한국영재교육에서 소집단 탐구활동에 대한 인식 분석

Abstract

This study quantitatively investigated the actual situations and perceptions of gifted students and their teachers during small group inquiry activities in Korea. Some 1,670 gifted math students and 1,732 gifted science students as well as 614 of their teachers were selected through random sampling to participate in this study. Data were collected by means of a survey developed by the researchers of this study, based on reviews of literature related to inquiry and small group cooperative learning. The results were as follows: (1) In Korean gifted education, small group inquiry activities were frequently used as teaching and learning strategies, and both the students and teachers perceived its effects to be very positive in terms of cognition and affection. (2) Gifted education teachers emphasized the development of students` procedural inquiry skills as well as logical thinking skills, whereas they were indifferent to the essential elements of small group cooperative learning and therefore the lessons did not surpass the level of traditional group activities. (3) The fact that the actual small group inquiry activities did not reflect the characteristics of well-organized small group activities is due to a lack of knowledge on the teacher`s part as to effective teaching strategies concerning cooperative learning. This study implies that gifted education teachers require the opportunity to reflect on and develop their knowledge and understanding of small group inquiry activities through professionally developed programs in order to maximize the effectiveness of small group inquiry activities in gifted education.