Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemThe vertical curriculum meeting the needs of students of high intellectual potential( 2000)This pilot project investigated one Victorian Independent School's implementation of the vertical curriculum in Grades Five and Six in over a one-year period in 1998. The study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of the vertical curriculum model for students identified as intellectually Gifted, High (Gifted and Bright) and Mainstream (Average, Low Average and Low) students by reviewing the students' progress in mathematics. Using Progressive Achievement Tests in Mathematics at the beginning and end of the year the identified Gifted, Bright and Mainstream students' progress was monitored to track their mathematical development, consisting of - achievement or progress made. The cohort reviewed consisted of eighty eight students incorporating eleven identified intellectually Gifted students, thirty three Bright students and forty four Mainstream students, as identified by the Raven's Progressive Matrices. The findings indicated firstly that an advanced level of mathematical achievement was found for the identified Gifted students. Secondly, it was found that the vertical curriculum assisted the Mainstream students as they showed significant mathematical progress. The findings indicated that the vertical curriculum provided an equitable educational option for the identified intellectually Gifted, Bright and Mainstream students.
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ItemWhere are they now ? : an investigation into the vocations and lifestyles of the University High School Acceleration Program 1988 cohort( 2000)This study investigated the current vocational and lifestyle situations of the 1988 intake cohort of the University High School Acceleration Program (UHS AP) in Melbourne, Australia. There were three main. reasons: to ascertain whether the participants' current situations were predicted by the literature in gifted education; to ascertain whether the current outcomes were predicted by the stated aims of the UHS AP and to invite respondents to reflect on their secondary schooling. A target cohort of 22 from the 1988 AP intake was selected after consultation with the co-ordinator of the UHS AP. The investigation sought factual information such as current occupation and personal circumstances and also ascertained current attitudes to particular aspects of their accelerated secondary schooling. This was done using a self-administered questionnaire incorporating a variety of question formats. Seventeen members of the cohort completed the questionnaire, providing information about: their current vocational status and influential factors for this; their current personal circumstances and feelings about these; their proudest achievements; their plans for the future and their current feelings about their experience in the UHS AP. This study is a follow up based on Dr Betty Murphy's 1994 thesis, which studied the first ten cohorts of the UHS AP. Her findings were employed in the analysis of the results. Vocational and lifestyle circumstances varied, as predicted by the literature. Reported satisfaction with their experience of acceleration was high, although suggestions for improvement in both curriculum and counselling were made. An attempt was made to link matters raised in the responses with the initial aims and objectives of the UHS AP. While there was a good correspondence between these objectives and reported outcomes, the objectives do not emphasise the same aspects of acceleration which the participants valued - namely the strong friendships they developed and the chance to be themselves.
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ItemCognition and metacognition of gifted and average preadolescent males( 2000)Recent conceptions of giftedness as domain-based cognitive precocity have focused on superior processing speed and power, advanced abstract reasoning, and metacognitive insight as key factors in distinguishing gifted from average cognition. This empirical research studied sixteen matched pairs of gifted and average 10 and 12 year-old males to explore the extent to which these variables might explain differences between gifted and average cognitive and metacognitive development. Utilising Piaget's developmental theory of cognition as a theoretical foundation, and his Methode Clinique as procedural framework, it examined 1/ cognitive speed and ability during problem-solving in three domains: verbal, logical-mathematical and spatial, and 2/ general metacognitive awareness in gifted and average preadolescents. Results revealed statistically significant cognitive differences between gifted and average students, but findings were not consistent across domains. In general, gifted students solved problems faster in the verbal and logical-mathematical domains, but not in the spatial domain. They demonstrated superior performance and higher levels of abstract reasoning in all three. Notably, gifted 10 year-olds outperformed not only the average 10 year-olds (their chronological age peers) but also the average 12 year-olds (their mental age peers) in terms of speed in two domains, as well as accuracy and use of formal operations in all three. The gifted students used qualitatively different problem solving strategies from those used by average students. Metacognitive differences followed a similar pattern except for response time. Gifted students tended to solve metacognitive problems more slowly, possibly reflecting their more complex and varied metacognitive strategies, and their greater metacognitive awareness. Their generally higher level of metacognitive awareness was usually, but not invariably, associated with formal reasoning, particularly in the verbal and logical-mathematical domains. Conversely, average students with high metacognitive awareness were likely still to use concrete reasoning in verbal problem solving and transitional reasoning in the other two domains. The finding that gifted students as young as 10 years were using formal reasoning in up to three domains, while average students were still concrete or transitional problem solvers, supported the definition of giftedness as precocious cognitive development in preadolescence. Gifted students' early between-stage transition and subsequent rapid within-stage movement toward consolidated formal reasoning suggested that there might be a differentiated cognitive development for gifted, as distinct from average individuals. While results provided some evidence of domain-specific giftedness characterised by formal reasoning in only one domain, the more common use of formal reasoning in two or more domains by gifted students supported the hypothesis that their differentiated cognitive development promotes domain-general giftedness.
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ItemThe relationship between teacher professional development and the ability to teach academically gifted children: a multiple case study( 2000)The launch of the Bright Futures policy and Australia's gifted education history suggest a need to study Victorian gifted teacher professional development outcomes. The literature implicates the utility of professional development in building identification skills, instructional expertise and positive attitudes towards gifted children. A few studies in gifted education also converge with the general literature to suggest the provision of environmental support together with professional development. There is a dearth however, of accompanying research and theoretical models in gifted education relevant to professional development outcomes. Research in general education has located a new paradigm combining both aspects of professional development and environmental support. In this study the same paradigm was used to examine the results of professional development under the Bright Futures policy. Reflective of the policy's lack of structure in implementing professional development, there were variations in outcomes. It also was found that unsuccessful outcomes often were linked to elements of professional development and/ or environmental support which tell short of the paradigm's recommendations. Similarly, successful cases closely reflected the paradigm's recommendations for professional development and environmental support. The overall findings would therefore support the adoption of the study's paradigm in gifted education. The application of findings as applied to research and future professional development practice are also discussed.