Author(s): Karen L. Westberg, Jann H. Leppien
Published: January, 2018 in Gifted Child Today: SAGE Journals
URL to article
Research Focus Area: Opportunities for students to create authentic work for real audiences beyond the teacher
Abstract:
Including opportunities for students to conduct independent investigations is a mainstay of gifted education programs and services. When carefully designed and skillfully facilitated, students’ interest-based, independent study experiences result in increased intrinsic motivation, growth in 21st-century critical and creativity skills, greater self-efficacy toward research and creative productivity, and authentic learning experiences. Successful and meaningful investigations occur when teachers guide students through four stages of the independent study process: interest focusing, problem focusing, product focusing, and audience focusing. Progression through these stages leads to real-life learning experiences with lasting effects for students.
Research Question(s):
What are the key components of authentic learning opportunities created for and provided to students to boost their motivation, creativity, critical thinking, and self-efficacy?
Methods:
Literature Review
Key Findings:
This qualitative secondary research analyzed evidence from prior research to distinguish four critical stages of focus for facilitating an authentic, interest-based, independent learning process: interest, problem, product, and audience. - The ability to conduct an interest inventory is likely to boost student motivation, help explore topics of interest, promote greater focus on other interests, and reinforce the development of communication skills. - Students often face the difficulty of narrowing their broad topics of interest to particular issues for a comprehensive study. Narrowing topics down is likely to help students formulate a problem and a research question for further inquiry. - To produce a quality product of investigation, students need to develop solid research, data gathering, problem-solving, and analytical skills. When starting an inquiry, students need to determine the desired end product to ensure consistency and coherence during the research process. - When planning an investigation, students need to determine an authentic audience for their product to contribute to the value of the work.
Implications:
The authors concluded that progression through these stages provided students with continued opportunities for academic challenge and advanced learning. To encourage authentic learning experiences, teachers should prepare students for scientific work by helping them develop basic research and thinking skills. In addition, students need knowledge and understanding of methodological aspects and practice discipline-specific skills. Time management skills should be another area of significant concern to boost students’ engagement in independent investigations. Mentorship throughout the process of inquiry is also essential for success.
Limitations:
The current secondary research conclusions rely on existing literature related to advanced learning opportunities provided to students to help them develop novel thinking and inquiry skills. Further primary research and data collection is needed to add value to the given conclusions and numerically illustrate the effectiveness of giving students the opportunity to pursue authentic learning through interest-based independent studies.