IMPACT OF DIFFERENTIATED TEACHING IN DISTANCE EDUCATION PRACTICE ON GIFTED AND TALENTED PRIMARY STUDENTS

Abstract

The main purpose of the present study was to develop and apply a mathematics program that meets the academic and mental needs of gifted and talented primary school students during distance education and to test the effectiveness of the program. The current study involved 120 gifted and talented fourth-grade students, 60 of whom were in the experimental group and 60 in the control group. The distance learning program was prepared based on the parallel curriculum model and the differentiation techniques proposed by the grid model were used. For the collection of data, the Mathematics Achievement Test and the Attitude Scale for Mathematics were given to the students in the experimental and control group as pre-test and post-test. The paired-samples t-test was used to compare the pre-test-post-test scores of students in the experimental and control group. The independent group’s t-test was used to compare the post-test scores of the students in the experimental group with the post-test scores of the students in the control group. Also, covariance analysis was used to compare post-test achievement and attitude scores after controlling pre-test scores in the experimental and control groups. The results of this study indicate that a differentiated mathematics program delivered via distance education increased the achievement and attitude toward mathematics in the experimental group. It was also stated that conducting similar studies for different courses and comparing results will contribute to distance education.

Keywords: Distance education, gifted and talented children, primary school students, mathematics teaching, program differentiation.

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