The focus of this study was to identify certain characteristics and behaviors unique to students who exhibit exceptional skills in computer technology. Five public schools in Western Pennsylvania were chosen to participate in this study. Within each school, the building principals were asked to identify a focus group of teachers who were likely to be able to discuss with the researcher certain characteristics exhibited by computer talented students. In addition, the technology coordinator from each school was interviewed by the researcher. The data revealed common characteristics that can be attributed to this unique group of students. Implications for policy and practice include the following: These students tend to be good problem solvers and possess divergent thinking skills. They enjoy helping their teachers and fellow students who are having difficulties with computer technology. Their talent is first observed sometime between the second semester of their eighth grade year and their ninth grade year similar to mathematical or athletic talent which also gets noticed during this time period. They tend to prefer to work independently on formal classroom assignments with little or no direction from the teacher. They especially enjoy playing higher order thinking games when using computers in an educational setting. Finally, where some schools create an environment which fosters talent in athletics or music, implications for policy and practice suggest that schools could create an environment which fosters computer talent.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-12182007-093257 |
| Date | 29 January 2008 |
| Creators | Cekada, James Francis |
| Contributors | Charles Gorman, Charlene Trovato, Richard Seckinger, Joseph Werlinich |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-12182007-093257/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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