Excellence Without Borders: Gifted Education in a Changing World

2023 Virtual World Conference
August 5 - 6 and 12 - 13

Audiovisual Presentations

92 A Case Study of Sand Play Therapy on Intervention of Interpersonal Conflict

Lihong Wang
Beijing No.8 High School
China

Jing He
Beijing No.8 High School
China

Yi Wang
Beijing No.8 High School
China

This research aims to study the effectiveness of sand play therapy in helping gifted children to reduce interpersonal conflicts. Sand play therapy was adopted by a gifted 14-year-old student in three stages of seven times. Results indicated that sand play therapy can provide a free and protected space, help children vent negative emotions through creating sand play works, perceive internal needs and desires in self-consciousness, pay more attention to positive factors in the works, gradually reduce interpersonal conflicts, and promote self-development. Research results prove that sand play therapy can be used as an effective way to intervene in interpersonal conflicts among gifted children.
 

 

 

91 A Practical Study on Intervention of Emotional Problems of Gifted Children by Psychodrama Group Counseling

Yi Wang
Beijing No. 8 High School
China

Jing He
Beijing No. 8 High School
China

Lihong Wang
Beijing No. 8 High School
China

This study used psychodrama group counseling to address emotional problems of gifted children. The subjects of the study were 12 gifted children aged 11-12 years with emotional problems. Psychodrama group counseling was done once a week, 40 minutes each time and 10 times in total. Results indicated that after intervention, anxiety(P<0.01)and depression(P<0.05) among these gifted children were significantly reduced, the detection rate of anxiety and depression decreased, and the subjective feedback of students was greatly improved with psychodrama group counseling.
 

 

 

210 An Interdisciplinary Intervention to Develop Social Skills in Gifted 2e Students

Ana Miro
University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras
Puerto Rico

A pilot study was conducted to explore the effectiveness of an interdisciplinary intervention including psychological, educational, communication, and counseling of parents, to strengthen social skills in six gifted 2e students. Through a curricular and emergent planning process, the interdisciplinary team created activities that took place within an interactive context. A multiple single-case study was carried out comparing measures of each child’s social skills before and at the end of the intervention. Social skills included social interaction, communication, adaptive behavior, and school behavior, among others. The analysis of data reveals positive changes in social skill development for all participants.
 

 

 

39 Assessing Emotional Support of Gifted Adolescents with the Family Drawing Test

Nur Eva
Universitas Negeri Malang
Indonesia

Emotional support for gifted students is a basic need to develop their potential. Gifted students experience problems related to social relations because of their intellectual independence and high emotional intensity. They become individuals who are less liked by the environment, easily hurt, and withdrawn. Most importantly, emotional support for gifted students is provided by the family. The purpose of this study was to determine the dynamics of emotional support shown by parents through the family drawing test. The research method used is qualitative with the family drawing test—data obtained from pictures about the family, namely parents, father, mother, and himself. Data were analyzed by interpretation based on parenting theory. The five research subjects were gifted students aged 12-18 years and studying at senior or junior high school.
 

 

 

80 Career Adaptability, Meaning in Life, and Life Satisfaction in High-Ability Adolescents in Hong Kong

Jesus Alfonso Datu
Education University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong

Mantak YUEN
The University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong

This study investigated the direct and indirect (via meaning in life) associations of career adaptability with life satisfaction among 362 high-ability adolescents in Hong Kong. Results showed that control, curiosity, and confidence were associated with greater presence and search for meaning, and life satisfaction when controlling relevant demographic variables. Concern was linked to higher presence and search for meaning in life. Control, curiosity, and confidence had indirect effects on life satisfaction via their positive associations with presence of meaning. This research indicates the importance of career adaptability in forging well-being outcomes in high-ability adolescents.
 

 

 

97 Challenges and Coping Strategies in Online Learning for Gifted Children during COVID-19

Yi Chen
Beijing No. 8 High School
China

This study explored the challenges in online learning for gifted children during the COVID-19 pandemic and gain insight into their coping strategies. Twenty-nine gifted children in China received over seven weeks online learning and were interviewed in group session. Results revealed that the main challenges in online learning include excessive use of the Internet and negative emotions such as loneliness and anxiety. Participants used several coping strategies such as joining a learning community, seeking help from teachers and parents, and participating in housework and sports. The results highlight the need for more social support when developing strategies that optimally support gifted children in crisis.
 

 

 

61 Crafting Responsive and Engaging Writing Instruction to Challenge and Support Gifted Learners

Leighann Pennington
Sweet Briar College
United States

Michelle Hock
University of Virginia
United States

Challenging gifted learners to develop their full potential as writers in secondary classrooms is essential. However, writing instruction was often absent or limited during the virtual schooling that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the current writing abilities of many gifted learners are likely to be highly variable, necessitating differentiated writing instruction. In this presentation, we will explain how teachers can craft engaging, responsive writing instruction to support gifted learners in their areas of need while simultaneously challenging students to leverage and bolster their existing strengths. We will share examples of how to pre-assess students’ writing, then design differentiated writing tasks (e.g., tiered assignment) that meet the varied writing needs of gifted learners in secondary contexts.
 

 

 

247 DEVELOPING OPERATIONAL AND PRACTICAL SKILLS OF GIFTED STUDENTS AS THE FUNDAMENTALS OF THEIR RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

Mariya Tadeyeva
The Institute of Gifted Child of the National Academy of Pedagogical Science of Ukraine, National University of Water and Environmental Engineering
Ukraine

Petro Tadeyev
The Institute of Gifted Child of the National Academy of Pedagogical Science of Ukraine, National University of Water and Environmental Engineering
Ukraine

The talk focuses on the development of operational and practical skills of gifted students in Ukrainian scientific lyceums. Key points of the development of these skills are connected with operational and practical mechanisms, the appearance of which radically changes thinking processes and creates conditions for the systemic interaction of functional, operational, practical and regulatory actions, which are manifested in increasing the efficiency of their memorization and creative activities with the aim to obtain research competences. The structure and classification of these skills according to important criteria should be regarded and indicators of their development level should be argued.
 

 

 

137 Development of Diagnostic Teaching Material through Research-Practice Partnerships: Recognizing Divergent Thinking Ability as an Example

Jessica Gnas
University of Trier
Germany

Diagnostic teaching material must be based on good scientific evidence and be practically applicable. The development of diagnostic teaching material for recognizing divergent thinking ability in elementary school through the approach of strategic research-practice partnerships between psychological researchers and elementary school teachers and principals will be demonstrated. In the first step, a shared working theory on talent development in the STEM field was developed. In a second step, diagnostic material based on the working theory was developed. In a third step, the diagnostic material was formatively evaluated through practical testing by the teachers and revision by the researchers.
 

 

 

25 Do Gifted Learners Need Our Help? An Examination of Pre-Service Teachers’ Conceptions of Classroom Equity

Michelle Hock
University of Virginia
United States

Pre-service teachers (PSTs) receive little training on how to meet the needs of gifted learners and may harbor misconceptions about gifted learners. They may also hold the view that gifted programming creates or reifies educational inequities. PSTs’ beliefs about equitable practices for gifted learners were investigated as part of this qualitative case study. Findings suggested that PSTs believed that equitable classroom practices involved focusing on struggling learners rather than on students displaying academic gifts and talents, and that these views may have been reinforced through their coursework and experiences with mentor teachers. Implications for practice are discussed.
 

 

 

187 Educating the Educators of Gifted Children

Julija Kukec
Centres of Excellence of Varaždin County
Croatia

To improve the quality of work with this population of children, it is necessary to think about the education of experts – educators, teachers, and professional associates. Daily work with gifted children and students requires the mastery of numerous knowledge and skills, which is lacking in their basic education. This presentation will show the past experiences of the Centers of Excellence of Varaždin County in the organization and implementation of education for working with gifted students, The goal of this education is to increase the competence of experts in working with gifted students.
 

 

 

174 Enderun School: Identification and Education of Gifted and Talented Children

Fatih Dereli
​Trakya University
Turkey

Enderun School was a palace educational institution designed for the training of administrative and military staff in the Ottomans. It had an important place in the success of the Ottoman Empire. It is believed that understanding and familiarizing oneself with the educational practices applied in the past can have a positive impact on the education of gifted children today. With this study, the Enderun School will be examined in detail, based on the work of Tayyarzade Ata, who was one of the most important sources of the Ottoman period and also a student of the Enderun School, called Tarih-i Ata.
 

 

 

102 Fostering Creativity and Innovation Beyond Perfectionism in Gifted Young Children: Conducting an “okay-to-fail” Science Experiment

MANABU SUMIDA
Ehime University
Japan

Perfectionism has long been recognised as a psychological factor frequently present in gifted young learners. This study attempted to identify the effects of an ‘okay-to-fail science experiment’ on eight gifted young children (aged 5-7) enrolled in a special STEAM programme. The participants were asked to experiment with the recipe by skipping any one ingredient (the “-1” experiment). The children predicted what kind of pancakes would be made without a specific ingredient and then tested the results. This study showed that engaging in ‘okay-to-fail’ science experiments provides a self-regulating opportunity for perfectionism and fosters the spirit of creativity and innovation.
 

 

 

66 How to Debunk the Myth that Acceleration Has a Negative Impact on Student Wellbeing

Donna Wright
DEPT of Education Victoria
Australia

Acceleration is a theoretically supported intervention to support the talent development of gifted students. However, there are concerns that acceleration may harm a child’s overall psychological wellbeing, even though short-term studies do not support this claim. This Australian primary school investigates if improved staff knowledge and experience with gifted and talented extension strategies including acceleration will debunk educators’ perceptions that acceleration may limit a child’s social development.
 

 

 

141 Metacognitive Intervention: Building Teacher Competency in Gifted Education While Securing Student Academic and Emotional Growth

Carolyn Giles
Born to Soar
Australia

While supporting competencies in both students and teachers is pivotal in measuring growth in school settings, building an understanding of the relationship between cognitive outcomes and social and emotional behaviours enabled effective agency. The challenge was to design a dual learning approach to personalise teachers’ expertise in gifted education while securing measurable academic success and positive social and emotional experiences for gifted students. Selecting and actioning a metacognitive intervention to personalise student experience was a collaborative approach between teacher and student. An overview of this case study intervention process will be shared to support consideration for future professional learning.
 

 

 

231 Puppets, History, and MuseSocial Studies to Very Young Children Through Museum Educational Programming

Bronwyn MacFarlane
Arkansas State University
United States

Advanced children begin to gain social and interpersonal awareness during early childhood and continue to develop those skills throughout life. Practicing affective skills that translate to empathy, kindness, and consideration toward others must begin early with regular attention. As the babies born during the pandemic turn three this year and enter traditional early childhood programming designed for three-year-olds, educators must proactively plan for their socialization skill development and unique contextual setting in modern times. Practical issues and hands-on strategies for developing Social Emotional Learning skills among very young children will be discussed.
 

 

 

246 Reflecting Skills for the 21st Century in the Standard of Specialized Scientific Education in Ukraine

Petro Tadeyev
The Institute of Gifted Child of the National Academy of Pedagogical Science of Ukraine, National University of Water and Environmental Engineering
Ukraine

Mariya Tadeyeva
The Institute of Gifted Child of the National Academy of Pedagogical Science of Ukraine, National University of Water and Environmental Engineering
Ukraine

The talk focuses on the skills from the project “Assessment and Teaching of Twenty First Century Skills” (ATS 21S) and their reflection in recently adopted Standard of specialized scientific education for gifted students in Ukraine. Based on the confirmation that Standard can be implemented in the form of a complex of research skills (operational, practical, technical, organizational, communicative), a connection between the skills and research competences from Standard is found on the one hand, and on the other hand it is confirmed that a significant number of skills from the ATS 21S project coincide with a complex of research skills.
 

 

 

105 Responsible Cultivation of Gifted Children: Synergy of Morality and Intelligence

Xue Yang
University of Science and Technology of China
China

Yan Kong
University of Science and Technology of China
China

Gifted children are the main source and reserve force of top-notch innovative talents. Responsible training of gifted children is the key to promoting scientific and technological progress. Previous studies on gifted children cover almost all fields, including science, art, mathematics, design, music, etc., Not much attention is given to how intelligence and morality can work together to better play the role of gifted children. Sternberg (2017) presented an ACCEL model which emphasized the important impact of morality on basic education and even the future development of gifted children, but it also weakened the status of IQ. This study used qualitative analysis to provide a cooperative model and path of moral cultivation and intelligence improvement and emphasized the responsible cultivation of gifted children in order to realize the educational purpose of making the best use of talents and teaching students according to their aptitude.
 

 

 

20 Stealth Morph a Pilot Study for a 2E Intervention for Gifted Students Who Struggle With Reading

Kristen Job
Univeristy of Nebraska-Lincoln
United States

Students who are considered “Stealth Dyslexics” may use their gifts and talents to mask their disability until the time comes when the rigor of academics peels away the mask and students are identified in middle or high school with dyslexia or reading difficulties. The primary aim of this mixed methods study was to investigate a reading fluency intervention, Stealth Morph, on identified twice exceptional (2E) students with stealth dyslexia. The intervention uses Greek and Latin roots as a morphemic approach to help students access the building blocks of academic words. This is a pilot study used primarily with gifted and talented students to understand the effectiveness and challenge level of the intervention.
 

 

 

26 Supporting Twice Exceptional Learners with Traumatic Brain Injury: Implications for Classroom Practice

Michelle Hock
University of Virginia
United States

Matthew Kimball
Columbia University
United States

Few studies have focused specifically on gifted learners whose educational experiences are impacted by traumatic brain injuries (TBI). However, as an increasing number of children are diagnosed with TBI each year, it is important that educators better understand how TBI can influence students’ executive functioning skills, working memory, and processing speed (all of which have implications for classroom practice). This presentation examines the challenges and unique experiences that these students have in the classroom and provides suggestions for how educators can engage in responsive instruction and leverage the power of scaffolding in order to better serve gifted students with TBI.
 

 

 

169 Teaching Social and Emotional Learning Skills Using Children’s Books

Shaunise Robinson
TAMU-C
United States

Joyce Miller
TAMU-C
United States

During this session, participants will identify characteristics of CASEL’s 5 SEL competencies and explore twelve award-winning children’s books with storylines about gifted girls, boys, African American, Asian, International, Nerdy, and Bullied mathematicians that can be used to teach social and emotional skills. After the exploration, participants will discover key components of effective SEL activities and participate in engaging research-based SEL activities.
 

 

 

138 The Domain-Specificity of Teachers’ Judgment Accuracy Concerning Student Achievement

Elena Mack
University of Trier
Germany

Teachers’ judgment accuracy regarding students’ achievement is essential for instructional practice and professional decisions. In a sample of 39 German elementary school teachers judging the achievement of 787 students in German language (one subdomain: reading) and mathematics (two subdomains: geometry; stochastics), we examined whether judgment accuracy is a general or domain specific skill. Multilevel analyses revealed that teachers’ judgments were fairly accurate. However, there were significant differences between teachers’ average judgment accuracy in different subdomains (between-person comparisons) and no relations between individual teachers’ judgment accuracy in different subdomains (within-person comparisons). Findings support the notion that teachers’ judgment accuracy is domain-specific.
 

 

 

221 Using Collaborative Practices within Multi-Tiered Support Systems with Gifted and Talented Learners

Chelsea England
Lipscomb University and Lebanon Special School District
United States

Emily Mofield
Lipscomb University
United States

To meet the needs of gifted students and increase equitable access to gifted programs, collaboration, and professional development are necessary, especially to build other educators’ capacity to differentiate instruction and identify students for gifted programs. In this session, we share a research proposal to understand educators’ perceptions of what supports or inhibits collaboration between gifted education teachers and regular education teachers. The study also explores the role of collaboration in multi-tiered support systems (MTSS), including stakeholders’ perceptions of how this tiered system addresses the needs of gifted students and provides opportunities to identify more students from underrepresented groups.