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Examining Gifted Students' Transition To University And Its Influence On Learning, Adrienne E. Sauder

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This phenomenological study examined the first-year university transition experience of 39 gifted students and the impact of this transition on their beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions of learning through a multiple methods design via semi-structured individual interviews, focus groups, and survey instruments, specifically the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory and the College Survival and Success Scale. In addition, an autoethnographic component was incorporated in order to (a) frame the researcher’s bias, and (b) provide a means of eliciting analytic insights that connect personal experience to broader theoretical issues. The theoretical framework for this study incorporated three complementary theories, symbolic interactionism, role …