Developing Scientific Talent in Students With Special Needs: An Alternative Model for Identification, Curriculum, and Assessment

Abstract

an students with learning and attention difficulties in school actually be talented scientists in disguise? If we look to history to answer this question, we see compelling evidence that giants such as Thomas Edison, Sir Is a a c Newton, and Leonardo da Vinci might have been students like this. Similar to struggling students today, they had passion, c u r i o s i t y, and commitment to pursue learning, often in unconventional ways. Unlike students today, howe ve r, these school f a i l u res could opt to learn elsew h e ref re q u e n t l y, by themselves or with a mentor. To d a y, we have multiple ways to support our student scientists. There are magnet schools, special schools in math and science, Ad vanced Placement courses, and honors classes that p u r p o rt to provide the necessary scaffolding to actualize the talent of potential scientists. For students not achieving academi c a l l y, howe ve r, these options are often not available because their talent is frequently obscured by their lack of achieve m e n t , their displays of inappropriate classroom behavior, or both. Mo re specifically, to be accepted into these special pro g r a m s , students must demonstrate superior scores on standard i ze d tests of reading and math. Clearly, had these been re q u i re m e n t s in Ed i s o n's day, his talent would have been neither found nor nurtured. We know, furt h e r m o re, of some students who experience difficulties with reading and writing (areas emphasize d heavily in school), but who have talents in science. Un f o rt u n a t e l y, these students are not acknowledged for their abilities due to the re s t r i c t i ve criteria of test scores and grades. T h e re f o re, Project High Hopes set out to address this critical issue: Could there be a talent development model in science that would both identify potential talent and provide a program in which reading and writing we re not re q u i red for success? A Talent Development Model To create a model to meet these criteria we needed sound t h e o retical evidence concerning students with special needs and the best practices of talent development. Sp e c i f i c a l l y, we needed to address these three questions: (a) How do gifted students with special needs learn? (b) How is scientific talent

Science identity trajectories of latecomers to science in college

“…Third, Shelley's damaging reliance on the cultural model of grades to figure her success in science contrasted with Naveen's initially effective use of his own comprehension to figure his success shows that latecomers need resources other than grades on traditional assessments for gaining recognition. Cooper, Baum, and Neu () found that forms of authentic assessments were powerful alternative resources for figuring success in science. While such alternative assessments and evaluation processes are not uncommon at other educational levels, they are rare in college science.…”

Integrating Engineering Into K-6 Curriculum

“…Engineering is a talent domain to be developed (Cooper, Baum, & Neu, 2004). The inclusion of engineering challenges in K-6 education will foster talent development in the field.…”

Üstün Yetenekli Öğrencilerin Bilimsel Anlama Şekilleri ve Düşünme Yollarına EGS Tabanlı Öğretim Yönergesinin Etkisi

“…Purpose and Significance: Gifted individuals who are quick to grasp new concepts that are abstract and complex for their classmates and possess high concentration (Winebrenner, 2000) power should be trained and assigned in the direction of their talents and interests (Cooper, Baum & Neu, 2004). For this reason, effective teaching methods should be used for these students to think like scientists and to understand the nature of science (Roberts, 2001), and effective problem solving, especially thinking about new problem situations (Watters & Diezmann, 2003), the ability to organize and combine knowledge (Stott & Hobden, 2016).…”