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4.9.7 Grouping Students to Maximize Gifts, Talents, & Potential: What Gifted Students Say Works for Them
Grouping students is an instructional practice utilized on a regular basis within classrooms. Yet, gifted students often request to work alone rather than in a group. What are the grouping situations in which gifted students actually thrive? This phenomenological study examined gifted students’ perceptions of grouping practices in school and the impact these practices had on them. Questionnaire and semi-structured interview responses indicated that although many noted positive experiences when working in heterogeneous groups, they strongly felt these experiences were not academically beneficial to them and preferred individual work or homogeneous group work. Implications will be discussed.