The term of education of the scientifically gifted has been frequently used in Korea. It reflects that education of the gifted children has been actively conducted mostly in the area of science and that scientifical gifts are considered as most needed...
The term of education of the scientifically gifted has been frequently used in Korea. It reflects that education of the gifted children has been actively conducted mostly in the area of science and that scientifical gifts are considered as most needed in Korea. Education for the gifted in our society seems to have been focused largely on knowledge-centered subjects such as math and science, but there are many gifted children in a broad range of fields including art, physical education, or information technology(IT) as well. Accordingly, it is imperative that more studies on education of the gifted be made from multiple perspectives. Keeping pace with such demands of our times, this study focuses especially on the education of the artistically talented such as music genius among various fields.
The purpose of this study is to compare learning characteristics and family environment of the artistically talented and the scientifically gifted, which have never been discussed concretely until now, with those of nongifted high school students and examine the differences between them.
This study seeks to answer the following questions:
1. What's the difference in learning characteristics between the artistically talented, the scientifically gifted and nongifted high school students?
2. What's the difference in family environment between the artistically talented, the scientifically gifted and nongifted high school students?
3. What's the correlation between social family climate and learning characteristics of the artistically talented and the scientifically gifted as well as nongifted high school students?
As research methods for this study, we began with analysis of sub-factors determining their learning characteristics and family environment and then based on the previous analysis, conducted tests and questionnaires for artistically talented and scientifically gifted students and nongifted high school students as well as their parents. For the purpose of examining the learning characteristics, questionnaires for student included academic motivation, learning style preferences, and learning skills, together with social family climate scale to understand family environment, while those for parents consisting of social status and background of family, experiences in education of the gifted, values of parents, commitment to parental support, and attitude of child-rearing. To obtain answers to research questions, One-way ANOVA was employed for comparison of the three groups, with using a Scheff test for post test. Also, to compare social status and background of family, we turned to frequency analysis, with correlation analysis used to examine the correlation in sub-factors of learning characteristics and social family climate among the three groups.
In conclusion, we found the following results based on the purpose of the study.
First, both the artistically talented and the scientifically gifted were generally far more higher in academic motivation among other learning characteristics than nongifted high school students, as a result of comparison between the group of artistically talented and the scientifically gifted and that of nongifted high school students. Tenacity and patience toward a task considered as one of characteristics of the gifted students are remarkable, regardless of gift areas, which is viewed as evidence to prove that the gifted children have higher academic motivation not only in the scientific area, but also in the area of art. Self-confidence as one of the sub-factors of academic motivation appeared higher in the artistically talented than the scientifically gifted. It seems that this is because of environmental factor specific to the artistically talented; that is, they have to play or perform on the stage all the time, so it is difficult to function effectively without self-confidence. In addition, the scientifically gifted are more excellent than both of the artistically talented and nongifted high school students in the areas of task level preference of academic motivation, and most of learning style preference and learning skills, which means that the scientifically gifted with usually strong academic records is highly superior in intellectual activity to the other two groups. In terms of learning style preference, the study indicated that the scientifically gifted preferred project learning and independent study the most, which means that they more like such learning activities to select a theme and do research in a group or individually. Meanwhile, the artistically talented are found to prefer independent study the most, developing their own unique style of learning and building up the results. Moreover, the study showed that they like to study independently more than to be directed by others. Even though there is a difference in degree, all those three groups appeared most excellent in examination performance technique of the areas of learning skills.
Second, in this study family environment factors include social status and background of family, social family climate and parents' attitude toward education. As a result, in the ares of social status and background of family, most of the artistically talented and scientifically gifted were a first child in their family of a relatively small size, with higher educational background of their parents and higher household income compared to nongifted high school students.
In terms of social family climate, it is clear that families with a child showing giftedness are more likely to be supportive, creating an atmosphere for the child to make a decision independently. One of the notable differences in social family climate between the artistically talented and the scientifically gifted is an moral-religious emphasis, with the artistically talented showing a higher significant difference than the scientifically gifted. It is thought that this is because family of the artistically talented compared to the family of scientifically gifted are more involved in religious activities, particularly those relating to music such as a church choir or musical performance.
In terms of attitude toward education of their child, values of parents, level of support, and attitude of child-rearing, regardless of the areas of talents, parents of the artistically talented and the scientifically gifted have a higher significant difference than those of nongifted high school students. However, parents of the artistically talented showed stronger long-term support, while parents of scientifically gifted being stronger in immediate learning support. It implies that continuous support and interest are needed on the part of parents of the artistically talented.
Third, self-confidence in terms of the correlation between social family climate and academic motivation, a closer correlation is found with expression of social family climate both in the artistically talented and scientifically gifted. Especially, solidarity among social family climate of scientifically gifted is found to have a highly strong correlation with self-efficacy.
In terms of the relationship between social family climate and learning style preference, the artistically talented have a significant correlation in most of the sub factors of social family climate except conflict and control with lecture among learning styles, while the scientifically gifted showing a relatively higher correlation with independent study and project learning. Also, nongifted high school students are found to have a relatively high correlation with project learning.
In terms of correlation between social family climate and learning skills, all those three groups showed high correlation in most of the sub factors of social family climate except conflict with sub factors of learning skills. In particular, the artistically talented showed a significant correlation in solidarity, independence, intellectual and cultural inclinations, and organization with all the sub factors of learning skills. The scientifically gifted are found to have a significant correlation in solidarity, ability to express, intellectual and cultural inclinations among social family climate with all the sub factors of learning skills. Furthermore, from the fact that nongifted high school students have a significant correlation in solidarity, ability to express, independence, achievement inclination, and organization among social family climate with all the sub factors of learning skills. we reached a conclusion that in terms of solidarity of social family climate, all of the three groups alike have a in-depth correlation with learning skills.