critical thinking skills for gifted students

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Critical and Creative Thinking: The Joy of Learning!

Step-by-step critical and creative thinking strategies are discussed in this article.

“Children do not develop their thinking skills by memorizing the products of adults’ thinking. Children develop these thinking skills by manipulating ideas, critically examining them, and trying to combine them in new ways. Data become meaningful only when individuals perform certain mental operations on those data.” (Taba, 1971, pp. 240–241)

We recognize the need for gifted learners to develop and practice higher-order critical and creative thinking skills that go beyond fundamental acquisition of information. Gifted students need to be involved with analysis, evaluation, and creative synthesis of data and information, asking new questions and generating innovative ideas, solutions, and products because of their advanced cognitive development, preference for complexity, questioning of the status quo, idealism, and need for social action. This is particularly true of the creatively gifted learner who must find relevance and opportunities for creative synthesis and expression in order to truly engage in the learning process. We also know that, in order to develop these critical and creative thinking skills as thinking habits, students must engage in these kinds of thinking activities frequently, in meaningful, appropriate contexts.

To what extent is this happening? Are gifted students being given opportunities for exploring ideas and developing skills of critical analysis, evaluation, and creativity in classrooms today? Not so much, according to a study reported in  Newsweek  (2010) by Bronson and Merryman. The findings of this study indicate a significant decline of creativity among American students in recent decades, which the authors describe as a “creativity crisis.” They attribute this decline to overemphasis on standardization in curriculum, instruction, and assessment in American schools—with emphasis on acquisition of information, facts and details, and finding “the right answer” rather than critical analysis and evaluation of content or creative exploration of ideas and innovative thinking. The answer to this crisis, they say, is teaching critical and creative thinking skills in context of content instruction.

Critical and creative thinking strategies are not merely “fun” or “cute” activities to be pulled out at the end of the week or semester, or after the state tests are over for the year in order to fill time and entertain students. They are ways of deeply engaging and interacting with ideas and concepts in meaningful context, building meaning and understanding through multiple processing of ideas and information in increasingly sophisticated levels of thinking, adding depth and complexity to the content being learned, and finding personal relevance in the learning process. In order to teach any skill or content effectively, we must first have a clear understanding of the nature and purpose of the skills and/or content to be taught. Employing critical and creative thinking strategies without first understanding what is involved in these skills and processes or without connecting these thinking skills to appropriate content is likely to result in missing the point and wasting time. Students may have fun playing around with such activities, but may not actually address content in a meaningful, purposeful way, nor actually engage in the higher order thinking intended.

Critical thinking involves analysis and evaluation rather than merely accepting ideas or information: understanding of relationships, similarities, and differences; looking for patterns; classifying and categorizing; understanding cause/effect; seeing trends and big ideas; predicting outcomes; considering multiple perspectives; making judgments; and questioning and reasoning. Creative thinking requires all of these critical thinking skills and goes beyond, generating something new and useful in a particular context: generating innovative ideas, products, and solutions; expressing ideas in innovative ways; and communicating ideas, solutions, or products to an appropriate audience. These, of course, are the higher order thinking skills of Bloom; these are the thinking skills necessary for meaningful learning in all disciplines.

How can we manage all this within the constraints of assessment-driven standardized curriculum and instruction? How can we truly engage even our most creative and advanced thinkers in analytical thinking, making informed judgments and evaluation based on critical analysis, and the creation of innovative ideas, perspectives, and products that actually solve problems? How can we encourage students to express unique and original points of view and communicate with audiences in valid and defensible ways to increase truly meaningful, personally relevant learning? The answer is that we must incorporate effective critical and creative thinking strategies appropriately into content instruction. When thinking skills are taught in relevant content, students practice higher order thinking skills to the point of developing creative thinking habits, while at the same time playing with ideas and processing content information in multiple ways. They find personal meaning and relevance in the learning. They experience the joy of learning!

APPLYING TABA’S STRATEGIES FOR CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

One sequence of critical and creative thinking activities that incorporates some of Taba’s strategies for concept development can be effectively applied to many different content topics and purposes. This sequence of activities involves students in playfully generating and examining data in a variety of ways, requiring both divergent thinking (fluency, flexibility, elaboration, and originality) and convergent thinking (evaluation, providing justification for choices, drawing conclusions based on evidence presented). The activities can be adapted for almost any content at various levels of complexity: literary or historical events or characters, contemporary or historic issues or problems (literature, social studies); concepts or operations, inventions or discoveries (math or science); or almost any other content that is a focus of study.

Basically, the activities involve generating or gathering data. This means that students are evaluating and prioritizing data, analyzing and organizing that data into data sets and naming the sets, generating questions, drawing conclusions based on data analysis and evaluation, and communicating the results. In general, the process includes these steps and thinking processes:

• Step One: Data Generation/Data Gathering.  Knowing, understanding information or data
• Step Two: Ranking.  Evaluating, prioritizing, justifying, defending data choices
• Step Three: Grouping, Labeling, Regrouping, Subsuming, Re-labeling.  Categorizing, analyzing, synthesizing data
• Step Four: Asking Questions.  Knowing, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, synthesizing information and ideas
• Step Five: Drawing Conclusions.  Knowing, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, synthesizing data and ideas
• Step Six: Communicating Results.  Creating an appropriate format or product to share the results or express major ideas to an audience

Depending on the complexity of the concepts and/or data to be used as a basis for the activities, all of these steps could be used in a single lesson, or the sequence could be broken into several subsequent lessons over time, with more time for reflection, sharing, and elaborating on first thoughts with more complex ideas and more time for creative incubation as the content demands.

Consider how this sequence of critical and creative thinking activities might be applied with math content in a study of percents. This idea was suggested by one of my graduate students, a middle school math teacher, to encourage students to play with the concepts related to understanding and using percents while developing recognition and understanding of many of the ways in which percentages are used in everyday life and how this affects them personally.

Step One: Listing (Individual Brainstorming)

Begin by having students quickly list as many situations as they can think of in which percents may be used in real life. This step could be a short timed activity, perhaps 3 minutes, with no talking or sharing allowed during this step. Set a goal based on the time allowed (eight listed items in 3 minutes, for example). Keeping the time short for this initial listing of data keeps students on task. When time is called, ask for a show of hands for students who achieved the goal that was set, and then tell students that from this point on, they are encouraged to add to their original list if they think of any new ideas or if they hear any good ideas they hadn’t thought of. The more data students have to work with on the topic, the better. Unique or original ideas that fit are especially valued as they reflect flexibility in thinking.

Step Two: Ranking and Prioritizing

Next, tell students to consider the items on their list and, without any discussion or sharing, to rank them in order of most significant to least significant (they may determine “significance”). They must be prepared to explain and justify their top two or three choices. Allow a few minutes for this ranking process. When students have completed ranking at least through their top three items, have students volunteer to share their top one or two items and explain their reasons for those choices. To stimulate discussion based on the reasons they provide, and to add to the playfulness of the activity, this could be put in the form of a game (Top That!) in which a student offers a number one item from her list and explains the reasoning for the choice, and then other students take turns trying to “top that” with their own choices, with emphasis on their reasoning for their decisions. Anticipate some lively discussions at this stage, which is a good thing as students defend their reasoning and hear others’ points of view. Again, encourage students to add anything that they hear and like to their own lists (fluency, flexibility). Remind students that unique or original ideas are particularly valued, but all items offered must actually fit the parameters that were set for the database.

Step Three: Grouping and Labeling

Students are now told to group the items on their list according to whatever criteria they choose. They are then to create an appropriate label for each group they create that encompasses all of the items in that group according to the criteria they have determined for their sets. These groups and labels will then be shared, discussed, and evaluated by the whole class, as other students consider the appropriateness of sets formed and comprehensiveness of labels. Sharing and discussing different ways of grouping their ideas and evaluating the appropriateness of their labels expands flexibility in thinking, while expanding everyone’s understanding and realization of how often they encounter percents in their own world and in what contexts they might occur. This step might be an activity for which the teacher would choose to allow additional time for display and review of individual groupings and their labels, perhaps a gallery walk so that students can share and consider the ideas of their peers. Grouping is, of course, creating categories based on analysis of similarities or differences – critical thinking skills that are inherent in every discipline. Observing, discussing, and critiquing various ways in which students have chosen to create and label these data sets offers opportunities to expand the flexible thinking of all students.

Students might then be asked to try to find ways in which they can subsume one or more of their groups within another group. This increases the analytical thinking involved, requiring students to process the same ideas again in multiple ways, to look at that data from multiple perspectives to find new, hierarchical relationships, and to synthesize new labels as appropriate. A discussion of the various ways in which the data were grouped and the appropriateness or uniqueness of the labels given helps students think more analytically and flexibly about their own ideas as well (fluency, flexibility, and elaboration).

Step Four: Asking Questions

Students are encouraged to generate as many questions as they can about percents, with emphasis on why, how, why not, when, what if, etc. questions that require higher order thinking. Asking such questions elicits critical analysis and evaluation or creative synthesis thinking and provides teachable moments to clarify misinformation and misunderstandings. As with the previous step, this could be a simple class activity or could be expanded over time with students encouraged to add their questions to a growing list on the wall or board. As before, particular value is given to unique or original questions that go beyond the simple or obvious (elaboration, flexibility, and originality). Asking good questions is a critical and creative thinking skill requiring all levels of Bloom and requires both modeling and practice; questions generated by students are likely to show what they know or need to learn or want to understand about the topic.

To make the “game” more interesting, try presenting an answer (e.g., .25) and allow students to generate as many possible questions or computations as they can for that answer (fluency, flexibility, elaboration). Any reasonable question that fits the answer is acceptable, but again, unique or original questions that encourage divergent thinking are most valued. If points are awarded as in a game, all correct questions might receive 1 point, but unique questions are worth 3 points. Unique could be determined by the criterion that “no one else thought of that” or “we agree as a group, that question is unique.”

Step Five: Drawing Conclusions

Students are asked to consider what conclusions they might reasonably draw about the topic of percents based on the discussions and activities to this point. This process of drawing conclusions and developing generalizations requires synthesis of ideas and concepts, the highest level of Bloom (create). Any reasonable conclusion that can be supported by the student based on evidence to this point or original reasoning may be accepted as valid.

Step Six: Communicating Results

As a further creative elaboration, encourage students to express their conclusions and supporting evidence in an original product or appropriate format of their choosing. They may consider a concrete or metaphorical expression to communicate their ideas. For example, they may create cartoons, drawings, scenarios or dramatizations, speeches, rap, rhyme, or song. Or they may develop presentations using technology, art, or whatever form of creative expression the student finds personally interesting or most appropriate to communicate their generalizations and ideas to an audience.

Through this series of activities, students conclude that knowing and understanding percents and how to compute and compare them and use them is useful, personally relevant, and significant in their lives. Students have been engaged in higher order analysis, evaluation, and synthesis in the learning process, and they have had fun playing with the data and concepts in multiple ways.

The same sequence of activities could be applied to almost any content in any discipline and modified for any grade level. Playing with information, ideas, or data sets in these ways involves students in processing information in multiple ways. It allows for a reexamination of the data and their own understanding, analyzing, and evaluating and justifying their choices and ideas. They are observing and thinking about how others view the same information from different perspectives, and they can raise new questions and elaborate on their own original ideas. Even though the curriculum content determines parameters for the initial data-gathering or listing, encouragement of unique or original ideas throughout the series of activities encourages divergent thinking within those parameters.

A CREATIVE WRITING STRATEGY: CAUSE/EFFECT AND PROBLEM/SOLUTION

Another strategy, often used in creative writing to examine narrative structure and sequence of plot development, could also be adapted to enhance critical and creative thinking about concepts in many content areas with a particular focus on cause/ effect and problem/solution relationships. Engaging in this strategy in a variety of appropriate contexts can be useful in developing skills for creative problem solving.

The process is simple. One student writes an opening line from a story she would like to read at the top of a page, folds it down, and hands the page to another student. That student then writes the closing line of a story he would like to read at the bottom of that same page. The two students then work together to fill in the plot points necessary to develop the story from the opening line to the closing line. This creative writing activity engages students in developing narrative structure, cause/effect, and problem/solution; predicting reasonable outcomes; and using elaborative thinking as well as divergent, convergent, and higher order thinking skills.

This strategy could be adapted to science, social studies, math, music, and art. Student One could be asked to write an event from the past, a historical situation or problem (social studies, science); number, number equation, musical line, or figural drawing (math, music art) at the top of the page and fold it down. Student Two could then write a contemporary event, situation, issue (social studies, science); another problem, number, equation, musical line, or figural drawing (math, music or art) at the bottom of the page. Then the two students could work out the cause-effect, problem-solution steps, and make the connections necessary to go from the first statement to the final statement.

As a further extension in analyzing and developing ideas constructed in this activity, students might be asked to create a graph or chart to illustrate the plot curve, cause/effect, problem/solution sequence, or connections within the relationships they have constructed. This could be a visual graph or three-dimensional structure, a dramatic performance, or a musical or artistic representation— as long as it represents the sequential or developmental cause/effect relationships involved. Collaboration as well as critical and creative thinking at the highest levels of Bloom are involved throughout these activities.

OTHER STRATEGIES TO EXPLORE

Strategies such as the Creative Problem Solving (CPS) model (Treffinger, Isaksen, & Dorval, 2003), SCAMPER (Eberle, 1977), or Six Thinking Hats (de Bono, 1999) encourage flexibility and elaboration as students consider issues or concepts from multiple points of view. These thinking strategies are familiar to many gifted teachers, but are rarely applied in contexts by content teachers. Students can employ the problem-finding step of the CPS model by asking themselves “In What Ways Might We . . .?” to help identify potential problems within larger issues, listing as many ideas as they can relative to the situation and then evaluating those ideas to determine a problem they might pursue. SCAMPER ( S ubstitute,  C ombine,  A dapt,  M odify/Magnify/Minify,  P ut to other uses,  E liminate,  R everse/ Reorder/Rearrange) is a useful tool for encouraging flexible thinking, as students examine and analyze situations or issues and generate innovative ideas and solutions. In small groups or as a class, students might try on de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats as they examine potential issues from multiple perspectives: gathering and examining facts and evaluating sources and objectivity of  facts  (White Hat); considering possible  emotions  involved (Red Hat); considering possible  benefits  (Yellow Hat), as well as possible  negatives  (Black Hat) related to the issue; generating  creative  ideas, even far-out wild and crazy ideas (Green Hat); before finally considering possible solutions and developing a plan of  implementation  (Blue Hat). In each of these strategies, students consider issues and possibilities from multiple points of view, discussing, analyzing, and processing data and information in multiple ways to move from vague, broadly-conceived issues into more clearly-defined problem statements, potentially leading to useful, creative solutions.

PRESENTING THE FINDINGS

In all of these critical and creative thinking strategies, students gather data or information related to issues that they find to be significant or personally meaningful. Students are encouraged to evaluate sources of data and to consider bias and objectivity or accuracy of information—critical thinking skills particularly necessary in today’s world. By analyzing and categorizing data, they can begin to sort through relevant and irrelevant information pertinent to a problem that they might effectively address. By considering multiple perspectives related to the problem, brainstorming, and sharing multiple possible solutions, students can think more fluently and flexibly and then begin to choose among alternative possibilities and propose a likely course of action. All of these processes involve higher order thinking skills of analysis, evaluation, and creative synthesis at every step. Students learn to ask good questions, considering relationships such as cause/effect, make reasonable predictions, draw conclusions, generate innovative ideas and products, and support and defend decisions and choices.

Students should also consider an appropriate audience for presentation of their proposed solutions. How will they communicate the problem they have identified, the pertinent data they have found, and ideas for possible solutions to the target audience? Presentation of an identified problem within a larger issue accompanied by relevant supporting data and a considered approach to a potential solution is an important leadership skill that crosses all disciplines, particularly critical in contemporary times.

When these kinds of critical and creative thinking strategies are practiced frequently in purposeful content instruction, content learning is enhanced, not only in terms of more meaningful development of concepts, but also in terms of skills required for reading, writing, speaking, listening, research, and presentation. Thinking skills of cause/effect, predicting reasonable outcomes, analysis of data and multiple points of view, evaluation, making judgments, and creative synthesis can be developed through frequent opportunities to explore and express opinions and ideas in a receptive, collaborative critical and creative thinking learning environment. Not only are students given opportunity to develop these higher order thinking skills through these kinds of practices, but they also develop leadership skills of teamwork and collaboration and presentation skills in speaking, writing, and use of technology for authentic purposes.

Critical and creative thinking strategies should not be merely an afterthought to instruction. Critical and creative thinking are the ways in which real learning occurs. When strategies for critical and creative thinking are tied to appropriate content learning objectives, content learning becomes more meaningful, more challenging and interesting, and therefore, more engaging. By engaging students frequently with a variety of critical and creative thinking strategies applied to appropriate curriculum content, we encourage students to think more divergently and meaningfully about content. We also enhance skills of analytical and evaluative thinking and creative problem solving. This implies a classroom atmosphere of inquiry, discovery, and acceptance of expression of new ideas and exploring questions. In this atmosphere, gifted learners are better prepared for authentic problem-finding and developing innovative solutions and products, and for communication of those results and ideas to appropriate audiences: the Joy of Learning!

Benny Hickerson, Ph.D. , a former TAGT President (1998) and TAGT board member, is an adjunct professor of gifted education at Southern Methodist University. She is also a presenter and speaker for G/T staff development and serves as a consultant in gifted education in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metropolitan area. Dr. Hickerson has been a K–12 G/T district administrator, a campus administrator, and a classroom teacher in both public and private schools, including having taught at every grade level K–12. She has also taught both undergraduate and graduate levels in college, in both reading and gifted education. She can be contacted at [email protected] or [email protected].

Permission Statement

Permission to reprint this article has been granted to The Davidson Institute for Talent Development from  Tempo Magazine , a publication of the Texas Association of the Gifted and Talented (TAGT)  http://www.txgifted.org/ . This material may not be reproduced without permission from TAGT.

This article is provided as a service of the Davidson Institute for Talent Development, a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to supporting profoundly gifted young people 18 and under. To learn more about the Davidson Institute’s programs, please visit  www.DavidsonGifted.org .

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Thinking and Learning

How Do Students Think and Learn?

Principles 1-8 relate to thinking and learning.

• Principle 1
• Principle 2
• Principle 3
• Principle 4
• Principle 5
• Principle 6
• Principle 7
• Principle 8

Students' beliefs or perceptions about intelligence and ability affect their cognitive functions and learning

Gifted students are more likely, but not always, to attribute failure to lack of effort rather than question their ability. When students believe their performance can be improved, they are acquiring a growth mindset that can bring to bear motivation and persistence when they encounter challenging problems or material.

Tips for teachers

• Avoid generating ability-based credit when a task is easy (e.g., saying “You’re so smart” after the student quickly figures out an answer to a relatively unchallenging problem. In such a case, the teacher may inadvertently encourage that student to associate smartness with speed and lack of effort).
• Self-handicapping may reflect a student’s fear of embarrassment or failure (“If I don’t even try, people will not think I’m dumb if I fail”). This may lead to gifted children who take risks in situations in which they are sure they can excel. It’s important to reward reflective thinking as much as speed of recall.
• Help students find good ways to “scaffold” so they can learn a new skill or compensate for a weakness that can help them overcome insecurity related to intellectual risk taking.
• Focus on improving behavior by modeling and offering constructive criticism to better highlight what students are doing well and where they can improve.

What students already know affects their learning

Gifted learners tend to learn more efficiently than others. This unique academic need deserves to be addressed equitably in school. Researchers have learned that optimal learning occurs when there is a match between the challenge level of the learning task and skill level of the learner.

Teachers are instrumental in assessing what gifted students already know and providing them with opportunities to learn new material, challenge misconceptions and acquire new skills:

• To determine the academic readiness of students, teachers should administer pre-assessments before instruction on a topic.
• Design new learning experiences that are challenging and appropriate for increasing students’ conceptual growth.
• Bringing about conceptual change requires teachers’ use of specific instructional strategies that bring on cognitive conflict in the minds of students by helping make them aware of the difference between their thinking and the desired outcomes of the lesson.

Student's cognitive development and learning are not limited by general stages of development

For students with advanced academic abilities and/or achievement, optimal cognitive and talent development depends on providing them with access to appropriately challenging content that can stimulate them intellectually. It is also important to note that cognitive abilities can be asynchronous (i.e., giftedness can be exhibited within a single domain and not carry over to the same extent to other domains or to noncognitive development).

Teachers should evaluate their students’ domain-specific cognitive reasoning abilities, relevant content knowledge, and social and emotional needs and adjust what material to present to them accordingly. Teachers are encouraged to consider strategies to maximize the growth of gifted students’ reasoning abilities, such as:

• Measuring reasoning abilities and content knowledge before determining appropriate instructional levels.
• Recognizing there should not be an expectation of exceptional performance in all subjects to qualify for higher level instruction in areas of strength.
• Recognizing that students with advanced reasoning abilities in a subject may lack advanced knowledge due to lack of prior exposure, but they may be able to master material faster than other students and should be given the opportunity to move at their own pace.
• Encouraging students’ critical thinking and reasoning abilities by providing challenging opportunities for solving complex problems, particularly in areas in which students already have substantial knowledge.
• Providing students with project-based, cooperative and situated learning opportunities to encourage innovation, creative thinking, practical skills and social development.
• Encouraging discussion, discourse and debate that provoke thinking to encourage cognitive development through social interaction.
• Ensuring that gifted students have opportunities to interact with other students who are at or above their cognitive reasoning and knowledge levels.
• Making students aware of, and facilitate access to, opportunities to extend their learning and to meet intellectual peers outside of the classroom.
• Providing opportunities to students who have the potential to excel beyond their age group but who lack background knowledge to fill gaps in their knowledge base.
• Understanding that students with exceptionally advanced cognitive abilities may not be similarly advanced socially and emotionally.

Learning is based on context. Generalizing learning to new contexts is not spontaneous; it needs to be facilitated

By using more sophisticated strategies for learning, thinking and problem solving than others their age, gifted students are more likely to spontaneously apply their knowledge in contexts quite different from those in which it was learned. This ability to use previously learned knowledge and skills in unfamiliar tasks contributes to the rapid pace of gifted students’ learning. Like their same-age peers, they can learn more and better ways to transfer and generalize, but peers will need more and different instruction, support and practice.

Developing gifted students’ transfer and generalization is best done by having them engage in activities that do the following:

• Including and building on prior knowledge and strengths.
• Providing opportunities for students to learn content in multiple contexts.
• Encourage and expect students to notice and find applications of their knowledge beyond the classroom.
• Scaffolding transfer and generalization initially by guiding it, gradually reducing the teacher’s role, encouraging students to take responsibility for these actions over time until they use them automatically.
• Solving challenging, complex, real-world problems.

Acquiring long-term knowledge and skill is largely dependent on practice.

Intelligence and talent provide the grounding for more efficient and effective use of instruction and practice. Many gifted students are capable of efficient knowledge acquisition and developing innovative mechanisms for encoding new information, retrieving knowledge, and applying skills. However, higher stages of skill and knowledge acquisition will inevitably require practice, concentration and targeted experiences.

Gifted students, like all students, must practice acquiring knowledge and skills they have not mastered and practice should be designed to appeal to their goals and aspirations, which can be gaining access to more enjoyable and creative work once mastery is achieved.

Clear, explanatory and timely feedback to students is important for learning.

It is preferable that when gifted students are working on problem solving and open-ended tasks, they be given opportunities to work through the problem-solving process and evaluate their progress independently rather than rely solely on a teacher’s external evaluation of their work. Teachers can facilitate this process by providing feedback at key stages that is clear and timely, providing scaffolding for complex tasks.

• Feedback from teachers can be used to help gifted learners calibrate self-assessment of their work.
• Teachers should provide feedback at points during the learning process when students need additional support — while allowing learners to discover and learn independently when appropriate.
• Encourage students to persevere through complex tasks, independently of external evaluation to develop greater skills and self-reliance.
• With proper instructional support and guidance, gifted students can provide quality feedback to peers, and this strategy can be used to help increase motivation, achievement and metacognitive skills.
• Students tend to respond better if feedback minimizes negativity and addresses significant aspects relevant to the learning goals.
• For gifted learners engaged in long-term projects and goals, regular feedback at key benchmarks can be used to help students maintain motivation with evidence of incremental progress.

Students' self-regulation assists learning; self-regulatory skills can be taught.

Two types of learning strategies are crucial for self-regulated learning (SRL): cognitive learning strategies (e.g., rehearsal, organization, and elaboration strategies) and metacognitive learning strategies (e.g., self-assessment, goal setting and monitoring). Especially during their first years of schooling, gifted learners often achieve at high levels without relying on such learning strategies. However, when they transition into more challenging learning settings, or when they begin to work on attaining excellence in a given talent domain, SRL becomes essential for gifted learners, too.

• Start by introducing the individual facets of SRL during instruction and systematically practice using the individual SRL strategy components.
• Consider the curricular and extracurricular areas in which the individual aspects of SRL can be helpful with your students.
• SRL practice needs to be based on concrete, authentic content from the regular curriculum. Practicing learning strategies with students should not become isolated from actual classroom instruction.
• Guide your students — in a systematic, well-structured manner — to observe the connections between their own learning behavior and their own accomplishments.
• Provide all your students with learning situations for SRL that are tailored to their respective achievement levels and, thereby, create authentic opportunities for each student to experience the benefits of SRL.
• Apply SRL strategies in as many subjects as possible.

Student creativity can be fostered

The relationship between creativity and giftedness varies — with some seeing creativity as a separate but related construct from giftedness; others seeing it as a component of giftedness; and still others seeing it as a subcategory of some other trait, such as intelligence, that contributes to giftedness. However, no matter the view, creativity can be fostered and enhanced in all leaners. 

• Educators should familiarize themselves with processes used to assess creativity and how to foster it through assignments.
• When gifted programs have an established goal of growth in creative thinking, teachers should advocate for the inclusion of students with high creativity in those programs, even if those students may not meet other identification criteria. 
• Teachers should downplay the use of rewards and praise for students’ creative efforts, focusing instead on the value of the experience and the application of real-world criteria for creative products.
• Teachers should model the characteristics of creative individuals and in their teaching (e.g., taking well-considered risks, being open to new experience, persisting in the face of failure, developing tolerance for ambiguity).

The creative process is often misconstrued as being purely spontaneous or even frivolous, yet creativity and innovation are the result of disciplined thinking. For this reason, teachers can employ instructional strategies that can foster creativity by:

• Including prompts in assignments such as create, invent, discover, imagine or predict and explicitly instructing students in what these prompts entail cognitively and productively.
• Exploring professional literature for specific strategies or creative thinking skills models that can be used for teaching creative approaches to problem solving.
• Evaluating with students any strategies discovered for use within an academic or artistic domain.
• Explicitly teaching methods for discovering problems that require creative solutions — including awareness of world, national and local issues; openness to experience; a questioning attitude toward the status quo; and sensitivity to the bigger issues that might be represented by personal concerns.

Creative, Talented and Gifted Principles

Thinking and Learning Principles 1-8

Motivation Principles 9-12

Social-Emotional Learning Principles 13-15

Classroom Management Principles 16-17

Assessment Principles 18-20

Creative, Talented and Gifted Students

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Contact Education

Enhancing cognitive dimensions in gifted students through future problem-solving enrichment programs

• Open access
• Published: 09 September 2024
• Volume 5 , article number  248 , ( 2024 )

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• Khaled Elballah 1 ,
• Norah Alkhalifah 2 ,
• Asma Alomari 2 &
• Amal Alghamdi 2  

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This study has undertaken a scrutiny of research pertaining to enrichment programs based on future problem-solving skills, aimed at enhancing the cognitive dimensions of gifted students between the years 2010 and 2023. The study used a sample of 10 studies; 3 correlational studies and 7 quasi-experimental studies. The study employed the descriptive-analytical approach by following a meta-analysis method. The study aimed to discern the effectiveness of enrichment programs based on future problem-solving skills in developing the cognitive dimensions of the gifted. The study's findings have indicated a significant impact of enrichment programs based on future problem-solving skills in the development of the cognitive dimensions of the gifted, as per both correlational and quasi-experimental designs. Moreover, statistically significant differences were found related to the variables of educational level and gender in accordance with both correlational and quasi-experimental designs. The study also advocates the need for further research in this domain to facilitate the generalization of the novel findings of this study within the gifted field.

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1 Introduction

The special needs of gifted students and the challenges they encounter compel us to offer them tailored education that aligns with their potential. According to relevant literature, numerous programs and practices are employed in educating gifted students. In recent years, gifted education has witnessed substantial growth in programs, providing students with various enrichment opportunities. Among these opportunities are enrichment programs that come in various forms, often interactive and centered around higher-order thinking skills. This allows students requiring additional intellectual stimulation to remain engaged and interested in their classrooms [ 3 ]. Enrichment programs focusing on future problem-solving skills are a significant component of gifted education. Many studies have called attention to such problem-based programs. Given the challenges faced by modern societies due to rapid and continuous changes, gifted individuals in the twenty-first century find it imperative to possess future problem-solving skills. These skills involve individuals actively exploring the future by connecting the past with the present, attempting to anticipate the future based on current information and data, and creating current and future solutions to these issues. Future thinking is an active process encompassing all situations, involving planning toward future objectives, passing through stages of imagination, prediction, visualization, planning, and decision-making [ 2 ].

Enrichment programs centered on future problem-solving skills focus on enhancing cognitive processes, such as creative thinking, critical thinking, future-oriented thinking, imaginative thinking, and motivation for achievement. These programs are suitable for experienced students and support the educational process interactively. Their curriculum encompasses essential steps that students should follow when solving future problems. These steps start with identifying future challenges, selecting the most prominent challenges, generating solutions and ideas, setting criteria and applying them, and conclude with developing an action plan, equipping students with the tools and strategies to address these problems [ 48 ]. In this regard, [ 20 , 33 ] underline the significance of future problem-solving enrichment programs in gifted education, emphasizing that it represents a novel and captivating approach for gifted students to enhance their self-efficacy, acclimate to higher-order thinking skills, and cultivate their creative self. This, in turn, improves their creative thinking, mitigates the potential for boredom and monotony, and broadens their knowledge while introducing them to new areas of interest. Johnsen [ 28 ] posits that gifted education programs must prioritize offering rich experiences characterized by depth, challenge, and flexibility. They should challenge the capabilities of gifted students and develop their higher-order thinking skills, focusing on holistic development of their mental, skill-based, emotional, and independent thinking capacities in problem-solving situations. Such characteristics can be found in enrichment programs that revolve around genuine future problems to nurture these skills.

Regarding research, several studies have directed their attention to exploring future problem-solving competencies. For instance, [ 20 ] assert the effectiveness of enrichment programs centered on future problem-solving in enhancing students' creative self-efficacy. Additionally [ 7 ], affirms the effectiveness of an enrichment program based on the Kolb model in developing problem-solving skills among gifted students in the cognitive dimensions.

On another side, studies have examined the characteristics of gifted students participating in future-thinking problem-based programs [ 55 ]. Conducted a study that revealed that children participating in a program based on diverse future-thinking skills acquired the ability for profound observation, extensive general knowledge, exceptional verbal, logical, detailed, and creative thinking, and a flexible approach to problem-solving. Despite the positive impact identified by numerous previous studies in the context of future problem-solving programs, there have been variations, particularly concerning gender, educational level, and other skills, as evidenced by the findings of certain studies [ 11 ]. Furthermore, this methodological approach has not garnered significant attention from researchers in Arab countries, despite the researchers' affirmation of the importance of sequential analyses [ 47 ]. Emphasize that Meta analyses can provide unique contributions to the field of gifted education. Firstly, the results are reliable, stemming from replicable methodological steps [ 25 ]. Secondly, by summarizing the current state of evidence, Meta analyses offer researchers the opportunity to place their insights within the larger context. Thirdly, Meta analyses allow researchers to examine the effects of a large number of independent variables and potential influences simultaneously [ 45 ]. Asserts that Meta analyses are a more comprehensive method for conducting program evaluations in gifted education, as it enables the study of a wide array of independent and moderating variables simultaneously, facilitating a better understanding of the results of various studies.

1.1 Research questions

This study employed a meta-analytic approach to synthesize findings concerning problem-solving skills in the domain of gifted education. The purpose was to address the following inquiries:

What is the effect size average of the impact of enrichment program interventions based on future problem-solving skills for gifted students in fostering their cognitive dimensions, according to correlational designs?

To what extent does the effect size average of the impact of enrichment program interventions targeting future problem-solving skills for gifted students vary in terms of their cognitive dimension development according to correlational designs, as a result of participant type (males, females, both) and educational level (elementary, middle, high school)?

What is the effect size average of the impact of enrichment program interventions based on future problem-solving skills for gifted students in fostering their cognitive dimensions, according to quasi-experimental designs?

To what extent does the average magnitude of the impact of enrichment program interventions targeting future problem-solving skills for gifted students vary in terms of their cognitive dimension development according to quasi-experimental designs, as a result of participant type (males, females, both) and educational stage (elementary, middle, high school)?

1.2 Significance of the study

The significance of this study resides in its substantive contribution to the field of gifted education research, mitigating the rare of studies employing such analytical methodologies. Furthermore, it answers the clarion call voiced by numerous scholars in the Arab world regarding the importance of conducting meta-analytical studies within the educational field [ 1 ]. This study will play a pivotal role in the realization of the directives set forth by the American Psychological Research Guide, which underscores the criticality of employing meta-analysis as an adjunctive statistical method for scrutinizing statistical significance. Through this meta-analysis, we shall elucidate the effective factors upon the education of gifted students. Consequently, it will bestow unparalleled contributions to the field of gifted education by means of descriptive multivariate analyses, which proffer a more comprehensive evaluation of gifted education programs. They empower researchers to scrutinize a wide spectrum of independent variables and moderating variables concurrently [ 50 ].This study will serve as the cornerstone upon which plans for the development and activation of the roles of gifted care programs in fostering cognitive dimensions are constructed. This is because any developmental blueprints hinge upon a comprehensive portrayal of the existing reality from all its facets. Moreover, this study will offer guidance for future research endeavors and inquiries into enrichment program typologies.

1.3 Research terminologies

1.3.1 meta-analysis.

This study uses the meta-analysis methodology, defined as statistical analysis for a comprehensive spectrum of research findings. Its principal objective resides in the synthesis of abstracts or information extracted from an expansive body of research, with the overarching intention of fostering cohesion among studies that share a common thematic concern. This methodological approach serves to facilitate a more profound understanding of the rapid proliferation of antecedent research endeavors. The nomenclature employed to signify meta-analysis has demonstrated a degree of lexical diversity, encompassing designations such as transcendental analysis and meta-analysis [ 15 ].

1.3.2 Enrichment programs

Enrichment programs, as defined by [ 6 ], refer to an assemblage of educational programs used by educators to nurture the development of students' competencies. These proficiencies encompass a varied spectrum, including cognitive aptitudes, social skills, and other skills that enhance the educational experiences of students.

1.3.3 Future problem-solving skills

Future problem-solving, as elucidated by [ 4 ], draws upon Torrance's (2003) definition of this term, characterizing it as the acumen employed for the analysis and formulation of strategies directed at the resolution of problems, challenges, or difficulties, and undefined obstacles projected to manifest in the future, extending over a temporal future of no less than twenty-five years.

1.3.4 Gifted students

The National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) has defined gifted and talented students as those who perform—or can perform—at higher levels than others of the same age, experience, and environment in one or more areas. These talented people must modify their educational experience to learn and achieve their potential. Furthermore, gifted and talented students can have the following features:

They come from all ethnic and cultural groups and from all economic classes.

It requires obtaining adequate educational opportunities to achieve their potential.

May have learning and processing disorders that require specialized intervention and adaptation.

Need support and guidance to develop socially, emotionally and in different areas [ 35 ].

1.3.5 Cognitive dimensions

Cognitive dimensions, as expounded by [ 9 ], encompass an array of concepts, ideas, and systematically organized mental operations resident within a child's cognitive consciousness. These operations discriminate the cognitive realm and are predicated upon skills such as recall, categorization, and decision-making. These skills, in turn, are rooted in the skills of thinking, conceptualization, and organizational aptitude.

1.4 Study procedures

1.4.1 study design.

The study used the descriptive-analytical approach applying the meta-analysis method, as it was suitable for the nature of this study. Meta-analysis is considered an advanced approach for comprehensive summarization of previous studies and research. It significantly contributes to the interpretation of the huge literature that extends beyond the confines of academia. It is a descriptive-analytical methodology aimed at extracting underlying findings from multiple outcomes derived from individual studies with specific attributes. This involves conducting a survey of studies related to the subject matter of the study, examining their theoretical framework, as well as the research problem, hypotheses, procedures, and results. Subsequently, criteria were established for selecting studies that warrant reanalysis and the appropriate decisions [ 19 ].

1.4.2 Study sample

The sample comprised ten research articles published between 2010 and 2023 in diverse international journals.

Shokraneh [ 45 ] recommended documenting the strategies and steps employed in meta-analysis to facilitate repetition or new updates for meta-analysis. In this study, the analytical strategies and steps adopted were as follows:

2.1 Firstly, data collection

Studies published between 2010 and 2023 were included, using a two-stage process. The first stage involved conducting computer-based research using the following keywords: "gifted," "gifted education programs," "gifted education," "gifted student," "thinking skills," "future problem-solving skills," "gifted programs," "cognitive dimensions," "cognitive resilience," "decision-making," "achievement," and "metacognition." Studies that included these keywords in their titles or abstracts were initially selected and individually reviewed to identify additional references.

Manual searches were conducted across several journals, with articles related to gifted students, including but not limited to the Journal of Secondary, Journal for the Education of the Gifted, Roeper Review, Gifted Child Quarterly, Gifted Education, Journal of Advanced Academics, Journal of King Saud University, Journal of Umm Al-Qura University, International Journal of Educational Research at the United Arab Emirates University, Educational Journal at Taif University, and Dar Al-Mandhuma Database. Additionally, searches were conducted on the Google Scholar scientific researcher database, ERIC database, and the Google search engine. The previous search results yielded a total of 288 research articles. In the second stage, criteria for including studies in the current research were applied, resulting in a reduction to ten research articles.

2.2 Secondly, inclusion and exclusion criteria

The study applied inclusion criteria based on the following guidelines:

Selection of studies published between 2010 and 2023 in Arabic and foreign journals.

Selection of complete studies (open-access journals).

Selection of studies with clearly defined correlational or quasi-experimental methodologies.

Selection of studies that explicitly stated the sample size.

Selection of studies that employed educational tests as Pearson correlation coefficients, "t-tests," and "F-tests."

Selection of studies with available statistical data indicating the relationship between the interventions of enrichment programs based on future problem-solving skills for gifted students and the development of their cognitive dimensions or their impact (correlation coefficients, sample size, mean, standard deviation). The previous studies were examined, resulting in the inclusion of ten studies investigating the impact of enrichment program interventions based on future problem-solving skills for gifted students and the development of their cognitive dimensions, according to the criteria specified above. It is to be noted that articles removed during the systemic process included the duplicated articles, articles identified as ineligible for the research by the automation tools and other articles that were removed for some other reasons such as missing information or bad quality of the articles or irrelevant to the study topic. It is also important to note that 41 articles were excluded from the analysis because of the missing information or bad quality of the articles or irrelevant to the study topic.

3 PRISMA flow diagram of the systematic search

Figure 1 describes the process stages used to select the articles used in this research. It is to be noted that two sources have been used in the process of selecting of data namely articles from databases and registrars. Furthermore, it is to be noted that articles removed during the systemic process included the duplicated articles, articles identified as ineligible for the research by the automation tools and other articles that were removed for some other reasons such as missing information or bad quality of the articles or irrelevant to the study topic.

PRISMA flow diagram of the systematic search

Table 1 describes the studies in the research sample included in the meta-analysis.

3.1 Thirdly, the encoding of study characteristics

A coding protocol was established to reflect information regarding the principal attributes of the study, experimental conditions if applicable, and the participants and samples. The features of the outcomes [ 21 ]. Consequently, the encoding of the modified variables in the present study stands as follows:

3.1.1 A—Study design

The encoding of the study design was categorized into:

Correlational research: If these studies investigate the correlational relationship between interventions of enrichment programs for gifted students and the development of their cognitive dimensions.

Quasi-experimental research: If these studies explore the impact of enrichment programs based on future problem-solving skills for gifted students in developing their cognitive dimensions.

3.1.2 B—Participant type

The encoding of participant type was categorized as (males, females, males and females together).

3.1.3 C—Educational level

The encoding of educational stage was categorized as (elementary, middle, secondary).

3.2 Fourthly, data analysis strategy

The study used effect size criteria provided by [ 17 ], and in accordance with that, the effect size is categorized as follows: from 0 to 0.10 weak, from 0.11 to 0.30 modest, from 0.31–0.50 moderate, from 0.51to 0.80 large, and represents greater than 0.81 as very large.

Furthermore, the common effect size of previous studies was calculated by determining the model used and represented by the random or fixed-effects model, which is determined by the test of heterogeneity that detects whether the observed variance in effect sizes (Q) significantly differs from the variance due to sampling error [ 21 ]. Accordingly, it is necessary to find the value of Q and compare it to the degree of freedom value (df = n-1) in the Chi-square value tables as follows: If the value of Q is less than the Chi-square value, it is interpreted that the effect sizes of the studies are homogeneous, and the common effect size is calculated according to the fixed-effects model. However, if the value of Q is greater than the Chi-square value, it is interpreted that the effect sizes of the studies are not homogeneous, and the common effect size is calculated according to the random-effects model.

In the current study, the random-effects model was used to align with the study's objectives, and the test of heterogeneity was conducted, as well as the application of categorical moderator analysis to examine whether the common effect size of enrichment programs based on future problem-solving skills for gifted students in the development of their cognitive dimensions showed significant differences based on study type, participant type, and educational stage. Moreover, it was determined whether the moderator was significant based on the level of significance value (Q) in the light of the random-effects model.

3.3 Fifthly, effect size calculation

The effect size in quasi-experimental studies was calculated as the difference between the means of the experimental and control groups divided by the common standard deviation. Additionally, Pearson's correlation coefficient was used as a measure of effect size for correlational studies.

3.4 Sixthly, publication bias assessment

Publication bias refers to the irregular representation of studies published in the literature, resulting from a higher probability of publishing studies with significant effects. This bias can influence the results of meta-analysis [ 42 ]. Researchers in meta-analysis studies have examined a set of peer-reviewed scientific studies published in journals, although there are similar studies that have not had the opportunity to be published in those journals for one reason or another, raising doubts about the possibility of bias in the results they reach. Hence, the importance of assessing publication bias becomes evident. For this purpose, Egger's regression test was used, which is a test of regression analysis for non-symmetrical funnel plot. It relies on the value "t" and its significance, so if the "t" value is not significant, it indicates no bias.

3.5 Seventhly, heterogeneity assessment

Heterogeneity analysis is a common approach in meta-analysis. It examines the likelihood of observing the variation displayed by effect sizes if sampling error is what makes them different [ 21 ]. In the current research, heterogeneity was evaluated using the Cochran's Q test, and the I 2 statistic [ 27 ]. The Q statistic follows a Chi-square distribution with degrees of freedom (n-1), while the I 2 statistic represents a percentage of the total variation across studies attributed to heterogeneity rather than chance. The test also examines the null hypothesis of homogeneity, stating that all studies evaluate the same effect [ 27 ].

3.6 Data analysis

The researchers of the current study used the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA) V.3.3.07 software to analyze the data extracted from previous studies (n = 10).

4.1 First question results

“What is the effect size average of the impact of enrichment program interventions based on future problem-solving skills for gifted students in fostering their cognitive dimensions, according to correlational designs?"

To answer this question, the researchers used the following:

The heteroscedasticity test was employed to ascertain whether the observed variability in effect sizes within the research and study sample significantly deviated from the expected variability attributable to sampling error. This determination was crucial in identifying the appropriate model for aggregating effect sizes, as illustrated in Table  2 .

Table 2 clearly demonstrates the outcome of the heterogeneity test, which attests to its statistical significance (P = 0.037). The observed value stands at Q = 10.39 with degrees of freedom df = 2, markedly exceeding the critical Chi-squared (X 2 ) table value at a 95% confidence level. Furthermore, the heterogeneity ratio index (I 2  = 80.14%) underscores a substantial degree of heterogeneity among the various studies, indicating a dearth of common effect size. This, in turn, suggests a marked incongruity among the studies. Given the considerable variation in effect sizes across different studies, it is imperative to subject them to analysis in accordance with the random effects model. In this model, the common effect is construed as the mean value of these respective effects [ 16 ].

Moreover, the tabulated data in Table  2 unveil that the common effect size, as posited by the random effects model, is estimated at 0.531 with a standard error of 0.004 and a 95% confidence interval spanning from 0.317 to 0.694. This estimate is consistent with the characterization of a substantial effect size, as delineated by [ 17 ]. Consequently, the influence of enrichment programs tailored for intellectually gifted students, particularly concerning the development of their cognitive dimensions through the utilization of a correlational design, is indeed of considerable large.

In the assessment of publication bias, researchers employed the regression analysis test by Egger, yielding a coefficient "t" (1.15), with one degree of freedom, with P value of 0.455. This value bears no statistical significance, signifying the absence of publication bias.

4.2 Second question results

“To what extent does the effect size average of the impact of enrichment program interventions targeting future problem-solving skills for gifted students vary in terms of their cognitive dimension development according to correlational designs, as a result of participant type (males, females, both) and educational level (elementary, middle, high school)”

To answer this question the researchers used Analysis of Modified Variables, as follows:

The researchers employed a modified analysis to discern whether the impact of enrichment program interventions on the cognitive dimensions of gifted students varies depending on the type of participants (males, females, both), and the educational level (primary, middle, secondary). This revelation is elucidated through Table  3 .

It is evident from Table  3 that statistically significant disparities in the effect size of enrichment program interventions on the cognitive dimensions of gifted students are attributed to the gender of the participants (males, females, both), in favor of females (P = 0.004), and the educational stage (primary, middle, secondary), in favor of the secondary level (P < 0.001).

4.3 Third question results

“What is the effect size average of the impact of enrichment program interventions based on future problem-solving skills for gifted students in fostering their cognitive dimensions, according to quasi-experimental designs?”

An assessment of heterogeneity test was employed to ascertain whether the observed variability in effect sizes within the research and study sample significantly deviated from the expected variability attributable to sampling error. This determination was crucial in identifying the appropriate model for aggregating effect sizes, as illustrated in Table  4 .

Table 4 reveals that the heterogeneity test results signify significance (< 0.001 = p). The value (Q = 139.1) is accompanied by degrees of freedom (6), surpassing the critical Chi-squared value (X 2 ) and indicating a 95% confidence interval. Moreover, the heterogeneity ratio (I 2  = 96%) indicates a substantial degree of heterogeneity among studies. This suggests that the research and study samples do not share a common effect size, highlighting their inherent heterogeneity. Given the variation in effect sizes across studies, it is imperative to analyze them according to the random-effects model, where the common effect is the average of these effects [ 16 ]. Furthermore, Table  4 demonstrates that the common effect size, according to the random-effects model, is 0.745 with a standard error of 0.003 and a 95% confidence interval ranging from 0.436 to 0.789. This places the common effect size within the realm of substantial effect sizes, as indicated by [ 17 ]. Consequently, the impact of enrichment programs for gifted students on cognitive dimensions development, employing a quasi-experimental design, is large.

Publication Bias Assessment: The researchers employed Egger's regression analysis test, yielding a "t" value of 0.3211 with degrees of freedom (5) at a p- value 0.7623. This statistically non-significant value suggests an absence of publication bias.

4.4 Fourth question results

“To what extent does the average magnitude of the impact of enrichment program interventions targeting future problem-solving skills for gifted students vary in terms of their cognitive dimension development according to quasi-experimental designs, as a result of participant type (males, females, both) and educational stage (elementary, middle, high school)?”

To answer this question, the researchers used the Analysis of the modified variables: Researchers employed modified analysis to discern whether the effect of enrichment program interventions for gifted students on the development of their cognitive dimensions differs depending on the type of participants (males, females, males and females together), and the academic stage (primary, intermediate, secondary). This is evident from Table  5 ,

It is apparent from Table  5 that there are statistically significant differences in the average effect size according to the type of participants (males, females, males and females together), in favor of both males and females together (P < 0.001). Additionally, statistically significant differences were found according to the academic level (primary, intermediate, secondary) in favor of the secondary level (P = 0.001).

5 Discussion

The primary aim of the present study was to conduct a rigorous analysis with the intent of elucidating the impacts of enrichment program interventions on the development of prospective problem-solving skills and the cognitive dimensions within a cohort of gifted students. This was achieved through the employment of both correlational and quasi-experimental research designs, with the purpose of unveiling the moderating factors intrinsic to these effects. For this purpose, a total of ten research inquiries were subjected to scrutiny, encompassing three correlational studies and seven quasi-experimental investigations conducted from 2010 to 2023. The ensuing discourse will center upon the findings pertaining to each of the study's research questions, which are as follows:

This section starts with the first question enquiring about the effect size average of the impact of enrichment program interventions based on future problem-solving skills for gifted students in fostering their cognitive dimensions, according to correlational designs. The results, in response to this question, have determined that the common effect size, as per the random-effects model, attains a value of 0.531 with a standard error of 0.004 and 95% confidence intervals (0.317, 0.694). This effect size, for future problem-solving program interventions, resides within the realm of substantial effects, in accordance with what [ 17 ] has elucidated. Consequently, the influence of future problem-solving program interventions on the development of cognitive dimensions in gifted students, utilizing the correlational design, is indeed large. Researchers expound that future problem-solving programs are efficacious in the cultivation of cognitive dimensions among gifted students, guiding them towards success in both their personal and professional lives. It is noteworthy that education specialists must direct enrichment programs to meet the needs of gifted students in this field and design programs commensurate with the knowledge and skills of gifted students at various educational stages. Moreover, these programs must be oriented toward enhancing critical and creative thinking skills among gifted students in both academic and non-academic domains, while providing the requisite resources to accomplish these objectives. Interest in the development of future problem-solving programs for gifted students is steadily increasing, as problem-solving is deemed an exceedingly crucial skill in the modern age. Cognitive dimensions for problem-solving skills encompass critical and creative thinking, idea and problem analysis, theoretical and practical thinking, and the ability to make appropriate decisions [ 24 , 46 ]. Research suggests that future problem-solving programs contribute to the development of critical and creative thinking capabilities among gifted students. Indeed, [ 8 ] study demonstrated that enrichment programs for future problem-solving assist gifted students in developing their analytical and critical thinking skills, thereby enhancing their academic performance. Future problem-solving programs also aid in the development of theoretical and practical thinking. A study conducted in 2021 revealed that enrichment programs for future problem-solving help gifted students enhance their ability to analyze problems theoretically and practically, thereby enabling them to make sound decisions in diverse situations [ 54 ]

Furthermore, the current study's findings align with those conducted by [ 43 ], which showed that enrichment programs for future problem-solving facilitate gifted students in developing their ability to make appropriate decisions, thereby assisting them in achieving success in their personal and professional lives.

Then, we discuss the second question enquiring about the extent to the effect size average of the impact of enrichment program interventions targeting future problem-solving skills for gifted students vary in terms of their cognitive dimension development according to correlational designs, as a result of participant type (males, females, both) and educational level (elementary, middle, high school. To respond to this question, researchers used a modified analysis to discern whether the impact of future problem-solving intervention programs for gifted students on the cultivation of their cognitive dimension skills, as per correlational designs, indicated statistically significant differences in effect size attributed to the participant variables (males, females, males and females together), favoring the female participants, and the educational stage (elementary, middle, secondary), favoring the secondary stage. Researchers expound upon these findings by acknowledging the divergent aptitudes and requirements of gifted students across various educational stages. Indeed, students in the lower echelons may necessitate a greater emphasis on fundamental skills, while those in the higher echelons yearn for more substantial challenges. The nature of talent also varies among students participating in enrichment programs, with some demonstrating academic inclinations and others displaying artistic or socio-emotional proclivities. These differences significantly influence their responses to program interventions. The enrichment programs exhibit variances in terms of content, session duration, resource availability, and the expertise of supervisors, all of which contribute to disparities in the magnitude of the effect. Thus, disparities in the effect size of enrichment programs can be attributed to multiple variables related to the nature of the students, program content, and methodologies, as elucidated by experimental designs in this domain. Studies conducted in this domain [ 5 , 56 ] have demonstrated the pivotal role played by participant characteristics in determining the effect size of enrichment programs on the cognitive dimensions of gifted students. Results have shown statistically significant differences in the effect size of enrichment programs in favor of females. This might be attributed to gender disparities in educational interests, proclivities, and career aspirations, all of which influence the responses of gifted students to enrichment program interventions. Regarding the educational stage, studies [ 32 , 38 ] have indicated substantial variations in the effect size of enrichment programs across different educational stages. It has been revealed that the secondary stage yields superior results in the development of cognitive dimensions in gifted students compared to other stages. This can be attributed to variations in academic achievement levels and cognitive maturity among different educational stages, which impact the responses of gifted students to enrichment program interventions.

Enrichment programs for gifted students aim to provide educational opportunities that transcend standard curricula and intellectually challenge advanced learners. The effectiveness of such programs has been the subject of diverse research studies. Many studies have shown that participation in enrichment programs positively impacts the academic performance of gifted students. Research conducted by [ 29 ] found that students who participated in enrichment programs exhibited higher academic achievements, increased motivation, and enhanced critical thinking skills compared to their non-participating peers. Enrichment programs often offer opportunities for gifted students to explore their talents and develop advanced skills in specific fields. Research conducted by [ 39 ] elucidated that specialized enrichment programs focusing on specific areas such as mathematics, science, or the arts can accelerate learning and develop expertise.

The third question enquiring about the effect size average of the impact of enrichment program interventions based on future problem-solving skills for gifted students in fostering their cognitive dimensions, according to quasi-experimental designs, is then discussed. Hence, to address this question, an analysis of heterogeneity was employed to discern whether the observed variability in the research sample exhibited significant disparities beyond the anticipated variance due to observational error. The findings unequivocally elucidate the significant influence of enrichment programs for gifted students on the cultivation of their cognitive dimensions. These programs center their focus on stimulating critical and imaginative thinking in gifted students, who are the quintessence of cognitive evolution. They proffer challenges that nurture their loftier intellectual capacities and kindle unconventional problem-solving approaches and innovative ideation, thereby augmenting their cognitive capital [ 26 , 44 ]. Furthermore, these educational initiatives encompass projects and experiential learning activities, affording students the opportunity to construct knowledge through practical application. The enrichment programs hone gifted students' acquisition of advanced cognitive skills, encompassing critical thinking, problem resolution, and decision-making, thereby impacting the evolution of their cognitive dimensions [ 40 , 41 ]. Researchers elucidate that enrichment programs for gifted students wield a formidable influence on the augmentation of their cognitive dimensions. These programs are geared toward nurturing critical and creative thinking, which constitute the bedrock of cognitive development. They instill challenges designed to foster higher mental faculties, stimulating students to employ alternative methods in problem-solving and conceiving fresh ideas, thereby amplifying their cognitive endowment.

These programs hinge upon skills-based learning, affording gifted students opportunities to construct knowledge through experiential acquisition. They train students in the acquisition of elevated cognitive skills such as critical thinking and problem resolution, which significantly contribute to the enhancement of their cognitive dimensions. For these reasons, a multitude of studies have demonstrated the efficacy of enrichment programs in advancing the cognitive dimensions of gifted students.

The study's results concur with several extant research endeavors, much like the study conducted by [ 30 , 34 ], which evinced that the enrichment training program substantially facilitated the acquisition of critical thinking and problem-solving skills among gifted students. A study by [ 34 ] revealed a marked increase in the levels of critical and creative thinking among gifted students. The findings of a study by [ 31 ] demonstrated that enrichment programs significantly contributed to the enhancement of cognitive thinking skills, such as critical thinking and problem-solving, among gifted students.

Finally, this result related to question four, enquiring of to what extent the average magnitude of the impact of enrichment program interventions targeting future problem-solving skills for gifted students vary in terms of their cognitive dimension development according to quasi-experimental designs, as a result of participant type (males, females, both) and educational stage (elementary, middle, high school is discussed. To respond to this question, researchers undertook an elucidation of results, which unveiled statistically significant discrepancies in the mean effect size upon participant type (males, females, males and females together), favoring both males and females jointly. Furthermore, statistically meaningful distinctions about the educational level (elementary, middle, secondary) were unearthed, favoring the secondary level.

The findings in these studies revealed statistically significant disparities in the mean magnitude of the impact based on participant type and educational level. Concerning participant type, studies discovered disparities in the impact size of enrichment programs in favor of both males and females jointly, indicating that enrichment programs can be beneficial to both genders alike. Researchers expound this by suggesting that gifted individuals in the realm of sciences, such as critical and creative thinking, foster within themselves the zeal and enthusiasm to further their learning in this domain. The enrichment program proffers a diverse array of educational enriching activities, thus aiding in honing the students' skills in various scientific fields. The selection of students partaking in the enrichment program is contingent upon their distinguished prowess in the sciences, signifying their aptitude to assimilate and apply advanced scientific concepts more effectively. Regarding educational level, studies [ 14 , 22 ] found disparities in the impact size of enrichment programs in favor of the secondary level, implying that enrichment programs may be more efficacious in nurturing the cognitive abilities of gifted students in subsequent educational stages. This may be attributable to variations in mental and educational maturity levels and interests across educational stages.

This can be expounded upon by positing that gifted students possess greater experience in various academic subjects and exhibit higher levels of mental and intellectual maturity, rendering them more adept at comprehending and applying complex concepts and skills offered in enrichment programs.

Additionally, the educational interests of gifted students evolve across educational stages, as they become more specialized in specific fields and develop particular skills. Hence, enrichment programs that concentrate on these fields and skills may be more effective in enhancing their intellectual capacities [ 36 ]. These findings align with the study conducted by [ 23 ] to evaluate the effectiveness of the enrichment program employed by high school students in advancing their athletic intelligence and sports thinking. The results demonstrated significant enhancements in the levels of athletic intelligence and sports thinking among students who participated in the enrichment program. They also concur with a study by [ 8 ] assessing the efficacy of the enrichment program utilized by elementary and middle school students in improving their scientific skills. The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the scientific enrichment program in enhancing the levels of scientific, intellectual, and creative thinking among gifted students in elementary and middle schools. The results of the enrichment program were assessed using scientific intelligence and scientific and creative thinking assessments, and the results of students who participated in the enrichment program were compared with those of a group of students who did not participate. The results indicated that the enrichment program achieved positive results in improving the levels of scientific intelligence and scientific and creative thinking in students.

6 Conclusion

In this study, the researchers analyzed the outcomes of previous research published between the years 2010 and 2023. These works delved into the future problem-solving skills within the domain of nurturing the gifted. This analysis was conducted via the meta-analysis approach, which hinges on the examination of results from prior studies, coupled with quantitative evaluation through various statistical procedures. These include impact assessment, magnitude assessment, and control of potential publication bias. After thorough examination of databases and journals, as many as 288 studies relevant to the study's title and objectives were identified. Studies that did not align with the prescribed study criteria were excluded, resulting in a reduction of the studies to ten. The study primarily focused on ascertaining the effectiveness of interventions pertaining to future problem-solving programs in developing the cognitive dimensions of gifted students. This evaluation was conducted according to correlational and quasi-experimental designs. Furthermore, the investigation sought to determine the average variance in the impact size of these future problem-solving interventions on the development of cognitive dimensions among gifted students, categorized by participant gender (male, female, and mixed) and academic stage (primary, middle, and secondary). The study's findings in this regard indicated that the effectiveness of future problem-solving program interventions, under both correlational and quasi-experimental research designs, demonstrated a high degree of effectiveness. As for the examination of the average variance in the impact size of future problem-solving program interventions on the development of cognitive dimensions, considering the participant type and academic stage, the results displayed disparities based on the research designs. Studies adopting correlational research designs pointed to differences based on academic stage, favoring the secondary stage, and gender-based differences favoring females concerning participant type. On the other hand, studies employing quasi-experimental research designs showed variations based on academic stage consistent with the findings from correlational research, favoring the secondary stage. However, concerning the participant type, there were statistically significant differences favoring both males and females.

7 Recommendations

In light of the findings derived, the researchers proffer the following suggestions:

Studies of this nature, as pursued in the current research, are exceedingly scarce in the realm of gifted education, and their outcomes cannot be universally extrapolated. Hence, an imperative requirement manifests for the execution of further investigations to validate result precision.

Those entrusted with the formulation of enrichment programs for the gifted ought to be rooted in the cultivation of future problem-solving competencies, while taking into account a multitude of factors, notably their alignment with the age bracket, gender, and societal cultural context. It has been observed that differential impact surfaces across the more advanced developmental stages.

8 Future proposed studies

Future studies suggest that meta-analysis studies are needed to reveal the effect of future problem-solving skills on other variables (psychological, social, and emotional) through experimental and correlational designs. It is also recommended that more meta-analysis studies on enrichment programs based on future problem-solving on studies published in peer-reviewed journals to clarify the effect of culture and form a clear picture of the results.

9 Limitations of the study

Like any other study, this research has some limitations. For example, the study targeted only the previous literature available in Arabic and English, ignoring her studies conducted in different languages, which may have some biases. It is to be noted that the studies related to males were very few compared to those about females or both sexes. The study included only those with open sources due to the difficulties in accessing non-open source articles. Furthermore, while searching, about 32 reports were not retrieved, which might have some influence on the study findings.

Data availability

The data used to support the findings of this study are available upon request. However, please note that the data for this article were generated as part of a project funded by King Faisal University. Due to the nature of the funding and to protect intellectual property rights, the data cannot be shared without prior permission from King Faisal University.

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This work was supported by the Deanship of Scientific Research, Vice President for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia [Grant No. 241554].

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Contribution: The contributions of each author to the research paper are as follows: Khaled Elballah—Formal Analysis—Funding Acquisition Norah Alkhalifah—Investigation.—Research Methodology Asma Alomari—Conceptualization—Data Curation Amal Alghamdi—Project Administration—Resources—Software.

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Elballah, K., Alkhalifah, N., Alomari, A. et al. Enhancing cognitive dimensions in gifted students through future problem-solving enrichment programs. Discov Sustain 5 , 248 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-024-00470-5

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The Social and Emotional Curriculum for Gifted Students series provides the gifted resource specialist, regular classroom teacher, or counselor with the tools they need to help gifted students in grades 3-5 develop interpersonal skills, reflect on their often intense emotions, and express their creativity. The grade 4 book:

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"I teach children that have been identified gifted. Your catalog is one of the few that I order from year after year. Wanting to increase vocabulary I decided to purchase Word Roots. It is everything I was searching for and more. It goes beyond 'spelling tests' and teaches students to decipher words based upon prefixes, suffixes, and roots. The focus is on meaning which in turn increases comprehension. My students enjoy watching the buildings appear when they reach 90% mastery. I seldom hear complaints when having to redo activities because of the technology used. This year I had several students so successful that I had to order Level B. I teach fifth grade. Keep up the good work-you are right on target with gifted children." - Cecilia, NC

"I am a gifted intervention specialist in a rural public school. About 4 years ago my 7th-grade group read, Nothing But the Truth, by Avi. It is a novel which includes several different points of view. After my first group read it, the discussion did not go well. The students did not try to understand the different points of view of the main characters. The next year, I taught them critical thinking skills using Critical Thinking Book One from The Critical Thinking Co.™. This year, the students were able to have a great discussion as they were able to 'get' the points of view of others. I have continued to use these books." - Barb, OH

"I teach 3-6 grade Gifted Math. Coming up with logical thinking for all grade levels is tough, but with the leveled Scratch Your Brain® Series, I can rely on Bell Works as a quick, fun, and challenging way to start each period. Many times, the students take the puzzles home to their parents and work on them together!" - Spencer, AZ

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Resources for Gifted & Talented Education

American Mensa National Assoc. for Gifted Children (NAGC) Council for Exceptional Children Gifted Education Professional Development Tests.com Hoagies Gifted Education Page Gifted Child Society

This resource list includes websites and companies that are not necessarily affiliated with or endorsed by The Critical Thinking Co.™

Gifted Education Articles & Advice

Are Your Children's Games Mentally Engaging? Reading People: Non-Verbal Communication Clues Guide To Inductive and Deductive Reasoning Brain Teasers Are Not Just For Gifted Kids Otis-Lennon School Ability Test (OLSAT) Prep Guide Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) Prep Guide Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) Prep Guide Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT) Prep Guide Wechsler Preschool and Primary Intelligence Scale (WPPSI) Test Prep Guide Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) / Talented and Gifted (TAG) Test Prep Guide

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• > Creativity and Reason in Cognitive Development
• > Higher Level Thinking in Gifted Education

Book contents

• Frontmatter
• List of Contributors
• Acknowledgments
• 1 Creativity, Reason and Cognitive Development: Ten Years Later
• SECTION ONE CREATIVITY AND REASON IN CHILDHOOD AND THE SCHOOLS
• 2 Creativity in Young Children's Thought
• 3 Early Experiences and Creativity: An Ecological Perspective
• 4 Imaginative Play
• 5 Revisiting the Relationship among Schooling, Learning, and Creativity
• 6 Higher Level Thinking in Gifted Education
• 7 A Young Artist's Story: Advancing Knowledge and the Development of Artistic Talent and Creativity in Children
• SECTION TWO CREATIVITY AND REASON IN COGNITION AND NEUROSCIENCE
• SECTION THREE CREATIVITY AND REASON: INTERACTIONS AND RELATED CONSTRUCTS
• Author Index
• Subject Index

6 - Higher Level Thinking in Gifted Education

from SECTION ONE - CREATIVITY AND REASON IN CHILDHOOD AND THE SCHOOLS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2016

Over the past several decades, studies have continued to suggest the relationship between critical thinking and reasoning to high-level creative production within and across domains (Csikszentmihalyi, 2000; Gardner, 2000). Becoming a creative producer or innovator in the real world is predicated on the acquisition of a combination of creative thinking, problem-solving, and critical thinking abilities within a domain.

While earlier studies have shown that students show important gains in content-specific higher order skills such as literary analysis and persuasive writing in language arts (VanTassel-Baska et al., 2002) or designing experiments in science (VanTassel-Baska et al., 1998), studies have only recently demonstrated that a content-based intervention provided students with enhanced generic critical thinking and reasoning skills at the elementary level (Bracken et al., 2003; VanTassel-Baska, Bracken, Feng & Brown, 2009).

Most K–12 programs for gifted students include some components of critical thinking as a fundamental part of the curriculum (Chandler, 2004). We have now begun to test the efficacy of curriculum in respect to student growth in this area at various stages of development rather than being satisfied to use proxy outcome data such as Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) scores, Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores, or even state tests to tell us how well these students are performing at higher levels of thought (VanTassel-Baska & Feng, 2003). The new Common Core State Standards (CCSS), adopted in forty-six states, provide a template for using critical thinking skills within both language arts and mathematics. As new assessments emerge that are more performance based and require evidence of higher level thinking, the opportunity for the infusion of these skills in the core curriculum may be ensured. There still remains, however, a need for the gifted community to be concerned about the use of these standards with gifted learners with respect to how they are translated and the flexibility of implementation in allowing some of these standards to be satisfied at earlier stages of development.

The teaching of creativity, however, is not as prevalent in classrooms owing to the stronger emphasis on standards and accountability, measures that stress critical thinking to the exclusion of creative thinking skills. Still, some evidence suggests that educational programs based on appreciation for creative thinking abilities may in fact facilitate the creativity process in learners over time.

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• Higher Level Thinking in Gifted Education
• By Joyce Van Tassel-Baska , College of William and Mary
• Edited by James C. Kaufman , University of Connecticut , John Baer , Rider University, New Jersey
• Book: Creativity and Reason in Cognitive Development
• Online publication: 05 February 2016
• Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139941969.006

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Unique Lesson Plan: Push Your Gifted Students to Independent Critical Thinking

• Linda M. Rhinehart Neas
• Categories : Tips & strategies for teaching the gifted student
• Tags : Special ed information for teachers & parents

Teaching the Basics

Objective: to encourage independent critical thinking to gifted students through objectivity, open-mindedness, analysis, discerning

bias and honesty.

Prior Knowledge: Brainstorm with students what they know about the process of thinking. Make a mind map of their answers. Encourage them to think of all the aspects of the thinking process.

Discussion before assignment : Give students a handout on critical thinking (click here) . Discuss with the students the various aspects of critical thinking. Ask them to give you examples for each.

Assignment: Using the handout and the information discussed prior to the assignment, find two opposing examples of opinions in advertising. For instance, an ad where a woman is objectified and an ad where a woman is held in esteem, or an ad that promotes the image of privilege and an ad that shows concern for the underprivileged.

Make a list of how each ad proves the point of view of the advertiser. Do they use the same strategies? How do they differ?

Research the advertiser. What is their purpose for the ad? Is it successful? Whom are they targeting?

Write an opinion paper on the two ads. Do not forget to explain how you came to your conclusions. Show facts to justify your opinions.

Bringing Learning Into Life

After the opinion paper is written, ask students to pick an issue they feel passionately about. Have them create their own ad campaign for that issue. Have them discuss how they will reach others, why they feel others will want to know about the issue, who they will be trying to reach, what information they think is important to share, where and when they think their ad(s) will need to be publicized.

This part of the assignment should take several weeks. Have students work independently or in small groups . Allow them time to research. Use this timetable.

• Week one: submit a proposal for your ad campaign
• Week two: have a draft of ad with photos (like the one below of AmeriCorp volunteers cleaning up in Tennessee), a logo or badge, handouts and proposed give-a-ways
• Week three: have a proposed unveiling ready suggesting time and place (This can anything from a table in the cafeteria during lunch hour or a full assembly for the school.)
• Week four: have ad campaign finished and ready for the public

After the presentation of their ad campaigns, have students write a reflection paper on the process. They should be able to answer the questions:

• Was this campaign successful?
• What worked?
• What didn’t work?
• What could I do differently?
• Was there any information I missed or was unable to discuss with the public?
• What can I predict will be the outcome of the campaign?

Critically Thinking

Remember, the purpose of this lesson plan - encourage independent critical thinking ; gifted students should be given every opportunity to work without the intersession of the teacher. Grasping the concepts of critical thinking will help students build the skills to become thoughtful and capable adults.

CriticalThinking.org

Socratic Questioning adapted from Richard Paul, Critical Thinking

Photo: Wikicommons

Gifted Back to School Planning: Critical Thinking

• August 2, 2022
• Critical Thinking , Teacher Planning

GT Back to School Planning: Critical Thinking

In the first blog post of this series, we explored depth of knowledge and ensuring gifted students are thinking at higher levels. In this blog post, we will build upon that knowledge by looking at a specific type of thinking: critical thinking.

What is critical thinking?

As teachers, we know that it is more important than ever to help develop our students abilities to think critically. Entering the workforce today is no longer about what you know, rather how you are able to problem solve. Critical thinking is essential to develop at a young age.

But what is critical thinking? With a simple google search, many links are titled “the 7 types of critical thinking” or “4 ways to train your brain to think critically”. But, none of these websites are identical. In the end, there is not specific answer to teaching critical thinking. Rather, critical thinking is the ability to analyze, reason, and problem solve. When thinking about our Depth of Knowledge chart, these are areas 3 and 4.

Critical thinking and underrepresented populations

The incredible thing about critical thinking is that kids do not inherently know how to think critically, they must be taught. Why is this incredible? Because ALL children have the ability to be taught. Sure, some children may have a strength area (we will talk more about this in a moment), but implementing explicit thinking lessons into your day can support ALL students and their talent development. By explicitly teaching these skills, it begins to break down barriers students of different backgrounds may have.

I have found that teaching critical thinking skills explicitly has allowed me to identify strengths in students that do not always excel in academics (many times our gifted students do not!). By helping teachers identify these strengths, they are also able to support these strengths and use them to teach areas of difficulties.

So how do we teach critical thinking?

As mentioned above, there are many MANY types of critical thinking. One of my favorite articles breaks down critical thinking skills into many different categories/definitions (check out pages 61-63). Explicitly teaching these skills are imperative for building deeper thinking. But, this list is long and can be hard for younger children to remember all of them.

When I began as a K-2 Gifted Teacher, I followed an amazing curriculum for teaching critical thinking skills to very young children. This curriculum was called Primary Education Thinking Skills (PETS). 

What I loved about this curriculum was that it broke critical thinking down into 4 categories: Divergent Thinking, Convergent Thinking, Visual-Spatial Thinking, and Judgement/Evaluative Thinking. By explicitly teaching students these 4 types of thinking, the students were able to apply the thinking to different areas of their learning. Additionally, students were able to recognize their thinking strengths at an age as young as Kindergarten! If you are looking for a curriculum to implement in primary grades, I HIGHLY suggest this one.

After a year of teaching the PETS curriculum, I recognized that it was a commitment! Thought a great way for teachers to explicitly teach critical thinking at a young age, there were a few difficulties. For example, if teachers did not have time for a whole lesson, they would skip critical thinking lessons all together. Additionally, sometimes the lessons were too easy for children.

Finally, the biggest difficult I found was that the PETS lessons did not allow the students to connect the thinking to their learning. Therefore, I adapted the units by having 2 lessons teaching the skill, then one lesson relating the skill to reading, and one to math. I am hoping to have these adaptive units for sale on TPT soon! Stay tuned!

Power Points

Alternatively, to combat the difficulties I was having, I created Explicit Critical Thinking PowerPoints with 30 daily exercises for practice. I have used this resource with grades 1-5 and it is easy to adapt based on children’s levels. Each powerpoint has quick teaching slides and then many practices. My students have loved the conversations these brain teasers bring about and recognizing their own strengths.

By teaching all 4 types of critical thinking, students were able to recognize that every brain thinks differently. It is okay to struggle with the visual-spatial activities, because maybe the strength is divergent/creative thinking. It was incredible to see some of my gifted students own their weaknesses because their strengths are what make them an incredible thinker. Throughout the year, they found ways to use their strengths and were excited to develop/practice their more challenging types of critical thinking.

These are great to implement as morning warm-ups, math/reading center activity, small group discussions, or even partner ice-breakers. By spending about 10 minutes each day on these quick activities, you are able to ensure all of your students are being explicitly taught critical thinking skills with the opportunity for practice.

Check out my Power Points here:

Entire Bundle

Convergent Thinking

Divergent Thinking

Visual-Spatial Thinking

Judgement Thinking

Want more resources?

Colorado Department of Education Article (Page 61-63): As I mentioned above, this is one of my favorite resources with a long list of critical thinking skills you can make sure you are incorporating into your explicit teaching.

Convergent vs Divergent Thinking Blog Post  – Learn more about the two specific types of critical thinking

In Conclusion…

Overall, there are many ways to teach critical thinking and many resources. But, the important thing at the beginning of the year as you plan and develop classroom routines is to find a time to EXPLICITLY teach thinking skills. Whether that is once a week with a long lesson or once a day with a quick activity, make sure all students are exposed to critical thinking.

On one last note, make sure you are subscribed to my email list – today’s subscribers received the Divergent Thinking PowerPoint as a freebie! Join below if you haven’t yet!

Happy planning and stay tuned for Blog #3 in the Back to School Series!!

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Teaching Critical Thinking Skills to Fourth Grade Students Identified as Gifted and Talented

    In this action research study, gifted elementary students benefited from the involvement in critical thinking activities. The gifted education community has frequently discussed the development of our learners’ thinking skills. As an educator of elementary gifted students, I have often been frustrated with the lack of depth I find in my students’ thinking, as well as the lack of challenge they experience in their regular classrooms. My goal for this action research study was to move a group of fourth grade students identified as gifted and talented from being naïve and self absorbed about their thinking to taking ownership of their thoughts. The primary materials used for this study were from The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking for Children (Elder, 2002). The study focused on a combination of affective and cognitive skills, and applied the intellectual standards of clarity, accuracy, relevance, logic, and fairmindedness to students’ thinking. Activities that did not use the above materials are not mentioned in this modified text.

    The characters of Selfish Sam, Naïve Nancy, and Fairminded Fran (Elder, 2002) allowed learners to become aware of and understand both positive and negative thinking behaviors in themselves and others. All students commented about personal application of the standards. In addition to understanding each standard, students saw the interrelatedness of the standards. Pre- and post-surveys showed an increased understanding and personal application of the standards.

    More work must be done to help all teachers understand and teach critical thinking skills to their learners. Teachers of gifted students need to create classrooms where critical thought is taught, practiced, and expected. The findings of this study would also suggest elementary classroom teachers, as a whole, are not comfortable with teaching and recognizing the intellectual standards of critical thought. Only when the language and practice of critical thinking are incorporated into daily use, will it become internalized by our young thinkers.

    Since the completion of this action research study, I have continued to use the language of critical thinking in my classroom. I am more aware of the standards and work to incorporate them into my lesson planning. This unit of study will become the initial unit for my fourth grade gifted learners each year and will be incorporated into my fourth and fifth grade lessons.

Unlocking Creativity: Lateral Thinking Activities for Gifted and Talented Learners

Do you find yourself pulling your hair out trying to think of ways to provide enrichment for your gifted and talented learners? Challenging gifted and talented students in a mainstream classroom can feel like a daunting task! I am going to show you how to can cater to your high ability students in the classroom each and every day. Research shows us that providing challenging learning experiences daily is how we can motivate our gifted students to learn (Reis, Renzulli & Renzulli, 2021) . We also know that up to half of gifted students underachieve in schools (Commonwealth, 2001). This means it is absolutely vital that we nurture creativity and critical thinking skills within the general education classroom. One way we are going to do that is through lateral thinking activities.

The Power of Lateral Thinking

There are three modes of thinking: convergent (vertical), lateral (horizontal) and divergent thinking. Convergent thinking tends to focus on one correct answer, whereas lateral thinking depends on creativity to find one unique and innovative solution. Divergent thinking seeks to produce many solutions, and you can read more about it here . Lateral thinking , also known as horizontal thinking, is a form of thinking where students approach problems using solutions that are not immediately obvious. They need to use indirect and creative solutions to ‘think outside the box’ and find innovative solutions. This lends itself well to gifted and talented students who have an advanced cognitive development and thrive on complexity. These students are engaged by higher order thinking tasks that allow them complexity and challenge. Lateral thinking ignites a spark of creativity in our gifted learners and empowers them to approach challenges from different perspectives and with resilience. 

Integrating Lateral Thinking Activities in the Classroom

Teachers can introduce lateral thinking activities during morning work, early finisher tasks, fun homework challenges as well as alongside the regular curriculum. Examples of lateral thinking activities include riddles, puzzles that require unconventional solutions, mysteries, open ended prompts, and role-playing scenarios. Edward De Bono’s ‘Six Thinking Hats’ is a well-known example of using lateral thinking in the classroom. These activities serve as catalysts for igniting intellectual curiosity and nurturing creative problem-solving skills. Teachers can provide a blend of structured guidance and open-ended exploration to cultivate a supportive environment where students feel safe to embrace the many possibilities of lateral thinking. 

Benefits of using Lateral Thinking Activities

So why bother with this extra ‘stuff’ in your classroom? Gifted learners thrive in an environment in which thinking is valued. Using lateral thinking activities in the general education classroom has a positive impact on gifted learners as they develop and apply higher-order critical and creative thinking skills that go beyond the explicit teaching of the curriculum. Students learn how to think innovatively rather than rote learn curriculum content. Plus, who doesn’t love a bit of fun and excitement in class?

Here are just a few examples of Lateral Thinking Activities you can include in your classroom:

Rebus Puzzles

These rebus puzzles engage lateral thinking by requiring students to decipher the meaning conveyed through visual representations. Students need to think outside the box to solve these rebus puzzles.

Brain Teasers

Brain teasers are classic examples of lateral thinking tasks, challenging students to explore non-linear approaches to problem-solving. These puzzles involve unexpected twists or unconventional solutions , prompting gifted learners to think beyond conventional boundaries and consider multiple perspectives to arrive at the correct answer.

Matchstick Puzzles

These matchstick puzzles exemplify lateral thinking tasks, engaging students to approach problems from unconventional angles. Rather than relying on straightforward solutions, students must manipulate and reconfigure physical elements to create new patterns or symbols. Grab these puzzles FREE HERE .

Continuous Line Puzzles

One-line drawing puzzles require students to trace a figure without lifting their pen or retracing lines. Students need to visualise and strategise their movements , considering various routes and connections within the confined space, promoting lateral thinking.

Magic Squares

These magic square puzzles require students to arrange numbers within a grid so that the sum of each row, column, and diagonal equals the same value. Learners must think laterally, exploring different combinations and patterns to solve the puzzles.

Visual Spatial Puzzles

These visual spatial puzzles encourage students to interpret and manipulate visual information in non-linear ways. Students must creatively visualize and rearrange spatial elements to discern hidden patterns or solve intricate challenges, nurturing their ability to think outside the box and approach problems from unconventional perspectives.

Mazes serve as classic examples of lateral thinking tasks , challenging students to navigate complex pathways and overcome obstacles using unconventional problem-solving strategies. Students must creatively to analyse the pathways, anticipate potential dead ends, and explore alternative routes to successfully reach the maze’s end.

Which One Doesn’t Belong?

Which one doesn’t belong tasks engage students in lateral thinking by prompting them to identify and justify the odd one out among a set of items or elements . Gifted learners need to identify subtle differences and connections between the options, considering various perspectives and criteria to determine the difference that sets each outlier apart, fostering critical thinking and analytical skills.

Quiz Questions

These quiz questions serve as lateral thinking tasks by presenting participants with challenges that require creative problem-solving skills. Students need to think beyond the obvious and consider unconventional solutions to find the answer, making these particularly difficult questions.

Lateral thinking activities are vital in nurturing the creative and critical thinking skills in gifted and talented learners. By incorporating these activities into your classroom, you are providing a safe and challenging learning environment for students who thrive when give complex thinking tasks.

I encourage you to explore and experiment with these activities and watch how it transforms your classroom and develops the potential of your high ability students!

Comment and let me know how you went.

Are you ready to try some lateral thinking puzzles in your classroom? Try out this FREE pack of Matchstick puzzles

References:

Commonwealth. (2001).  The Education of Gifted and Talented Children

Reis, S. M., Renzulli, S. J., & Renzulli, J. S. (2021). Enrichment and Gifted Education Pedagogy to Develop Talents, Gifts, and Creative Productivity.  Education Sciences ,  11 (10), 615. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11100615

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Gifted students, with their extraordinary abilities and unique behavioral characteristics, are like rare gemstones waiting to be discovered and polished to perfection in the rough terrain of the educational landscape. These exceptional minds possess a dazzling array of traits that set them apart from their peers, often leaving educators and parents both amazed and perplexed. But what exactly does it mean to be gifted, and how can we recognize these brilliant individuals in our classrooms and communities?

Let’s embark on a journey to unravel the mysteries of giftedness and explore the fascinating world of these young prodigies. Buckle up, because we’re about to dive deep into the realm of exceptional minds!

Giftedness: More Than Just a High IQ

When we think of gifted individuals, our minds often conjure images of child prodigies solving complex mathematical equations or composing symphonies before they can tie their shoelaces. While these extraordinary feats certainly fall under the umbrella of giftedness, the definition is far more nuanced and multifaceted.

Giftedness encompasses a wide range of abilities, talents, and characteristics that go beyond traditional measures of intelligence. It’s not just about acing standardized tests or having a photographic memory (though those can certainly be part of the package). Gifted individuals often display a unique combination of cognitive, emotional, and creative traits that set them apart from their peers.

But here’s the kicker: giftedness isn’t as rare as you might think. Studies suggest that approximately 3-5% of the general population can be classified as gifted. That’s right, folks – in a classroom of 30 students, there could be one or two little Einsteins or budding Picassos hiding in plain sight!

Understanding the behavioral characteristics of gifted students is crucial for several reasons. First and foremost, it helps educators and parents identify these exceptional minds early on, allowing for appropriate support and nurturing of their talents. Secondly, it enables us to create learning environments that challenge and engage gifted students, preventing boredom and underachievement. Lastly, recognizing these traits can help us address the unique social and emotional needs of gifted individuals, ensuring their overall well-being and development.

Cognitive Superpowers: The Mental Gymnastics of Gifted Minds

Now, let’s dive into the cognitive realm of gifted students. Imagine a brain that’s constantly firing on all cylinders, processing information at lightning speed, and making connections that would make Sherlock Holmes jealous. That’s the gifted mind in action!

One of the most striking features of gifted students is their advanced problem-solving skills. These kids don’t just solve problems; they dissect them, turn them inside out, and approach them from angles you didn’t even know existed. It’s like watching a mental acrobat perform death-defying feats of logic and reasoning.

But wait, there’s more! Gifted students are often equipped with rapid learning and information processing abilities that would make even the most advanced computers blush. They absorb knowledge like sponges, often mastering concepts in a fraction of the time it takes their peers. It’s as if their brains are equipped with turbo boosters, allowing them to zoom through new information at warp speed.

And let’s not forget about their exceptional memory and recall abilities. Gifted students often possess what seems like a mental library, storing vast amounts of information and retrieving it with ease. It’s not uncommon for these young minds to remember obscure facts from books they read years ago or recite entire passages verbatim.

But perhaps one of the most endearing (and sometimes exhausting) traits of gifted students is their intense curiosity and questioning nature. These kids are like walking, talking question marks, constantly probing the world around them with an insatiable thirst for knowledge. “Why is the sky blue?” quickly evolves into “What’s the molecular composition of the atmosphere, and how does it interact with light waves?” Buckle up, parents and teachers – you’re in for a wild ride of endless inquiries!

Last but certainly not least, gifted students often exhibit abstract and complex thinking patterns that can leave adults scratching their heads. They have a knack for seeing connections between seemingly unrelated concepts and can engage in deep, philosophical discussions that would give Socrates a run for his money. It’s not uncommon to find a gifted child pondering the nature of existence while their peers are debating the merits of different ice cream flavors.

Emotional Rollercoasters and Social Tightropes

While the cognitive abilities of gifted students are undoubtedly impressive, their social and emotional characteristics can be equally fascinating – and sometimes challenging. These exceptional minds often come with a unique set of quirks and sensitivities that can make navigating the social landscape a bit of a tightrope walk.

One of the most prominent traits is their heightened sensitivity and empathy. Gifted students often feel emotions more intensely than their peers, picking up on subtle cues and nuances that others might miss. This emotional acuity can be both a blessing and a curse, allowing them to form deep connections but also leaving them vulnerable to emotional overwhelm.

Behavioral strengths and weaknesses in gifted students can be quite pronounced, with perfectionism and self-criticism often taking center stage. These young achievers set incredibly high standards for themselves, sometimes to the point of paralysis. It’s not uncommon to find a gifted student agonizing over a single brushstroke in their artwork or rewriting an essay for the umpteenth time in pursuit of perfection.

Another intriguing aspect of giftedness is asynchronous development. Picture a 7-year-old discussing quantum physics with the vocabulary of a college professor but struggling to tie their shoelaces. This uneven development across different areas can lead to frustration and social challenges, as gifted students may feel out of sync with their age peers.

Gifted individuals often display an intense focus and passion for specific topics that can border on obsession. Whether it’s dinosaurs, astrophysics, or medieval history, these students dive deep into their interests with a fervor that can be both awe-inspiring and slightly concerning. It’s not unusual for a gifted child to become a walking encyclopedia on their chosen subject, rattling off facts that would make even experts raise an eyebrow.

However, this intensity can sometimes lead to social isolation or difficulty relating to peers. While their classmates are discussing the latest playground trends, the gifted student might be more interested in debating the merits of different economic systems. This disconnect can make it challenging for gifted students to form friendships and find like-minded individuals.

Unleashing Creativity: The Imaginative Whirlwind of Gifted Minds

Hold onto your hats, folks, because we’re about to enter the wild and wonderful world of gifted creativity! These exceptional minds don’t just think outside the box – they redesign the box, turn it into a spaceship, and use it to explore alternate dimensions.

One of the hallmarks of gifted students is their ability to generate unusual and original ideas. Their minds are like idea factories on overdrive, churning out concepts and solutions that are as innovative as they are unexpected. It’s not uncommon for a gifted child to propose a solution to a problem that leaves adults scratching their heads and wondering, “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Divergent thinking is another superpower in the gifted student’s arsenal. While most people might approach a problem from one or two angles, gifted individuals see it as a multifaceted gem, exploring numerous possibilities and approaches. It’s like watching a mental juggler keep multiple balls in the air, each representing a different perspective or solution.

The imagination of a gifted student is a force to be reckoned with. These young minds can create entire worlds in their heads, complete with complex characters, intricate plotlines, and vivid details that would make J.R.R. Tolkien proud. Their storytelling abilities often leave listeners spellbound, transported to realms where anything is possible.

Many gifted students also display remarkable artistic and musical talents. Whether it’s creating breathtaking visual art, composing soul-stirring melodies, or mastering multiple instruments, these creative dynamos often excel in the arts. It’s as if their minds are attuned to a higher frequency of beauty and expression.

But perhaps one of the most exciting aspects of gifted creativity is their ability to develop innovative solutions to real-world issues. These young visionaries often approach global challenges with a fresh perspective, proposing ideas that are both imaginative and practical. Don’t be surprised if you hear about a gifted teenager developing a groundbreaking solution for clean energy or inventing a new method for ocean cleanup!

Born Leaders: Communication and Organization Skills

As if their cognitive and creative abilities weren’t impressive enough, many gifted students also exhibit remarkable leadership and communication skills. These natural-born leaders often find themselves at the helm of group projects, organizing events, or rallying their peers for a cause.

One of the most striking features of gifted students is their advanced verbal skills and expansive vocabulary. It’s not uncommon to hear these young wordsmiths using terms that would send most adults scrambling for a dictionary. Their ability to articulate complex ideas with clarity and precision is truly remarkable, often leaving listeners both impressed and slightly intimidated.

Behavioral needs of students , particularly gifted ones, often include opportunities to showcase their persuasive argumentation abilities. These budding debaters can construct logical arguments with the skill of seasoned lawyers, presenting their cases with conviction and flair. Whether they’re advocating for a change in school policy or defending their position on a controversial topic, gifted students can be formidable opponents in any debate.

Organization and planning skills are another forte of many gifted individuals. These mini-managers often display a knack for coordinating complex projects, creating detailed schedules, and keeping track of multiple tasks simultaneously. It’s as if they have a built-in project management software running in their brains!

One of the most valuable traits of gifted leaders is their ability to see multiple perspectives. This empathetic approach allows them to consider various viewpoints and find solutions that benefit everyone involved. It’s not uncommon to see a gifted student mediating conflicts among peers or proposing compromises that satisfy all parties.

Challenges and Support: Nurturing the Gifted Mind

While the abilities of gifted students are undoubtedly impressive, they also come with a unique set of challenges. Navigating the educational landscape can be tricky for these exceptional minds, and they often require specialized support to truly thrive.

One of the biggest hurdles gifted students face is underachievement and boredom in traditional classrooms. When the pace of instruction is too slow or the material lacks depth, gifted students may disengage, leading to underperformance and frustration. It’s crucial for educators to recognize this exceptional behavior and provide appropriate challenges to keep these bright minds engaged.

Developing appropriate social skills can also be a challenge for gifted students. Their advanced cognitive abilities and unique interests may set them apart from peers, making it difficult to form connections. Behavioral schools and programs that focus on social-emotional learning can be invaluable in helping gifted students navigate social situations and build meaningful relationships.

Managing perfectionism and fear of failure is another crucial aspect of supporting gifted students. These high achievers often put immense pressure on themselves, leading to anxiety and avoidance of challenges. Teaching healthy coping mechanisms and fostering a growth mindset can help gifted students embrace challenges and view mistakes as opportunities for learning.

Creating challenging and engaging learning environments is essential for nurturing gifted minds. This might involve acceleration programs, enrichment activities, or individualized learning plans that allow students to dive deep into areas of interest. Behavioral schools for kids with specialized programs for gifted students can provide the stimulating environment these exceptional learners need to thrive.

Collaboration between parents, educators, and sometimes behavioral special needs specialists is crucial in supporting gifted students. Open communication about the child’s needs, strengths, and challenges can help create a comprehensive support system that addresses both academic and emotional needs.

As we wrap up our exploration of the fascinating world of gifted students, it’s clear that these exceptional minds are truly a wonder to behold. From their lightning-fast cognitive abilities to their boundless creativity and natural leadership skills, gifted individuals have the potential to make extraordinary contributions to our world.

However, it’s important to remember that giftedness is not just about academic achievement or IQ scores. It encompasses a wide range of traits and abilities that require nurturing and support. Early identification of giftedness is crucial, as it allows for timely intervention and appropriate educational planning.

By recognizing and understanding the unique behavioral strengths of a child who is gifted, we can create environments that foster their growth and development. This might involve addressing behavioral challenges that arise from asynchronous development or providing outlets for their intense passions and creativity.

It’s also essential to recognize that giftedness often intersects with other neurodivergent behavior patterns. Some gifted students may also have traits of ADHD, autism, or other neurodevelopmental conditions, requiring a nuanced approach to support and intervention.

As we look to the future, continued research and innovation in gifted education are crucial. We must strive to create educational systems that can identify and nurture exceptional talents across all demographics, ensuring that no gifted mind goes undiscovered or unsupported.

In conclusion, gifted students are indeed like rare gemstones – unique, multifaceted, and capable of brilliance when properly nurtured. By understanding their behavioral characteristics and providing appropriate support, we can help these exceptional individuals shine brightly, illuminating new paths of discovery and innovation for generations to come.

So, the next time you encounter a child who seems to be operating on a different wavelength – asking mind-bending questions, creating elaborate imaginary worlds, or solving problems in ways you never considered – take a moment to appreciate the potential brilliance before you. Who knows? You might just be witnessing the early stages of the next great thinker, artist, or leader who will shape our future in ways we can’t yet imagine.

References:

1. 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.

2. Silverman, L. K. (2013). Giftedness 101. Springer Publishing Company.

3. Robinson, N. M. (2008). The social world of gifted children and youth. In S. I. Pfeiffer (Ed.), Handbook of giftedness in children (pp. 33-51). Springer.

4. Neihart, M., Pfeiffer, S. I., & Cross, T. L. (Eds.). (2015). The social and emotional development of gifted children: What do we know?. Prufrock Press Inc.

5. Gross, M. U. M. (2004). Exceptionally gifted children (2nd ed.). Routledge.

6. Webb, J. T., Gore, J. L., Amend, E. R., & DeVries, A. R. (2007). A parent’s guide to gifted children. Great Potential Press, Inc.

7. VanTassel-Baska, J. (2003). Curriculum planning and instructional design for gifted learners. Love Publishing Company.

8. Assouline, S. G., & Lupkowski-Shoplik, A. (2012). The talent development perspective of giftedness. In S. L. Hunsaker (Ed.), Identification: The theory and practice of identifying students for gifted and talented education services (pp. 217-240). Creative Learning Press.

9. 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.

10. Clark, B. (2013). Growing up gifted: Developing the potential of children at school and at home (8th ed.). Pearson.

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