4.6.8 Gifted Students’ Perceptions of Challenge: It’s Hard, It’s Fun, and They Want It
The clarion call in educational circles often revolves around academic challenge. As educators, we want to ensure all students are exposed to challenging learning opportunities. One important part of this practice is examining how students define challenge. To this end, we asked students: “What does challenge mean to you?” Students (n=78) from three states with identification and programming mandates shared their perceptions during focus groups. We employed qualitative data analyses procedures to analyze transcripts. Student voices revealed that challenge is hard but not too hard, it makes them think, it pushes their brains, it is fun, and it is welcomed!
Author(s):
E. Jean Gubbins
ejean.gubbins@uconn.edu
University of Connecticut
United States
Dr. E. Jean Gubbins is Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology, University of Connecticut. Through Javits grants for The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented, Dr. Gubbins implemented research studies on curricular strategies and practices in science, technology, engineering and mathematics high schools, reading and mathematics education in elementary schools, professional development, and gifted education pedagogy. Currently, she is Associate Director for the National Center for Research on Gifted Education, focusing on exemplary practices in identification and programming for gifted and talented students from underrepresented groups and principal investigator for Thinking Like Mathematicians: Challenging All Students.
Pamela Peters
pamela.peters@uconn.edu
University of Connecticut
United States
Pam Peters is a doctoral student at the University of Connecticut. She is pursuing a degree in Educational Psychology with dual focus areas: Gifted Education, Creativity, & Talent Development and Research Methods, Measurement, & Evaluation. Pam has worked on Javits funded projects including the National Center for Research on Gifted Education and Project LIFT: Learning Informs Focused Teaching. She has developed an instrument measuring teachers’ attitudes toward twice-exceptionality and has presented her work and state and national conferences.
Ashley Carpenter
aycarpenter@wm.edu
University of Connecticut
United States
Ashley Y. Carpenter is the Research Site Director at the National Center for Research on Gifted Education and a doctoral candidate at the University of Connecticut. She is a former gifted middle school teacher and the proud parent of a twice-exceptional child.
Del Siegle
del.siegle@uconn.edu
University of Connecticut
United States
Del Siegle is Director of the National Center for Research on Gifted Education and Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Affairs in the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut. He is a past president of the National Association for Gifted Children, past president of the Montana Association of Gifted and Talented Education, and past chair of the Research on Giftedness, Creativity, and Talent SIG of the American Educational Research Association. He was a founding co-editor of the Journal of Advanced Academics and recently finished a term as co-editor of Gifted Child Quarterly.
