Science Education For Gifted Students

Asks how science teachers can make their classes more stimulating and challenging for the most able students to encourage them to continue their science education beyond compulsory schooling.

Science Education for Gifted Students begins with creative ways to engage children in the primary years, thus ensuring that they develop a love of science that will last a lifetime. Subsequent chapters deal with acceleration and enrichment in the sciences, including instructional units on magnetic levitation, integrating science and physical

Gifted education has come to be regarded as a key national programme in many coutnries, and gifted education in science disciplines is now being recognised to be of major importance for economic and technological development. Despite these initiatives and developments internationally, there are very few discussions on gifted education in science drawing upon practices and experiences in different national contexts. In support of an international dialogue between researchers and practitioners, often working within isolated traditions, this book offers information on key influential approaches to science education for gifted learners and surveys current policy and practice from a diverse range of educational contexts. The volume offers an informative introduction for those new to studying gifted science education, as well as supporting the development of the field by offering examples of critical thinking about key issues, and accounts of the influences at work within education systems and the practical complexities of providing science education for the gifted. The contributions draw upon a variety of research approaches to offer insights into the constraints and affordancxes of working within particular policy contexts, and the strengths and challenges inherent in different approaches to practice. Chapters include: Teaching science to the gifted in English state schools: locating a compromised 'gifted & talented' policy within its systemic context Models of education for science talented adolescents in the United States: Past, present, and likely future trends Navigating the shifting terrain between policy and practice for gifted learners in Tanzania Science education for female indigenous gifted students in the Mexican context Gifted Science Education in the Context of Japanese Standardization This book will appeal to scholars, practitioners and policy makers who are in the field of gifted science education.

In the spirit of encouraging international dialogue between researchers and practitioners, often working within isolated traditions, this book discusses perspectives on science education for the gifted informed by up-to-date research findings from a number of related fields. The book reviews philosophy, culture and programmes in science education for the gifted in diverse national contexts, and includes scholarly reviews of significant perspectives and up-to-date research methods and findings. The book is written in a straightforward style for students studying international perspective modules on undergraduate, but especially masters and doctoral degrees in Science Education and Gifted Education. Gifted education has come to be regarded as a key national programme in many countries, and gifted education in science disciplines is now of major importance to economic and technological development. Despite these national initiatives and developments, there are very few discussions on gifted education in science from international perspectives. This will be a valued addition to the scholarship in this emergent field.

Science is central to our modern technological society, yet many of the most able pupils who could become the scientists of tomorrow turn away from science as soon as they have a choice in their studies. Science is often seen to be difficult or boring, and fails to engage or challenge those who are most suited to excel in scientific studies. This book asks what classroom teachers can do to make sure that their science teaching is stimulating and challenging for their students. Topics covered include: what do we mean by gifted and able children? gifted children that slip through the net challenging science through modelling asking questions in science exploring topical issues challenging science through talk after-school enrichment. Set in the wider context of debates about the provision for those labelled ‘gifted’ and ‘exceptionally able’, this book explores the meaning of these categories, and considers what they may imply in such approaches as setting, streaming, acceleration and enrichment.

This book offers an overview of programmes designed to support the learning of gifted and talented students in STEM subjects, both to allow them to meet their potential and to encourage them to proceed towards careers in STEM areas. The chapters from a range of national contexts report on perspectives, approaches and projects in gifted education in STEM subjects. These contributions provide a picture of the state of research and practice in this area, both to inform further research and development, and to support classroom teachers in their day-to-day work. Chapters have been written with practitioners in mind, but include relevant scholarly citations to the literature. The book includes some contributions illustrating research and practice in specific STEM areas, and others which bridge across different STEM subjects. The volume also includes an introductory theoretical chapter exploring the implications for gifted learners of how 'STEM' is understood and organized within the school curriculums.

This book explores education for juvenile offenders in relation to Passages Academy, which is both similar to and representative of many school programs in juvenile correctional facilities. Examining the mission and population of this school contributes to an understanding of the ways in which the teachers think about and ultimately act with respect to their detained juveniles students, and particularly illustrates how the tension between punishment and rehabilitation is played out in school policies and design. By calling attention to the decisions that surround juvenile detention education, the extant research concentrates on three main areas: first, the social, political, and pedagogical forces that determine who enters the juvenile justice systems; second, how these court-involved youths are educated while they are in the system; and third, the practical problems and the social justice issues youths encountered when transitioning back to their community schools. “I Hope I Don’t See You Tomorrow is both heartwarming and heartbreaking: its vast empathy for the students that L. A. Gabay teaches is edifying, while its unsparing examination of the forces that push youth into detention is soul shearing. Gabay is at once Tocqueville and Kozol: he brilliantly guides us through the educational territory that is foreign to most of us, even as he paints a searing portrait of teachers who shape lesson plans for students who must learn under impossible conditions. Gabay’s haunting and eloquent missive from the front lines of pain and possibility couldn’t be more timely as the nation’s first black president seeks to lessen the stigma of nonviolent ex-offenders in our society. Gabay’s book confronts the criminal justice system at its institutional roots: in the economic misery and racial strife of schooling that compounds the suffering of poor youth as they are contained by a state that often only pays attention to them when they are (in) trouble. Gabay opens eyes and vexes minds with this stirring and sober account of what it means to teach those whom society has deemed utterly expendable.” – Michael Eric Dyson, author of The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America As a beneficiary of Lee Gabay and his colleague’s patience, discipline, and compassionate teaching at the school, this timely book beautifully decrypts the pedagogical framework within the juvenile justice system. As America comes to term with its zeal for incarceration, policymakers, educators, government officials, parents and advocates should take advantage of this carefully written book and use it as reflection and pause as we prepare our young court-involved students towards adulthood.” – Jim St. Germain, Advisory counsel on President Obama’s Taskforce on Police & Community Relations and Mayor Bloomberg’s Close to Home initiative

Here is a reference and guide for teachers and parents who may not be aware of the resources available to help their students succeed. This book examines the many aspects of gifted thinking in relation to math and science and features competitions and curricula that can be easily adapted to students' lifestyles outside of the classroom. Mind-Bending Math and Science Activities for Gifted Students (For Grades K-12) is a helpful guide for math and science teachers, as well as for parents with limited backgrounds in math and science. Advice, vignettes, and cartoons are included.

Tells why to engage in scientific education of talented students as early as possible to develop the critical minds or scientific method judgments. This book discusses the multitudes of initiatives all around the world; stating that most of them work in isolation, often struggling with lack of resources and stay unrecognized to the general public."