Multidimensional perfectionism in middle school age gifted students: A comparison to peers from the general cohort

The researchers designed this study to investigate levels of multidimensional perfectionism in identified gifted middle school students and a group of their peers from the general cohort. Gifted students (N = 83) were compared with the general cohort (N = 112) from a Southeastern rural middle school (grades 6 through 8). One‐way analyses of variance were used to determine whether gifted and general cohort students differed on measures of adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism. Results revealed that gifted students had significantly higher standards scores, a measure of adaptive perfectionism, and significantly lower discrepancy scores, a measure of maladaptive perfectionism. These results suggest that gifted students are more perfectionistic (i.e., hold higher personal standards) than general cohort students. However, the results do not support the contention that gifted students experience distress or maladjustment from their higher levels of perfectionism (e.g., Maxwell, 1995).     

A reading program for gifted high school students

Many of the basic principles of future studies are closely related to the objectives and approaches of gifted education. Including future studies as an integral part of a gifted education curriculum would give added meaning to these programs.     

Comparing overexcitabilities of gifted and non‐gifted 10th grade students in Turkey

The study compares overexcitability scores of Turkish 10th graders who are grouped in terms of their intellectual abilities, motivation, creativity and leadership as well as gender. 711 students who were administered Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices Test (APM) were divided into three intellectual ability categories. From this pool, 105 subjects were selected as the sample of the study. Teacher Observation and Evaluation Form (TOEF) was used for categorizing students in terms of motivation, creativity and leadership. On the other hand, Overexcitability Questionnaire (OEQ) was administered to the sample for assessing their overexcitabilities. According to the findings of the study, overexcitability scores of highly intelligent, motivated, creative and leader students in some overexcitability areas are significantly greater than those of their lower counterparts. No gender differences are found in regard to overexcitabilities.     

Enrichment programming for gifted and talented high school students

The author describes a special program for gifted and talented high school students that is based on Renzulli's Enrichment Triad Model. In the Seminar I class for freshmen, enrichment activities emphasize training in research and computer skills. Sophomores, juniors, and seniors in the Seminar II class spend more time on Type III projects.     

The self experience of the gifted person: Theory and definitions

Recent articles on the gifted self are characterized by theoretical confusion and lack of definitional clarity. This article, anchored in current self psychology theory, defines the self experience as the person's subjective experience of organization and meaning, the maintenance of which is crucial to normal functioning. Interactions with others are a formative part of the self experience. Traits of giftedness, and the reactions of others to these, contribute to the gifted self experience. Social and emotional problems of giftedness, such as those that arise with asynchronous development and perfectionism, are based on a compromised sense of cohesion and unity of the self experience.     

A comparison of multiple facets of self-concept in gifted vs. non-identified Israeli students

This study compares facets of self-concept in gifted and non-identified Israeli adolescent students. The self-concept mean score profile of gifted vs. non-selected Israeli students was significantly different, with gifted students reporting higher mean levels of academic self-concept, but lower mean levels of social, personal, and physical self-concepts when compared with their non-identified counterparts. Overall, gifted students showed different patterns of self-concept than their peers. The data are discussed in view of theory and past research in the gifted literature.     

A comparison of learning and motivation among high school students

The academic performance of minority high school students, particularly in urban inner-city settings, is of great interest to educators and individuals concerned with the academic development of these students. It is widely recognized that in order to positively influence academic achievement related factors such as learning and study behavior, motivation, attitudes, self-concept, and other pertinent psychosocial characteristics should also be targeted for positive change. The present study compared 20 sophomore students who participated in a special program and 128 of their nonprogram peers on achievement and related measures. The program at a target high school was structured to positively impact achievement, as well as related student behavior and attributes. Significant differences were found on achievement, attendance, learning and study behavior and skills, self-concept, and other pertinent psychosocial attributes.     

A comparison of Korean and American secondary school textbooks: the case of quadratic equations

This study compares quadratic equations sections of Korean and American textbooks. The number of topics, contents and mathematics items were analyzed. The results show Korean students learn some topics relatively earlier than American students. American textbooks include more problems requiring explanations and various representations and problems requiring higher level cognitive demand. This result could indicate that textbooks might not be the reason for American and Korean students’ performances in international comparative studies. More studies analyzing other standards based textbooks and teaching practice might be needed to have further understanding of mathematics education in two countries.     

Motivation in high school science students: A comparison of gender differences in life,physical, and earth science classes

The aims of this study were to examine self‐efficacy and other motivation variables among high school science students (n = 502); to determine the degree to which each of the four hypothesized sources of self‐efficacy makes an independent contribution to students' science self‐efficacy beliefs; to examine possible differences between life, physical, and Earth science classes; and to investigate patterns of gender differences that may vary among the fields of science. In Earth science classes, girls earned higher grades and reported stronger science self‐efficacy. In life science classes, girls earned higher grades but did not report stronger self‐efficacy, and did report higher science anxiety. In physical science, there were no gender differences in grades or self‐efficacy, but girls again reported higher levels of science anxiety. For boys across science fields, science self‐efficacy significantly predicted course grades and mastery experiences was the only significant predictor of self‐efficacy. For girls, self‐efficacy was also the strongest predictor of science grade across fields. Mastery experiences significantly predicted self‐efficacy in Earth science for girls, but social persuasions, vicarious experiences, and physiological states were better predictors of science self‐efficacy in life and physical science classes. Results support (Bandura, A., 1997) hypothesized sources of self‐efficacy, previous research findings on self‐efficacy in the domain of science, and validate the suggestion made by Lau and Roeser (2002) to disaggregate data by science field. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 955–970, 2008     

Impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on gifted and non-gifted primary school students' well-being and motivation from a self-determination perspective

This study examined the impact of the COVID-19-induced school lockdown on need satisfaction, well-being and motivation in both gifted and non-gifted primary school students in the Netherlands. A total of 312 parents (122 from gifted children) participated. The lockdown had mainly negative effects on students' need satisfaction, well-being and motivation. However, the impact of the lockdown was less negative for gifted students. There was also a levelling effect: Before the lockdown, gifted students had lower need satisfaction, well-being and motivation than their non-gifted peers, but these differences decreased during the lockdown due to (stronger) declines in the non-gifted. Changes in non-gifted students' well-being and motivation, because of the lockdown, were negatively mediated by autonomy and relatedness with classmates. Among the gifted, this was positively mediated by competence. Only before the lockdown, the effects of giftedness on well-being and motivation were mediated by autonomy and relatedness satisfaction.     

从高中体育竞赛谈体育特长生教育问题

我国竞技体育水平已位居世界前列,对于竞技体育后备人才的选拔和培养已备受重视,中学的竞技体育也越来越受重视,项目逐渐增多,体育特长生成为中学教育学生中一个较为特殊的群体,中学教育是一个非常重要的阶段,在很大程度上决定了学生是否能进入高等院校继续学习,体育竞赛要花费大量时间进行训练,势必要与正常学业相冲突,因此怎样因材施教对体育特长生进行教育是一个继续解决的问题。     

Family systems as predictors of career attitude maturity for Korean high school students

This study examined the relationships between family systems and high school students’ career development. Family adaptability and family cohesion were considered as indicators of family function, and career attitude maturity was conceptualized as a representative factor explaining adolescents’ career development. A total of 634 high school students participated in this study. Overall, the results showed that family adaptability and family cohesion were both significant predictors of tenth graders’ career attitude maturity. The effects of parents’ educational backgrounds on career attitude maturity were negligible. However, the relationships were inconsistent across gender. For female students, family cohesion was a more influential predictor of career attitude maturity than family adaptability, while the opposite pattern was observed for the male students.     

A comparison of the health knowledge of hearing-impaired and hearing high school students

A health knowledge questionnaire was administered to 139 hearing and 66 hearing-impaired high school students from 12 to 18 years of age. The level of health knowledge of the normally-hearing students was found to be superior to that of hearing-impaired students at all ages but appeared not to improve with increasing school grade. In contrast, the health knowledge of the hearing-impaired students increased markedly from Grade 8 to Grade 12, so that by Grade 12 they were achieving only marginally below their hearing grade mates. Some of this apparent increase in health knowledge probably was due to the fact that only academically able hearing-impaired students continue at school in Australia after Grade 10. Deficits in the health knowledge of hearing-impaired students were distributed uniformly over all areas investigated.     

An implementation and outcome evaluation of a multicomponent sexuality education programme for high school students

Numerous classroom-based interventions have aimed to improve sexual health outcomes for young people, yet few have shown strong, lasting effects. Ecological approaches that address multiple levels of a young person’s environment offer largely untapped potential to positively change sexual behaviour. This paper presents results of a cluster-randomised trial of a multicomponent sexuality education intervention that integrated a classroom curriculum, parent education workshops and materials, peer advocate programme, and sexual health services at 10 urban high schools. An implementation evaluation, employing quantitative and qualitative instruments, was conducted to examine whether the individual components of the intervention were delivered as planned and how they were received by the target populations. Multilevel modelling was used to evaluate the effect of the multicomponent intervention on outcomes at one-year follow-up. Results showed that the intervention components were successfully implemented with and well received by target populations. Students receiving the multicomponent intervention reported greater increases in the use of sexual health services (odds ratio [OR] = 1.73, 95% CI = 1.09–2.75) and the likelihood of carrying a condom (OR = 2.71, 95% CI = 1.44–5.09) relative to those receiving a control condition. No effects were found for other behaviours, possibly due to low prevalence of sexual activity in the sample and the small number of schools randomised.     

高一学生化学学习的性别差异研究

研究了高一学生在化学学业成绩、兴趣和态度、期望、自我归因、问题解决方式等方面的性别差异,分析造成差异的原因,提出减小性别差异、促进学生学习的有效策略。     

A sociometric comparison of mainstreamed,orthopedically handicapped high school students and nonhandicapped classmates

This study explored the sociometric status of orthopedically handicapped (OH) high school students in mainstreamed classrooms. Twenty-nine students in mainstreamed classrooms (e.g., spina bifida or other paralysis, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy) were compared with randomly selected classmates on the Peer Rating Scale (PRS), a class-administered sociometric scale. The OH group received significantly higher scores on 2 of 12 PRS factors, as well as directionally higher scores on 8 others. These were interpreted as reflecting either genuine liking and admiration for mainstreamed OH high school students or, alternatively, a “defensive” inability on the part of peers to express base-rate negative feelings toward the orthopedically handicapped. Recommendations for future research are made.     

A comparison of scientific epistemological views between mainland China and Taiwan high school students

This study investigates the similarities and differences between high school students from Taiwan and China in terms of their scientific epistemological views. In addition, the effects of age and gender on scientific epistemological views were also examined. The results indicate that the students from these two localities, which signify two similar yet different cultures, are substantially different in five out of the six dimensions. Age and gender were also found to have significant effects in some dimensions. Implications for future research were discussed at the end of the paper.     

A comparison of regular program and vocational program junior high school students on affective dimensions

The hypothesis that young adolescents in vocational education programs would differ from young adolescents in a regular program along several affective dimensions was examined. The Today Form of the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List (MAACL) was administered twice during the school year to 111 students in a vocational program and to 50 students in regular classrooms. Dimensions of Anxiety, Depression, and Hostility were examined. Significant main effects for all three dimensions were noted for school program (regular vs. CVAE) and for grade (seventh vs. eighth). Students in the vocational program and those in seventh grade scored higher on Anxiety, Depression, and Hostility. These differences persisted across time, with the exception of Depression, for which there was a significant interaction between time (pretest vs. posttest) and school program (regular vs. CVAE), with regular students reporting increased depression at the second testing.