published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Utilizing elements of Lightfoot and Davis’s (1997) portraiture method and life history interviews, this qualitative research study explores the portraits of four Mexican-origin scholarship boys. Two Mexican-origin students and two professors were selected from a snowball sample. A snowball sample consisted of gathering referrals from graduate students and faculty who contacted me through email to comment on their personal identification with the scholarship boy themes discussed in the essay I authored, "Lost in Degree: a Chicano PhD Student’s Search for Missing Clothes" (2007). I use the term “Mexican-origin” as a concept that identifies the subjects of this study as being of Mexican descent. All of the participants were born and raised in low SES, urban settings in the United States and they are children of Mexican-born parents. Hoggart’s (1957/2006) scholarship boy framework serves as the primary theoretical lens guiding this work. Rodriguez’s (1982) seminal work on this topic, Hunger of Memory, enumerates how this concept may apply to Mexican-origin scholarship boys. This study also utilizes Dubois’s (1903) double consciousness and Anzaldúa’s (1999) mestiza consciousness to analyze the ways in which Mexican-origin scholarship boys used culturally situated constructions of giftedness, “ghetto nerd” (Diaz, 2007) masculinities, and philosophical perspectives related to “home” to pursue academic excellence and cope/challenge the microgressions they experienced in K-12 schooling and higher education. The scholarship boys in this research provide critical information germane to the struggles and strategies used by academically successful Mexican-origin students as they negotiate the experiences related to the contrasting working-class culture of their upbringing and the middle-class culture of academia. While studies often focus on academically low-performing Latino students, this work explores the narratives of working-class Latino students who attained a graduate level education. Moreover, this research complicates clean “victory narratives” by unearthing various aspects of loss and gain inherent to the Mexican-origin scholarship boy trajectory. Findings inform scholarship in the areas of pedagogy, education reform, philosophy of education, education policy, curriculum, and revisionist conceptualizations of giftedness and human development. / text

Intelligence and creativity are concepts used to describe the efforts of human beings to achieve the highest aspirations of the human brain-mind-spirit system.Howard Gardner, intelligence and creativity researcher, applied his Multiple Intelligence theory to case studies of creative masters from seven intelligence domains developing a template for research: Life Course Perspective: A Framework for Creativity Analysis. The framework consists of four sections: Child and Master, Creation of a Work, an Analysis of Creativity, The Creator and the Field, and Fruitful Asynchronicity. This case study uses Gardner's framework in examining cognition and creativity in a Navajo/Dineh university student creating in fine arts and nominated in bodily-kinesthetic and intra-personal intelligence. This explorative case study reveals that he also excels in other intelligence domains: linguistic and spatial. Meta-cognitive interviews with the case study subject, and his notebooks provide the data sources concerning his cognition and his creativity.Indigenous educators and researchers assert that there is a discernible difference in perspectives concerning western science conceptions and Indigenous experience. This research discovered points of resonance as well as tangential trajectories of cultural difference from Gardner's research conclusions. Discoveries in this exploration confirm the importance of culture and zeitgeist in knowledge development, pedagogy, schoolingand the creativity process. Emerging themes emanating from these discoveries areChild of the Holy People, Sacred Geography, and Fruitful Asynchronicity from an Indigenous Perspective.Conclusions from this inductive research support Gardner's framework in the cultural study of cognition and creativity, underscores the value of Multiple Intelligence theory, and provide examples of praxis consonant with Indigenous learning processes for Gifted & Talented Education. The American Indigenous symbiotic and synergetic perspectives are novel in the examination of intelligence and creativity in the American education system. The American Indian perspectives are possibly prophetic as they proceed beyond culture and Gifted education intersecting and informing other fields: psychology, educational anthropology, philosophy, and Indigenous studies both in American populations as well as Indigenous gifted students worldwide.

This is a case study of the learning of physical science of a high achiever, selected on the assumption that instruction in learning strategies and styles used by successful learners may improve learning effectiveness of less successful learners. Operating in an interpretive paradigm, qualitative data was gathered by participant observation aimed at sensing the complexities of the case. A rich, holistic description is given, enabling readers to form naturalistic generalisations of their own. The data corpus spans three years and is composed of audio-recorded lessons and interviews, field notes and written material. Data collection, analysis and interpretation were done in an inductive, cyclic manner, guided by research questions about learning strategies used by the learner, instructional strategies used by the teacher, and the roles played by intrinsic factors, practical work and problem solving, in contributing to effective learning of physical science by the high achiever. The study implies that effective learning, even by the highly intelligent, involves struggle and requires the use of a variety of strategies. This fits a constructivist, rather than transmissionist, view of learning, and thus supports learner-centered transformations in South African education. The learner is interpreted to be intrinsically motivated by interest and a high regard for knowledge precision, elegance, and transferability, to use a large number of learning strategies, particularly while solving open-ended problems and performing practical investigations, in order to come to a deep understanding of physical science. The study suggests that teaching children how to learn, particularly by addressing their outlook on learning and introducing them to a variety of strategies, should be an aim of physical science instruction, and that interesting, open-ended, learner-centered tasks should be used in attempts to induce self-regulated learning. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

Denna studie handlar om de barn som tycker att skolan är väldigt lätt och om deras rätt att få stimuleras och utvecklas utifrån deras behov. Syftet med mitt arbete är att ta reda på hur pedagoger uppfattar dessa begåvade elever och hur de arbetar för att stötta dem på ett pedagogiskt utvecklande sätt. Efter att ha gått igenom relevant litteratur inom mitt område så använde jag mig av kvalitativa intervjuer för att få svar på mina frågeställningar och genomförde intervjuer med tre verksamma pedagoger. Mina slutsatser blev att begåvade barn inte är något som det pratas mycket om och att det kanske är lätt att det fokuseras för lite på denna elevgrupp. Mina respondenter hade svårt att skilja på begåvade och högpresterande barn men menade att ett begåvat barn är ett barn som lär sig väldigt snabbt utan några hinder. Alla mina intervjupersoner visade dock en medvetenhet kring vikten av att möta varje individ där hen befinner sig och de menade att man tillsammans med eleven måste finna vad just den eleven behöver arbeta med för att fortsätta utvecklas. Alla barn har rätt att stimuleras och tycka att skolan är viktig och lärorik. / This study is about the children who think that school is very easy and about their right to be stimulated and develop based on their needs. The purpose of my study is to find out how teachers perceive these gifted students and how they are working to support them in an educational developmental way. After going through the relevant literature in my field I used qualitative interviews to answer my questions and conducted interviews with three working teachers. My conclusions are that gifted children are not something that is discussed and it’s easy to forget to focus on this group of students. My respondents found it difficult to distinguish between gifted and high-performing pupils but said that a gifted child is a child who learns very quickly without any obstacles. All my interviewees, however, showed an awareness of the importance of meeting each individual on their level. They also said that they, together with the pupil, have to find out what that particular pupil needs to work on to continue to develop. All children have the right to be stimulated and to think that school is important and educational.

This study was an investigation of profile patterns on WISC-III subtest scores of Canadian gifted children. Profiles of students were compared to core profile types identified by Glutting, McDermott, and Konold (1997) and Konold, Glutting, McDermott, Kush, and Watkins (1999). From the literature reviewed, it was felt that conducting a profile analysis based on empirical research would override some of the criticisms inherent in the practice of profile analysis The sample consisted of 88 children ages 6 through 13 years. Subjects were included who scored at least 120 on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III). Sixty of the participants were gathered from Choice School; the remaining 28 were from the Psychoeducational Research and Training Centre at the University of British Columbia. The results of the profile analysis indicated that 34% of the cases were considered to be clinically unique or rare. The profile analysis of the entire sample of Canadian gifted students indicated that a much higher percentage of profiles were considered to be clinically unique or rare when compared to the normative sample. Future research needs to include larger samples of gifted children.

Promoting Mathematical Understanding Through Open-Ended Tasks; Experiences of an Eighth-Grade Gifted Geometry Class by Carol H. Taylor Gifted students of mathematics served through acceleration often lack the opportunities to engage in challenging, complex investigations involving higher-level thinking. This purpose of this study was to examine the ways mathematically gifted students think about and do mathematics creatively as indicators of deep understanding through collaborative work on four open-ended tasks with high-level cognitive demand. The study focused on the mathematical thinking involved in students’ construction of mathematical understanding through the social interaction of group problem solving. This case study used ethnographic methodology within a social constructivist frame with gifted education and sociocultural contextual influences. Participants were 15 gifted students in an 8th-grade gifted geometry class. Data collection included field notes, student artifacts, student journal entries, audio recordings, and reflections. Transcribed audio recordings were segmented (Tesch, 1990) into phases of interaction, coded by function, then coded by levels of exhibited mathematical thinking from observable cognitive actions (Dreyfus, Hershkowitz, & Schwarz, 2001; Williams, 2000; Wood, Williams, & McNeal, 2006), and analyzed for maintenance or decline of high-level cognitive demand (Stein, Smith, Henningsen, & Silver, 2000). Interpretive data analysis was connected to data analysis of transcribed recordings. Results indicated social interaction among students enabled them to talk through the mathematics to understand mathematical concepts and relationships, to construct more complex meaning, and exhibit mathematical creativity, inventiveness, flexibility, and originality. Students consistently exhibited these characteristics indicating mathematical thinking at the levels of building-with analyzing, building-with synthetic-analyzing, building-with evaluative-analyzing, constructing synthesizing, and occasionally constructing evaluating (Dreyfus et al., 2001; Williams, 2000; Wood et al., 2006). The results of the study support the claim of a relationship between mathematical giftedness and the ability to abstract and generalize (Sriraman, 2003), provide evidence that given the opportunity, students can construct deep mathematical understanding, and indicate the importance of social interaction in the construction of knowledge. This study adds to the body of knowledge needed in research on gifted education, problem solving, small-group interaction, mathematical thinking, and mathematical understanding, through empirically assessed classroom practice (Friedman-Nima et al., 2005; Good, Mulryan, & McCaslin, 1992; Hiebert & Carpenter, 1992; Lester & Kehle, 2003; Phillipson, 2007; Wood, Williams, & McNeal, 2006).

<p>Programs for gifted students have been criticized for narrowly defining giftedness as merely cognitive or academic performance. Teacher referrals are usually an important component of identifying gifted students. Teacher perceptions, low expectations, and lack of cultural competence are perceived as barriers to the access of Gifted and Talented Education programs for African American students. This study examined the impact of teachers&rsquo; knowledge of Gardner&rsquo;s Multiple Intelligence Theory (Gardner, 1983, 2006, 2011) on their perception of giftedness in the referral of African American students to Gifted and Talented Education programs. Research questions were: (a) What is teachers&rsquo; knowledge of the current district criteria for referral of students to Gifted and Talented programs? (b) Are there differences in the conceptions of referral criteria of teachers with training in MI Theory vs. teachers without training in MI Theory? (c) Are there differences in teacher attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs on giftedness in teachers having training in MI Theory vs. teachers having no training in MI Theory? (d) How do cultural factors impact teacher perceptions of giftedness in African American students, in teachers with training in MI Theory vs. teachers without training in MI Theory, and the referral of African American students to Gifted and Talented Education programs? Using a mixed-methods approach, a quasi-experimental design and qualitative inquiry were utilized. Findings indicated that all teachers demonstrated limited knowledge of district referral criteria. However, teachers having MI Theory training demonstrated greater knowledge of the district&rsquo;s Alternative Referral and Identification Criteria. Conceptual differences were found in the need for alternative pathways such as peer nominations. Findings noted differences for teachers having training in MI Theory with greater knowledge of characteristics of giftedness and the impact of that knowledge on cultural factors relating to students&rsquo; use of non-standard English in the perception of giftedness. Greater focus on leadership is needed in the current federal definition of giftedness. Overall, findings suggested that training in Multiple Intelligence Theory provides a framework for greater understanding of the multifaceted attributes of intelligence, which may result in greater opportunities to identify non-traditional areas of giftedness in African American students. </p>

Tyrimo tikslas – nustatyti gabių mokinių intelekto ir nerimo sąsajas keturioliktaisiais – penkioliktaisiais gyvenimo metais. Šiuo darbu siekiama nustatyti ar gabūs mokiniai patiria aukštesnį nerimo lygį, juos lyginant su vidutinius gabumus turinčiais mokiniais ir ar geriau besimokantys vaikai patiria aukštesnį nerimo lygį lyginant su prasčiau besimokančiais vaikais. Taip pat buvo siekiama sužinoti ar vaikų mokymosi pažangumas priklauso nuo tėvų mokslinių pasiekimų ir ar gabių moksleivių tėvai yra labiau išsilavinę. Tyrimas buvo atliekamas naudojant R. Amthauerio IST-70 testą, vaikų intelektui nustatyti, nerimo lygiui nustatyti buvo naudotas T. A. Нeмчин „Nerimo pasireiškimo skalės“ antrasis testas. Šiomis metodikomis buvo ištirti vienos Kauno gimnazijos 199 mokiniai iš 8 devintųjų klasių, 3 anketos buvo atmestos, dėl neatsakytų klausimų. Gabiųjų mokinių kategorijai buvo priskirti tie mokiniai, kurių IQ lygus arba didesni už 115. Tyrimas atskleidė, kad nerimo lygis nesusijęs su tuo ar vaikas yra gabus, ar pasižymi vidutiniais gebėjimais, statistiškai reikšmingas skirtumas nestebimas (p>0,05). 44,4% geriau besimokančių mokinių patiria aukštą nerimo lygį kai tuo tarpu aukštą nerimo lygį patiria tik 25,3% prasčiau besimokančių mokinių, šios grupės statistiškai reikšmingai skiriasi (p<0,019). Tyrimas atskleidė, kad moksleivių intelektiniai gebėjimai nesusiję su lyties faktoriumi, bet nerimo lygis susijęs – mergaitės pasižymi didesniu nerimu nei berniukai (p<0,0001). Buvo nustatyta... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The aim of the work is to determine a connection between intellect and anxiety of gifted pupils of age 14-15 and to find out whether gifted pupils experience a higher level of anxiety compared to pupils of the average talent, as well as whether pupils who learn well are more anxious than pupils who learn worse. This Master’s thesis also aims to analyze whether pupils’ progressiveness depends on their parents’ study achievements and whether pupils who learn well have better educated parents. R. Amthauer test (IST-70) was used to measure children’s intellect level and T. A. Нeмчин second test of The Scale of Anxiety Manifest was used to measure children’s anxiety level. These methods were used in a survey involving 199 9th year pupils from one Kaunas gymnasium, 3 questionnaires were rejected due to unanswered questions. Pupils, who IQ were equal or more than 115, were classified to gifted children. The research showed that the level of anxiety does not depend on whether a child is gifted or has an average talent, a statistically significant difference was not observed (p>0,05). 44,4 % of pupils who learn well experience a high level of anxiety compared to only 25,3 % of pupils who learn worse and also experience a high level of anxiety, a statistically significant difference was observed (p<0,019). The research also revealed that pupils’ intellectual capabilities do not depend on sex, but the level of anxiety does: girls are more anxious than boys (p<0,0001). It was established... [to full text]

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