TED University
Faculty of Education
"Are gifted and talented children challenge-pursuers?”
By
Dr. Burcu Seher ÇALIKOĞLU
Date: May 30 2017, Tuesday
Time: 14:00-14:30
Place: D126
Abstract: While challenge is a sin-a-quo for the gifted education, it is questionable if challenge-seeking is an inner characteristic of the gifted. This paper aims at finding an answer to this question: Are gifted and talented children challenge-pursuers?
The study sample consisted of 52 fifth and sixth grades of gifted and talented students and 92 randomly chosen fifth and sixth grades of undiagnosed students who both attend to the same district of Istanbul, Turkey. This study is part of a wider research which was conducted for the aim of describing challenge-oriented types of behaviors among 5th, 6th and 7th graders settled in İstanbul, Turkey. Participants completed Student Information Sheet and Challenge Performance Test in their classrooms, which took approximately 15 minutes. Two groups of students are compared according to their challenge acceptance-rejection behaviors determined by Challenge Performance Test. Data were analyzed using t-test and chi square. As expected, it was found that gifted students preferred more challenging questions and became more successful compared to students who are undiagnosed. However, when two groups of students became successful or unsuccessful for the level they preferred, how challenge-oriented behaviors of two groups differed was thought-provoking in terms of re-defining the characteristics of giftedness.