Gifted children possess incredible abilities and talents. In spite of this, some gifted learners academically underachieve and are at-risk for not completing high school. In the area of gifted student underachievement, research has not provided education stakeholders with concrete answers as to why these students underachieve or provided the best intervention strategies to help these students succeed. These shortcomings have not prevented researchers from further exploring gifted student underachievement, and the focus of current research is based on the lack of student motivation due to boredom in academic tasks which are not challenging or engaging. A reciprocal relationship could possibly exist between motivation and academic engagement. This relationship could ultimately influence academic achievement. A shift in pedagogical strategy from a teacher-centered environment to a student-centered environment may have to occur to facilitate student motivation and engagement. This shift can be made by integrating technology into the gifted student curriculum. The integration of technology has demonstrated to be a viable student centered teaching strategy, supporting gifted students' cognitive abilities. This research study investigated the effects of a Multi-User Virtual Environment (MUVE), River City, on the motivation and academic achievement of underachieving gifted seventh-grade science students. Research results revealed the students using the MUVE had significantly higher overall intrinsic motivation and science intrinsic motivation than the control group. Results also revealed the experimental group did not have significantly higher academic achievement than the control group. These findings impact the field of gifted education by providing an intervention strategy for the target population; contribute to the field's knowledge base by demonstrating that River City can be used to increase the science intrinsic motivation of the target population, and to conduct further studies. These results also contribute to professional practice by providing educators with a pedagogical strategy that increases science intrinsic motivation in underachieving gifted seventh graders. Implications for future research involve replicating the study for more than 10 weeks and investigating the use of subject specific MUVEs. Recommendations comprise transitioning toward a student-centered environment, using alternative forms of assessment, and the school district providing more professional development in the use of MUVEs.

La recherche qui nourrit notre réflexion porte sur les rapports aux savoirs scolaires des élèves en difficulté. Ces élèves qui prennent un malin plaisir à déstabiliser les cours, saboter toute initiative de travail leur demandant un effort concret, arrivent parfois à gérer les situations de conflits, lorsqu’enfin ils piochent, au fin fond du chaudron de tous ces savoirs à leurs yeux insipides, l’exercice au goût du plaisir. Les élèves changent, ou peuvent changer leur mode de fonctionnement au point même de s’investir dans une démarche qui les nourrit. Pourquoi cet engouement nouveau ? Pour éclairer cette question, nous leur avons donné la parole afin qu’ils expriment ce qui les anime dans certaines activités pédagogiques et ce qu’ils espèrent de l’école et de ses activités disciplinaires liées au français. Pour démêler la complexité des liens qui unissent l’élève et les éléments de savoirs scolaires, nous nous appuyons sur deux concepts théoriques : les rapports au savoir que nous articulons avec la théorie des représentations sociales. Pour ce faire, nous avons créé comme outil d’observation de la motivation à faire, un atelier de création littéraire qui allie créativité et connaissances scolaires. / This research concerns the report in the knowledge especially of the underachieving students. These pupils who are disruptive, do not like making the school work. They refuse any effort. But sometimes they decide to participate when the work suits them. We notice that this students change their behavior especially when they make creative task. Why this change? To answer this question, we handed over to them, so that they can express themselves. Then, we have analyzed their speech through two concepts: the social representations and reports (relationships) in the knowledge. Supported by the two theories we can fetch what are the factors of their investment in the work school and creative task. To this end, we created a studio of lite creation to observe their investment in the creative task.

The low achievement rates of certain groups of students have become an increasingly perplexing problem for American educators. Since reading development and achievement in mathematics are particularly crucial and are scrutinized by educators and the public, educators are eager to find curricular programs and teaching approaches that help all students to succeed. This study evaluated the efficacy of a particular literacy program designed to increase the academic achievement rates of low achieving students. One purpose of this study was to examine the implementation and effectiveness of a Reading Styles literacy program at a single school site. A second purpose of this study was to compare the achievement scores of traditionally underachieving African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans from the Reading Styles program school, and a sample of matched students from the same school district. This study utilized a case study research design with ex post facto elements. The implementation of the Reading Styles program was successful given the achievement growth of the experimental students over their district control group counterparts in reading and math applications, in most instances. Teachers in this study were given extensive training and feedback while they worked as a staff to change their teaching styles. As a result, they created classroom environments where students were more motivated to read, were given more informal work areas in which to complete work, and had ample opportunities to do their work within their preferred style, such as tactile or kinesthetic. Also, the achievement growth of the experimental school students might have been more extensive had all the teachers fully implemented the program across all subject areas.