Abstract
Meeting the needs of gifted learners is normally considered from a cognitive perspective—a matter of incorporating sufficient higher-order cognitive tasks in learning activities. A major problem in the education of gifted learners is lack of challenge, which is needed to ensure such students are able to make progress. Lack of challenge can also influence learner motivation and even lead to boredom. Meeting the needs of gifted learners is therefore a matter of matching task demand to their abilities to meet their emotional as well as their cognitive needs. The present chapter suggests that an aim in teaching should be to engage learners in activities that offer an experience of ‘flow’, which is achieved when learning demands offer sufficient but not insurmountable challenge. Flow is an inherently motivating experience but requires a suitably high level of task demand to maintain deep engagement. The chapter draws on an example of a science enrichment programme that offered activities that were demanding for the 14–15-year-old learners because they drew upon cognitively challenging themes (related to aspects of the nature of science) and required a high level of self- (or peer) regulation of learning to provide high task demand. An example of one of the activities concerning the role of models in chemistry is described. Students recognised that learning activities offered greater complexity, open-endedness and scope for independent learning than their usual school science lessons. The features that students reported in their feedback as making the work more challenging also tended to be those they identified as making the activities enjoyable.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Anderson, L. W., & Krathwohl, D. R. (2001). A taxonomy for learning, Teaching and assessing: A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives. New York: Longman.
Arlin, P. K. (1975). Cognitive development in adulthood: A fifth stage? Developmental Psychology, 11(5), 602–606.
Aydin, Y. Ç., Uzuntiryaki, E., & Demirdöğen, B. (2010). Interplay of motivational and cognitive strategies in predicting self-efficacy and anxiety. Educational Psychology, 31(1), 55–66. doi:10.1080/01443410.2010.518561.
Bloom, B. S. (1968). The cognitive domain. In L. H. Clark (Ed.), Strategies and tactics in secondary school teaching: A book of readings (pp. 49–55). London: Macmillan.
Boaler, J., Wiliam, D., & Brown, M. (2000). Students’ experiences of ability grouping—Disaffection, polarisation and the construction of failure. British Educational Research Journal, 26(5), 631–648. doi:10.1080/713651583.
Carr, M. (1984). Model confusion in chemistry. Research in Science Education, 14, 97–103.
Cropley, A. J., & Dehn, D. (Eds.). (1996). Fostering the growth of high ability: European perspectives. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. New York: HarperPerennial.
Finster, D. C. (1989). Developmental instruction: Part 1. Perry’s model of intellectual development. Journal of Chemical Education, 66(8), 659–661.
Finster, D. C. (1991). Developmental instruction: Part 2. Application of Perry’s model to general chemistry. Journal of Chemical Education, 68(9), 752–756.
Gallagher, J., Harradine, C. C., & Coleman, M. R. (1997). Challenge or boredom? Gifted students’ views on their schooling. Roeper Review, 19(3), 132–136. doi:10.1080/02783199709553808.
Geertz, C. (1973/2000). The impact of the concept of culture on the concept of man. In: The interpretation of cultures: Selected essays (pp. 33–54). New York: Basic Books.
Hodson, D. (2009). Teaching and learning about science: Language, theories, methods, history, traditions and values. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers.
Johnson, P. M. (2012). Introducing particle theory. In K. S. Taber (Ed.), Teaching secondary chemistry (2nd ed., pp. 49–73). Association for Science Education/John Murray.
Johnstone, A. H. (1982). Macro- and microchemistry. School Science Review, 64(227), 377–379.
Johnstone, A. H. (1991). Why is science difficult to learn? Things are seldom what they seem. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 7, 75–83.
Justi, R., & Gilbert, J. K. (2000). History and philosophy of science through models: some challenges in the case of ‘the atom’. International Journal of Science Education, 22(9), 993–1009.
Kanevsky, L., & Keighley, T. (2003). To produce or not to produce? Understanding boredom and the honor in underachievement. Roeper Review, 26(1), 20–28. doi:10.1080/02783190309554235.
Keating, D. P., & Stanley, J. C. (1972). Extreme measures for the exceptionally gifted in mathematics and science. Educational Researcher, 1(9), 3–7. doi:10.2307/1174763.
Kohlberg, L., & Hersh, R. H. (1977). Moral development: A review of the theory. Theory Into Practice, 16(2), 53–59. doi:10.1080/00405847709542675.
Kramer, D. A. (1983). Post-formal operations? A need for further conceptualization. Human Development, 26, 91–105.
Krathwohl, D. R., Bloom, B. S., & Masia, B. B. (1968). The affective domain. In L. H. Clark (Ed.), Strategies and tactics in secondary school teaching: A book of readings (pp. 41–49). New York: The Macmillan Company.
Kuhn, T. S. (1973/1977). Objectivity, value judgement, and theory choice. In: The essential tension: Selected studies in scientific tradition and change (pp. 320–339). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Kuhn, T. S. (1996). The structure of scientific revolutions (3rd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago.
Lakatos, I. (1970). Falsification and the methodology of scientific research programmes. In I. Lakatos, A. Musgrove (Eds.), Criticism and the growth of knowledge. Proceedings of the International Colloquium in the Philosophy of Science, London, 1965, vol 4 (pp. 91–196). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Laudan, L. (1990). Science and relativism: Some key controversies in the philosophy of science. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Levinson, R. (2007). Teaching controversial socio-scientific issues to gifted and talented students. In K. S. Taber (Ed.), Science education for gifted learners (pp. 128–141). London: Routledge.
Long, D. E. (2011). Evolution and religion in American Education: An ethnography. Dordrecht: Springer.
Matthews, M. R. (1994). Science teaching: The role of history and philosophy of science. London: Routledge.
Meyer, B., Haywood, N., Sachdev, D., & Faraday, S. (2008). Independent learning: Literature review. London: Department for Children, Schools and Families.
Montgomery, D. (2003). Handwriting difficulties in the gifted and talented. Handwriting Today 2 (Summer 2003)
Nakamura, J. (1988). Optimal experience and the uses of talent. In M. Csikszentmihalyi & I. S. Csikszentmihalyi (Eds.), Optimal experience: Psychological studies of flow in consciousness (pp. 319–326). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Nunner-Winkler, G. (2007). Development of moral motivation from childhood to early adulthood. Journal of Moral Education, 36(4), 399–414. doi:10.1080/03057240701687970.
Perry, W. G. (1970). Forms of intellectual and ethical development in the college years: A scheme. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Phillips, N., & Lindsay, G. (2006). Motivation in gifted students. High Ability Studies, 17(1), 57–73. doi:10.1080/13598130600947119.
Piaget, J. (1970/1972). The principles of genetic epistemology (trans: Mays W). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
Pintrich, P. R., Marx, R. W., & Boyle, R. A. (1993). Beyond cold conceptual change: the role of motivational beliefs and classroom contextual factors in the process of conceptual change. Review of Educational Research, 63(2), 167–199.
Popper, K. R. (1994). The myth of the framework. In M. A. Notturno (Ed.), The myth of the framework: In defence of science and rationality (pp. 33–64). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
Posner, G. J., Strike, K. A., Hewson, P. W., & Gertzog, W. A. (1982). Accommodation of a scientific conception: Towards a theory of conceptual change. Science Education, 66(2), 211–227.
Postholm, M. B. (2010). Self-regulated pupils in teaching: Teachers’ experiences. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 16(4), 491–505.
QCA. (n.d.) Summary of the key findings from the 2001–2002 National Curriculum (NC) and Post-16 Science Monitoring Exercise.
QCA. (2007). Science: Programme of study for key stage 4. London: Qualifications and Curriculum Authority.
Ramsden, S., Richardson, F. M., Josse, G., Thomas, M. S. C., Ellis, C., Shakeshaft, C., et al. (2011). Verbal and non-verbal intelligence changes in the teenage brain. Nature, 479(7371), 113–116.
Reis, S. M., & Renzulli, J. S. (2004). Current research on the social and emotional development of gifted and talented students: Good news and future possibilities. Psychology in the Schools, 41(1), 119–130. doi:10.1002/pits.10144.
Reis, S. M., & Renzulli, J. S. (2010). Is there still a need for gifted education? An examination of current research. Learning and Individual Differences, 20(4), 308–317. doi:10.1016/j.lindif.2009.10.012.
Rogers, K. B. (2007). Lessons learned about educating the Gifted and talented: A synthesis of the research on educational practice. Gifted Child Quarterly, 51(4), 382–396.
Rorty, R. (1991). Objectivity, relativism, and truth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sadler, T. D. (Ed.). (2011). Socio-scientific issues in the classroom: Teaching, learning and research (Contemporary trends and issues in science education, Vol. 39). Dordrecht: Springer.
Sánchez Gómez, P. J., & Martín, F. (2003). Quantum versus ‘classical’ chemistry in university chemistry education: A case study of the role of history in thinking the curriculum. Chemistry Education: Research & Practice, 4(2), 131–148.
Shayer, M., & Adey, P. (1981). Towards a science of science teaching: Cognitive development and curriculum demand. Oxford: Heinemann Educational Books.
Sheardy, R. D. (Ed.). (2010). Science education and civic engagement: The SENCER approach (ACS Symposium Series, Vol. 1037). Washington DC: American Chemical Society.
Shore, B. M., & Dover, A. C. (2004). Metacognition, intelligence and giftedness. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Definitions and conceptions of giftedness (pp. 39–45). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Stamovlasis, D., & Tsaparlis, G. (2003). Some psychometric variables contributing to high ability and performing in science problem solving. In F. J. Mönks & H. Wagner (Eds.), Proceedings of the 8th Conference of the European Council for High Ability, Rhodes, October 9–13, 2002 (pp. 50–53). Bad Honnef, Germany: Verlag Karl Heinrich Bock.
Stepanek, J. (1999). Meeting the needs of gifted students: Differentiating mathematics and science instruction. Portland, Oregon: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory.
Sternberg, R. J. (1993). The concept of ‘giftedness’: A pentagonal implicit theory. In: The origins and development of high ability (pp. 5–21). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
Sternberg, R. J., & Davidson, J. E. (Eds.). (1986). Conceptions of giftedness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Subotnik, R. F., Olszewski-Kubilius, P., & Worrell, F. C. (2011). Rethinking giftedness and gifted education: A proposed direction forward based on psychological science. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 12(1), 3–54. doi:10.1177/1529100611418056.
Sumida, M. (2010). Identifying twice-exceptional children and three gifted styles in the Japanese primary science classroom. International Journal of Science Education, 15(1), 2097–2111.
Taber, K. S. (1994). Misunderstanding the ionic bond. Education in Chemistry, 31(4), 100–103.
Taber, K. S. (1995). An analogy for discussing progression in learning chemistry. School Science Review, 76(276), 91–95.
Taber, K. S. (2000). Multiple frameworks?: Evidence of manifold conceptions in individual cognitive structure. International Journal of Science Education, 22(4), 399–417.
Taber, K. S. (2001). Shifting sands: A case study of conceptual development as competition between alternative conceptions. International Journal of Science Education, 23(7), 731–753.
Taber, K. S. (2003). Lost without trace or not brought to mind?—A case study of remembering and forgetting of college science. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 4(3), 249–277.
Taber, K. S. (2007a). Choice for the gifted: Lessons from teaching about scientific explanations. In K. S. Taber (Ed.), Science education for gifted learners (pp. 158–171). London: Routledge.
Taber, K. S. (2007b). Enriching school science for the gifted learner. London: Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme.
Taber, K. S. (2007c). Science education for gifted learners? In K. S. Taber (Ed.), Science education for gifted learners (pp. 1–14). London: Routledge.
Taber, K. S. (2009a). Learning from experience and teaching by example: Reflecting upon personal learning experience to inform teaching practice. Journal of Cambridge Studies, 4(1), 82–91.
Taber, K. S. (2009b). A model of science: Lakatos and scientific research programmes. In: Progressing science education: Constructing the scientific research programme into the contingent nature of learning science (pp. 79–110). Dordrecht: Springer.
Taber, K. S. (2010a). Challenging gifted learners: General principles for science educators; and exemplification in the context of teaching chemistry. Science Education International, 21(1), 5–30.
Taber, K. S. (2010b). Straw men and false dichotomies: Overcoming philosophical confusion in chemical education. Journal of Chemical Education, 87(5), 552–558. doi:10.1021/ed8001623.
Taber, K. S. (2012). Meeting the needs of gifted science learners in the context of England’s system of comprehensive secondary education: The ASCEND project. Journal of Science Education in Japan, 36(2), 101–112.
Taber, K. S. (2013). Revisiting the chemistry triplet: drawing upon the nature of chemical knowledge and the psychology of learning to inform chemistry education. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 14(2), 156–168. doi:10.1039/C3RP00012E.
Taber, K. S., & Riga, F. (2006). Lessons from the ASCEND project: Able pupils’ responses to an enrichment programme exploring the nature of science. School Science Review, 87(321), 97–106.
Taber, K. S., Tsaparlis, G., & Nakiboğlu, C. (2012). Student conceptions of ionic bonding: Patterns of thinking across three European contexts. International Journal of Science Education, 34(18), 2843–2873. doi:10.1080/09500693.2012.656150.
Tirri, K., Tolppanen, S., Aksela, M., & Kuusisto, E. (2012). A cross-cultural study of gifted students’ scientific, societal, and moral questions concerning science. Education Research International, 2012, 7. doi:10.1155/2012/673645.
Trout, J. D. (2002). Scientific explanation and the sense of understanding. Philosophy of Science, 69(2), 212–233. doi:10.1086/341050.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
White, R. T., & Mitchell, I. J. (1994). Metacognition and the quality of learning. Studies in Science Education, 23, 21–37. doi:10.1080/03057269408560028.
Whitebread, D., & Pino-Pasternak, D. (2010). Metacognition, self-regulation and meta-knowing. In K. Littleton, C. Wood, & J. Kleine-Staarman (Eds.), International handbook of psychology in education (pp. 673–711). Bingley, UK: Emerald.
Winstanley, C. (2007). Gifted science learners with special educational needs. In K. S. Taber (Ed.), Science education for gifted learners (pp. 32–44). London: Routledge.
Acknowledgement
The ASCEND project was supported by the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme, who funded the after-school enrichment programme and published an account of the project with the full set of teaching materials (Taber, 2007b). The programme was run as a partnership between the University of Cambridge Faculty of Education, Chesterton Community School, St. Bede’s Inter-Church School, Netherhall School and Sixth Form College and Parkside Community College. Fran Riga acted as the research assistant to the project and helped collect and collate the feedback from delegates.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Taber, K.S. (2015). Affect and Meeting the Needs of the Gifted Chemistry Learner: Providing Intellectual Challenge to Engage Students in Enjoyable Learning. In: Kahveci, M., Orgill, M. (eds) Affective Dimensions in Chemistry Education. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-45085-7_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-45085-7_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-662-45084-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-662-45085-7
eBook Packages: Chemistry and Materials ScienceChemistry and Material Science (R0)