The Theoretical and Practical Aspects of Science Talented Education--The Case of Chonnam National University

과학영재교육의 목표와 실제-전남대학교 과학영재교육센터 프로그램

The purpose and content of Chonnam National University Center for Science Talented Education program and students' responses were described. The program was developed with the purpose of providing various learning opportunities for science talented students according to the level of their learning abilities. Students are given a variety of activities based on their potentials and interest. The program was developed in four subjects, such as mathematics, information science, science Ⅰ (physics and earth science), and science Ⅱ (biology and chemistry). Each subject consisted of simple inquiry, advanced one, and project, even though it had its own distinctions. Students were selected for each subject based on two criteria, that is, achievements in school science or mathematics (the upper 3 percent of the 8th grade students) and examination scores. Means and standard deviations for each subject were as follows: 51.8 and 13.3 for Science Ⅰ, 53.1 and 13.9 for Science Ⅱ, 36.7 and 10.7 for mathematics and 36.4 and 12.5 for information science. Thirty hours of summer classes were performed, and a survey was administered to obtain students' responses concerning difficulty, interest, teaching and content of the program. They gave relatively favourable responses in most area, but lack of time for studying was revealed in mathematics and information science. Further study in needed to get detailed and more accurate results of our program.