The purpose of this research was to investigate career development of gifted and regular elementary school students. Students in grades four through six from a university laboratory school were examined by ability, grade level, and gender in several areas of interests, using the Holland (1985a) Theory of Vocational Personalities and Work Environments.The Self-Directed Search - Form E (SDS-E; Holland, 1985b) and The Occupational Alternatives Questions (OAQ; Slaney, 1980) were administered to 148 students, 34 of which had been identified as gifted. Holland (1985b) SDS codes were assigned to the SDS obtained scores and the stated occupational choices. Prestige of occupational choices were also assigned, using the socioeconomic index of Stevens and Cho (1985).Demographic variables and hypotheses were tested by MANOVA and ANOVA statistical procedures to determine the nature of relationships between variables.Results indicated overall significant main effects in the MANOVA of obtained SDS codes for the independent variables of grade, sex, and ability. Males scored higher than females on the Realistic code. Females scored higher on the Artistic and Social codes. Gifted students scored higher on the Investigative code. On the ANOVA of the differential variable, there were significant differences by grade and sex, with fifth grade students and females more highly differentiated. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Access to abstract restricted until 12/14/2015. / Access to thesis restricted until 12/14/2015. / Department of Educational Psychology

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Michigan, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 247-265). Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 197-210). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 197-210). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Central Florida, 2007. / Adviser: Paul Dombrowski. Includes bibliographical references (p. 149-159). Also available in print.

Recognizing the important role that classroom teachers play in the referral of students for possible gifted education in many U. S. schools, this study questioned elementary classroom teachers in grades K through 5 to learn about their perceptions of what "giftedness" is. Teachers responded to two questionnaires to define both their general and their specific perceptions of giftedness. Early in the school year the teachers chose from a list of twenty recognized giftedness traits the four that best defined the term for them In the spring, after the same teachers had referred specific students for testing for the gifted program, they selected the four most prominent gifted traits shown by each referred student. Results showed a teacher efficiency rate of 43.4%, equal to or above that of previous research. Among the four traits teachers most often selected as the ones indicating either general or specific giftedness to them, three were identical. Teacher years of experience, grade level taught by the teacher, and the presence or absence of gifted classes at the teacher's school did not significantly affect teacher perceptions of important traits. Student gender was a significant variable in selection of traits. The #1 trait for boys was advanced logic and problem solving ability; for girls it was advanced reading and/or writing ability. School socioeconomic level was also a significant variable. Teachers judged advanced logic and problem solving ability more important for the high or middle SES student than for the low SES student, whether they considered traits of giftedness in general or specific children. Student race/ethnicity was a significant factor also. Racial and ethnic minorities were referred and, generally, passed the screening in such relatively small numbers that the data did not lend themselves to further analysis. Teachers demonstrated consistency and efficiency in gifted identification. It was recommended that this school system address issues of possible gender and SES bias that might be influencing teachers' perceptions and that the system consider a method other than an IQ score as the final qualifying instrument for entry into the program for gifted students.

published_or_final_version / Speech and Hearing Sciences / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

The purpose of this study was to investigate solution strategies that Thai second graders used to solve addition and subtraction word problems. Fifty-eight children participated in this study, 40 children took a written test, and 18 children participated in an interview. In addition, two classrooms were selected for observation, and six second-grade teachers completed a questionnaire regarding their understanding of mathematical problem solving. The results indicated that Thai children in this study were successful in solving addition and subtraction word problems. For addition word problems, the compare problem and the join problem were the easiest problems. The combine problem was moderately difficult. For subtraction word problems, the compare problem and the separate problem were easy while the combine problem was difficult. The join problem was the most difficult subtraction word problem. Since word problems used in this study contained mostly two-digit numbers, Thai children in this study used knowledge such as borrowing, carrying and regrouping to solve two-digit addition and subtraction word problems. Most Thai children in this study used counting strategies with fingers to solve both addition and subtraction word problems. Counting on strategies were most often used for addition word problems and counting up strategies were most often used for subtraction word problems. Counting all strategies were not used by Thai children in this study. Other strategies that were not based on counting strategies were also found. Those strategies were using tallies, using a known number fact, using an invented fingers model, and using a base-ten strategy. The strategies that Thai children used to solve word problems were not different from those used by children in United States and other countries such as Korea. Most children used three basic strategies to solve word problems: counting strategies; using a known number fact; and using a base-ten strategy. However, the base-ten strategy was not usually used by children in United States. The base-ten strategy was used by Thai children in this study and in Asia countries such as Korea. Moreover, the findings showed that Thai children in this study used mostly fingers to represent counting sequences while children in the United States used other physical objects such as cubes and counters. In observing Thai classroom instruction and having Thai teachers complete the questionnaire, the results suggested that Thai teachers in this study viewed problems as routine word problems and viewed problem solving as solving routine word problems. Teachers did not emphasize problem solving, reasoning, and thinking skills. As a result, children developed memorizing skills rather than thinking and reasoning skills. Children had never explored different types of word problems and non-routine problems, so when the children were faced with problems that differed from their school mathematics instruction, for the most part, children were unable to solve the problems. / Graduation date: 1999