Seventh grade mathematically gifted students' perceptions of their classroom learning experiences

النوع : Mémoire

The purpose of this research study is to examine the perceptions of seventh grad e mathematically gifted students of their classroom learning experiences on the dimensions of interest, challenge, choice, and enjoyment in Lebanese private sch ools and to compare the perceptions of the mathematically gifted students to the perceptions of their classmates and to the perceptions of their teachers. Two h undred fifty one seventh grade students and nine seventh grade mathematics teach ers from six private schools in Beirut participated in this study. Eight student s of the sample were identified as mathematically gifted using the Test of Mathe matics Abilities for Gifted Students (Ryser & Johnsen, 1998), The Raven test (Ra ven, Raven, & Court, 1988), and teacher nomination. The perceptions of the mathe matically gifted students, their classmates, and the mathematics teachers were e xamined using "My Class Activities" (Gentry & Gable, 2001). The results indicate d that the mathematically gifted students perceived their classroom learning exp eriences as challenging and as giving them choices only somewhere between seldom and sometimes and as interesting and enjoyable only sometimes. The comparison b etween the perceptions of the mathematically gifted students and the perceptions of their classmates showed that mathematically gifted students reported less ch allenge, less enjoyment, and less interest than their classmates. No difference was found between the two groups on the dimension of choice. The comparison betw een the perceptions of the mathematically gifted students and the perceptions of their teachers showed that mathematically gifted students reported less challen ge, less interest, and less enjoyment than their teachers. However, no differenc e was found between the