Education Programs for Talented Students Model (EPTS) and its Effectiveness on Gifted Students' Mathematical Creativity

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to present an overview of the Education Programs for Talented Students (EPTS) and their effectiveness on gifted students' mathematical creativity. The EPTS is a university-based, six-component program model. Its effectiveness was investigated using one-group pretest-posttest research design. Participants included 102 sixth and seventh-grade gifted students in middle schools in a mid-western city in Turkey and who were identified to be talented in mathematics and science by the EPTS identification system. Findings showed the EPTS mathematics instruction had medium to large effects on students' fluency, flexibility and creativity in mathematics after attending the spring and summer programs of the EPTS. Results of the two-year research studies imply that the EPTS is an effective, new program model in the education of gifted students.