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14 Gifted and Faced with a Problem: The Ase of (Meta)Cognitive and Affective Strategies

Dutch gifted students frequently have underdeveloped metacognitive strategies. Complex tasks, such as translating Latin texts, can be used to develop these strategies. This research focuses on which (meta)cognitive and affective strategies students do and do not use when translating Latin sentences, particularly when faced with a problem. A think-aloud study was conducted with students translating Latin sentences, some of which were non-coherent to ensure that the students came across problems. The analysis shows that students prefer using cognitive problem-solving strategies to metacognitive ones; some students even rely wholly on their cognitive skills.

Author(s):

Chelsea O'Brien
c.obrien@uva.nl
University of Amsterdam
Netherlands

Having completed my Master degree in Classical Languages I started teaching Classics at a Dutch secondary school where gifted students are placed together in one class. I have been tutoring these special gifted classes for seven years. In 2015 I secured a PHD grant that allows teachers to combine teaching with research. My PHD project focusses on how gifted students react to tasks they find difficult; what (metacognitive) strategies do and don’t they utilize and how can (teachers help) gifted students learn from difficult tasks?