Motivating Gifted and Talented Students: How can Renzulli Learning Systems Help? : Motivating Gifted and Talented Students: How can Renzulli Learning Systems Help? By:
Kimberly McCorkell
The Problem : The Problem Lack of motivation for gifted and talented students
Underachievement in gifted and talented classrooms
Students are not stimulated/challenged
Need for differentiated learning
Research Questions : Research Questions Will the Renzulli Learning System site help to motivate gifted and students in fourth grade setting?
Will the Renzulli Learning System site help to differentiate learning?
Data Sources : Data Sources
School Background Information : School Background Information Located in a middle class neighborhood.
Offers classes from Pre-kindergarten through fifth grade.
Estimated 850 students.
According to the Aris website the ethnicities represented are:
Caucasian at 51.9%
African American at 20.6%
Hispanic at 12.3%
Asian at 13.7%
Research Question #1What motivates gifted and talented students to learn? : Research Question #1What motivates gifted and talented students to learn? Based on my student interviews, students are motivated by topics that have previous been discussed in class.
Based on my research and my findings, gifted and talented students are motivated by:
Differentiated learning
Freedom of choice
Independence
Research Question #2Will Renzulli Learning System motivate gifted and talented students? : Research Question #2Will Renzulli Learning System motivate gifted and talented students? Based on my research it was found that Renzulli Learning System had motivated my gifted and talented students.
Results show that four out of the five students had improved grades over the three month period.
Additionally, all five of the students steadily increased the amount of times they logged into their Renzulli page from February through April, proving that more effort was being applied as time passed.
Renzulli Learning SystemProfile Questionnaire : Renzulli Learning SystemProfile Questionnaire Page one of Learning Profile that students were asked to complete before beginning Renzulli.
Complete profile took about 30 minutes to complete.
Favorite School Subjects : Favorite School Subjects Students completed a Renzulli Learning System Profile Questionnaire.
Questionnaire consisted of four sections: my interests areas, my abilities, my expression styles, and my learning styles.
Each section asked numerous closed-ended questions.
The pie chart shows the results of one section of the questionnaire.
Students favored Social Studies, Reading, and Art.
Preferred Instructional Styles : Preferred Instructional Styles Results from student profile questionnaire shows that students preferred learning styles that were dramatic, audio-visual displays, and technological.
Instructional styles are the different ways students most enjoy learning, as well as strategies that teachers and parents can use to enhance their learning.
Preferred Product Style : Preferred Product Style Results from the students profile questionnaire show that students preferred product styles were learning games, technology, and peer tutoring.
Product styles are product students most enjoy completing.
Log In HistoryStudent One : Log In HistoryStudent One As can be seen from the chart, Student One, had access to a computer at home on a regular basis.
Student One logged into Renzulli numerous times throughout the course of three months.
Log ins doubled from February to March and nearly tripled from February through April.
Student One proved to do very well on the Renzulli projects assigned:
Art Styles = 3
Women’s History = 4
Government = 4
Log In HistoryStudent Two : Log In HistoryStudent Two As can be see in the chart, Student two steadily increased in the amount of times he or she logged into their Renzulli page.
Most of the time, the student signed in at school.
Of the 5 students studied, Student Two had the least amount of times logged in.
Student Two received the lowest scores on the projects assigned and failed to complete the third and final Renzulli project:
Art Styles = 2
Women’s History = 2
Government = INC
Log In HistoryStudent Three : Log In HistoryStudent Three As can be seen in the graph, Student Three more than doubled the amount of times logged in from month to month.
There was a large increase particularly from March to April.
Access to computer at home and logged in regularly.
Student Three also did very well on three assigned projects:
Art Styles = 3
Women’s History = 4
Government = 4
Log In HistoryStudent Four : Log In HistoryStudent Four According to the graph, Student Four showed a small, but steady increase across the three months.
Student Four logged in much more often in March and April in comparison to February (showed growth).
Access to computer at home and logged in often.
Student Four also showed progress on the completed Renzulli projects:
Art Styles = 3
Women’s History = 4
Government = 4
Log In HistoryStudent Five : Log In HistoryStudent Five As can be see in the bar graph, Student Five did not dramatically increase or decrease in the amount of times logged in.
There was some improvement in amount of times logged in from March to April, particularly at home.
These results were typical of many of the other students in the class.
Student Five shown improvement on his or her scores on the Renzulli Projects:
Art Styles = 3
Women’s History = 4
Government = 4
Rubric Used for Grading : Rubric Used for Grading
Action Plan : Action Plan Teachers
Renzulli workshop to teach educators learn how to access the site and create projects.
Share findings with other teachers and collaborate on ideas.
Provide parents with student results from profiles.
Provide parents with enrichment activities based upon students learning styles. Parents
Renzulli workshop to show parents how to access the site and how to monitor their child's homepage.
Provide parents with resources needed to monitor their child's progress on Renzulli.
Knowledge From The Field : Knowledge From The Field “High-achieving students are the most neglected population in any school setting.”
-Caraisco (2007)
“We believe that true equity can only be achieved when we acknowledge individual differences in the students we serve, and when we recognize that high-achieving students have as much right to accommodations in their schooling as do students who are experiencing learning difficulties.”
-Renzulli & Reis (2002)
“ Renzulli suggests that individual abilities, self-selected interests, and learning styles, rather than grade or age, and a focus on independent and self-directed learning of content and process related to real-life contexts guide the construction of programs for gifted students.”
-Young & Olszewski-Kubilius (2004)
References : References Caraisco, J. (2007). Overcoming lethargy in gifted and talented education with contract packages: “I’m choosing to learn”. The Clearing House, 80(6), 255- 259.
Lee, S. & Olszewski-Kubilius, P. (2004). Parent perceptions of the effects of the Saturday enrichment program on gifted students’ talent development. Roeper Review, 26(3), 156- 65.
Renzulli, J. S. & Reis, S. M. (2002). What is schoolwide enrichment: how gifted programs relate to total school improvement? Gifted Child Today, 25(4), 18-25.