TY - JOUR
T1 - A Talent for Tinkering
T2 - Developing Talents in Children From Low-Income Households Through Engineering Curriculum
AU - Robinson, Ann
AU - Adelson, Jill L.
AU - Kidd, Kristy A.
AU - Cunningham, Christine M.
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This project is supported under the Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Grant Program PR Award Number S206A140006-16 as administered by the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education U.S. Department of Education.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, © 2017 National Association for Gifted Children.
PY - 2018/1/1
Y1 - 2018/1/1
N2 - Guided by the theoretical framework of curriculum as a platform for talent development, this quasi-experimental field study investigated an intervention focused on engineering curriculum and curriculum based on a biography of a scientist through a comparative design implemented in low-income schools. Student outcome measures included science content achievement, engineering knowledge, and engineering engagement. The sample comprised 1,387 Grade 1 students across 62 classrooms. Multilevel modeling was used separately for each of the three student outcome measures. The intervention resulted in an effect size of 0.28 on an out-of-level science content assessment and effect size of 0.66 for the engineering knowledge measure. Students in the intervention group reported a high level of engineering engagement. General education teachers were trained to implement the curricula through a summer institute and received coaching throughout the subsequent academic year. Evidence suggests the intervention functioned as a talent-spotting tool as teachers reported they would nominate a substantial portion of low-income and culturally diverse students for subsequent gifted and talented services. Discussion focused on the match between the needs and preferences of students from low-income households for hands-on design experiences and the curricular affordances in the engineering domain as a talent development pathway for young, poor children.
AB - Guided by the theoretical framework of curriculum as a platform for talent development, this quasi-experimental field study investigated an intervention focused on engineering curriculum and curriculum based on a biography of a scientist through a comparative design implemented in low-income schools. Student outcome measures included science content achievement, engineering knowledge, and engineering engagement. The sample comprised 1,387 Grade 1 students across 62 classrooms. Multilevel modeling was used separately for each of the three student outcome measures. The intervention resulted in an effect size of 0.28 on an out-of-level science content assessment and effect size of 0.66 for the engineering knowledge measure. Students in the intervention group reported a high level of engineering engagement. General education teachers were trained to implement the curricula through a summer institute and received coaching throughout the subsequent academic year. Evidence suggests the intervention functioned as a talent-spotting tool as teachers reported they would nominate a substantial portion of low-income and culturally diverse students for subsequent gifted and talented services. Discussion focused on the match between the needs and preferences of students from low-income households for hands-on design experiences and the curricular affordances in the engineering domain as a talent development pathway for young, poor children.
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U2 - 10.1177/0016986217738049
DO - 10.1177/0016986217738049
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85037727877
SN - 0016-9862
VL - 62
SP - 130
EP - 144
JO - Gifted Child Quarterly
JF - Gifted Child Quarterly
IS - 1
ER -