Enrichment program for the ethnic minority of gifted and talented students in science and engineering

ABSTRACT

This study was to design and explore the effects of an enrichment program on the leadership, attitude, and motivation of ethnic minority gifted and talented students who want to be scientists and engineers in the future. Ten gifted and talented students participated in this study, Youth Science and Technology Leadership Camp (YSTLC). A leadership test was developed and implemented to the participants as a pre-test and post-test. The daily reports and interviews at the end of the camp examined their understanding of personal openness and attitudes toward being scientists and engineers. The enrichment program YSTLC improved their leadership and their knowledge of and attitude toward science and engineering for their future careers. This research highlights the importance of developing enrichment programs with a framework of effective methodologies that can be used to educate gifted and talented students, including minority students, to develop strong leadership skills, scientific knowledge, and perspicuous visions for their future.

KEYWORDS:

• Gifted & talented students
• enrichment
• academic achievement
• STEM education
• leadership

Acknowledgements

We express our deepest and special thanks to the chair and the staffs of the Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association (KSEA) for supporting the study by giving necessary funds and guidance and arranging all facilities to make the study easier and meaningful. Also, we are so grateful to meet the wonderful researchers at the NIH and the scientists from the Goddard Space Flight Center in NASA who made so precious and extremely valuable speeches to the participants.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Jiyoon Yoon http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1268-5604

Additional information

Funding

This project was funded by Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association (KSEA) Funds, Overseas Korean Foundation (OKF), Korean Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Creativity (KOFAC), & Young Astronauts Korea.