learners due to during the use of social media was extensively explored and results analyzed. The study was carried out between April and May 2020 (quarantine period in Saudi Arabia) to establish whether the online behavior of gifted students reflects positive or negative feelings. The methods used in conducting this study the research were online interviews and scraping participants' Twitter accounts (where most of the online activities and studies take place). The study employed the Activity theory to analyze the behavior of gifted students on social media. The sample size used was 60 students, and the analysis of their behavior was based on Activity theory Overall, the results showed proactive, positive behavior for coping with a challenging situation, educating society, and entertaining. Finally, this study recommends investing in gifted students due to their valuable problem-solving skills that can help handle global pandemics efficiently.
ABSTRACT
This paper presents the findings from a study conducted to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent school closures on the wellbeing of gifted students and their attitudes towards online (distance) learning. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic circumstances on the parents of gifted children was also explored in this study. Data collection was via semi-structured interviews with gifted students (n = 25) and parents of gifted students (n = 10). This study found that school closures and home isolation resulted in gifted students and their parents experienced a heightened sense of burdened and an increase in the tension within the family. Additionally, changes in the psychological wellbeing of the gifted students were observed. COVID-19 has had a significant disruptive effect on the routines of gifted students, restricting their capacity to move freely and causing them to experience adverse outcomes including sleeping difficulties, loneliness, lack of motivation, and a sense of helplessness. Gifted students also reported generally negative attitude towards online learning, describing it as inadequate, inefficient, and limited in its opportunities to promote student interaction and discussion. This paper also includes suggestions on how support for gifted students can be improved to help them to achieve to their potential both during and after the pandemic. © 2022 International Journal of Education in Mathematics, Science and Technology. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Gifted education coordinators play critical roles in administration and supervision of gifted education and accelerated learning programs in their districts. However, these roles are ill-defined in the literature. During the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders have been called upon to support educators and administrators in a variety of ways. This exploratory study sought to investigate the experiences of district gifted education coordinators during the first year of the pandemic. Qualitative data were collected from a national sample of 11 district gifted education coordinators through semi-structured interviews. An inductive thematic analysis revealed four categories that addressed their roles during this period: (a) professional responsibilities, (b) instructional leadership, (c) program management, and (d) communication and collaboration. The overarching theme across all interviews was the rapid need to pivot and adapt to constant change to ensure equitable access to advanced instruction. Implications for administrators of gifted education programs and areas for future study are addressed.
ABSTRACT
While online distance learning has become more prevalent in Malaysia's higher education system, it is still uncommon in the country's secondary schools, particularly for gifted programmes. Following the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, Malaysia's educational environment was transformed, resulting in the emergence of new prospects for successful distance learning. The purpose of this quantitative research was to determine whether online distance education benefits Malaysian gifted and talented students or not. The study comprised 305 students between the ages of 11 and 17 from a Malaysian gifted school. This research used a five-point Likert scale with a reliability coefficient of 0.94, which was determined to be reliable. After completing a four-week online distance learning course, participants were invited to complete a questionnaire. There were four learning areas in which effectiveness was assessed: learning facilities, assignments, motivation, and computer skills. While gifted students demonstrated a high degree of computer skill, the statistics indicate that online distance learning is moderately successful. Urban students showed a greater potential for online distance learning than rural students. More studies should be conducted on how to enhance online distance learning for gifted students.
ABSTRACT
This qualitative case study examines the perceptions of three elite collegiate athletes and compares their parallel journeys through the school system and their sports programs. Douglas' (1982) theoretical framework is used to identify characteristics in each of the four social relations: fatalist, hierarchical, individualist, and egalitarian. Three research questions were developed to better understand the circumstances and motivation that produce students that underperformed in the classroom and excelled on the practice field. These questions are: how do academically underachieving, gifted, elite male athletes identify on the grid group map in terms of their experiences in the classroom and the practice field;how do academically underachieving, gifted, elite male athletes perceive an ideal culture within a classroom and practice field;and what are the perceived differences between what academically underachieving, gifted, elite male athletes are experiencing versus their imagined culture of an ideal situation? This study used Douglas' (1982) grid and group topology as a map to analyze hundreds of pages of narratives and survey data. This four-phase study was completed October 2020 (in the year of Covid-19). Narrative data from three male participants consisted of 60 volgs, a focus group, 60 surveys, and multiple individual interviews. Criteria for acceptance into the study was being male, having a high school grade point average of less than 2.3, having a standardized test score in the top 20%, being actively recruited by an NCAA Division I team, and currently playing a sport in college. Three culturally diverse players, from a Midwest community college baseball team, participated in this study. Findings from the study indicated that over time, all three participants passed in-and-out through all of Douglas' four social relations. In the school setting, lack of control, mistrust of the teacher, and overt teacher prejudices drew the participants into a fatalistic relation with the teacher and the school system. On the practice field, the hopelessness of the fatalist relation was mostly non-existent. The participants thrived in the individualistic and hierarchical relations, taking responsibility for their actions and coming together as a team for a collaborative purpose. Overall, the participants would like the school culture to mirror the athletic culture regarding choice and trust. One of their needs for both the classroom and the practice field was to have an open, fear-free space to learn from the teacher or coach, and also to learn from each other. One implication for a sports related practice includes a tool used to determine a coaches' ability to be humble and to accurately assess the effectiveness of their own coaching skills;determine the degree with which they receive and reflect on criticism;and their ability to trust in the players' agency to cultivate and make other players better. Another implication of the study is a "modern day" study table developed by and for student-athletes. Further implications in the classroom are for school leaders and teachers to use a form of Harris' (2005) grid and group protocols and key strategies to understand which social relation their school culture identifies with and to reflect on how the fatalist social relation corrupts the system. Lastly, the need for local school districts to understand that gifted programming is an overall engagement tool, not an add-on but a needed component woven within the current curriculum. Leaders at all levels should promote funding from the local, state, and federal levels. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)