High-achieving students' work-alone preference has been shown to be largely false and to depend on the learning context. However, the literature has not distinguished preferences from expectations, nor directly examined what students expect will occur in classroom group work. An attempt to systematically review group-work expectations yielded just…

A convenience sample of 13 students aged 9-16 years participated in this exploratory phenomenological study of what high- and otherwise-achieving students' expected they would experience when engaging in classroom group work. From questionnaire and interview data, students generally expected small group sizes, were divided about who forms groups,…

Gifted students' preference to work alone is widely espoused, but studies vary widely in their explanations. We re-examined this notion in terms of motivation and social constructivism among 247 school-identified gifted and high-achieving and regular-education students in Grades 4 through 12. Survey data assessed learning style, interests,…

Questionnaires completed by 454 gifted students (8-17 years old) revealed perceptions about school activities, attitudes, and labels. Three conclusions were drawn: 1) incorporation of computers, especially in elementary programs; 2) expansion of independent study for junior high levels; and 3) increase in small group involvement with teachers at…

A group of eight gifted junior high students was presented programed units of psychology instruction based on Fred Keller's model of personalized instruction. Compared to a control group which received traditional lecture-format instruction, subjects completed the material in less time and scored significantly higher on the final test. (Author/JDD)

This study investigated the perceived value (after several years) of a year-long independent study/mentorship course provided to 90 gifted high school students. Respondents reported that the course had improved their self-esteem; that the mentor was a significant influence and helped in "real life" learning; and that the course helped in career…

An independent study project for gifted elementary students successfully included online bibliographic database searches in the student research process. Database searching, placed in a meaningful and supportive context, helped to individualize the students' learning and became an extension of their own wondering into the wider world. (Author/JDD)