Gifted Education Commons^™

Post-Assessment, Imsa Biology Team

Nature of Science

No abstract provided.

Evidence Of Evolution 2: Definitions For Evolutionary Evidence Lab, Imsa Biology Team

Evolution

This lab activity was designed to provide you with opportunities to make inferences and draw conclusions about evolution and the common ancestry of various animals based on their anatomical characteristics and comparative anatomy. You will be given tasks to accomplish or questions to answer at each of 11 stations. In order to do this successfully, you must make careful observations of the specimens on display. You must also know the following definitions before beginning this activity:

Mechanisms And Speciation 2: Evolution On The Web Questions, Imsa Biology Team

Evolution

The website below, sponsored by UC Berkeley, is a reliable source for information about evolution. This will give you the introductory information about the mechanisms of Evolution.

Student Transition At A Residential Stem School, Olivia Kaitlin Gatten

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The goal of this qualitative study was to gain insight into which personal factors most affect student adjustment in a state residential STEM school. Factors from Tinto’s Model of Institutional Departure were used as the framework to capture the transition of gifted high school students from traditional high school to The Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky, a statewide residential STEM school. Tinto’s Model predicts college persistence using pre-existing individual characteristics and institutional experiences. These qualities and experiences were used to form questions about student traits and transition. Questionnaires were administered to Gatton Academy first-year students, …

2015 Imsaloquium, Student Investigation Showcase, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

IMSAloquium Event Booklets

"We want to express our gratitude for the generosity and steadfast support of all the experts and leaders who have nurtured These collaborative partnerships are the strength of our SIR program."

Addressing Misconceptions About Evolution, Sarah O'Leary-Driscoll, Don Dosch

Evolution

"Leave with effective ways to identify and address misconceptions about evolution, with a particular focus on supporting explanations with evidence."

Engineering Education For High-Ability Students, Branson Lawrence, Diane Hinterlong, Laurie S. Sutherland

Publications & Research

Over the course of their careers, engineers command a breadth and depth of knowledge from science, mathematics, society, politics, and economics that is needed for continuously updating their knowledge of the latest discoveries and advances. Driven by curiosity and enabled by rapid information technology, engineers are kept abreast of the latest advancements almost instantaneously. Today’s scientific knowledge is fluid and complex, yet these traits of engineering remain constant: the ability to define structure, plan, repeatedly evaluate, and align results to the initial objective. Engineering teachers need to facilitate their students’ ability to access information effectively and to apply it appropriately, …

Technology Education For High-Ability Students, Carl Heine, James Gerry, Laurie S. Sutherland

Publications & Research

Technologically adept teens not only consume technology voraciously; they create it. Gifted and talented students are attracted to technology for its capacity to transform learners from “receptacles of knowledge to active producers who direct their own learning” (Siegle, n.d.). Beyond the capacity to produce or innovate with technology is the opportunity to conceive and produce innovative technologies, a distinct type of tech giftedness (Siegle, n.d.) and the focus of the present chapter.

Technologically skilled teens have been doing this for some time, typically unassisted. It’s not hard to locate the connections between Facebook, Google, and YouTube and their gifted creators. …

Field Trip Partnerships: Student-To-Student Mentoring, Aziza Darwish, Robyn Lee-Diaz

Publications & Research

Children running wild enjoying a day of freedom, exhausted chaperones, budget-conscious, hand-wringing administrators back at school -- all of these conjure troubling images for educators about field trips. These are far from the enjoyable, state-of-the-art, educational experiences that field trips could be for today's teachers and students.

For several years, the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy® (IMSA) has had longstanding partnerships with school districts throughout the state which have involved designing STEM field trip experiences that serve middle school educators and students. These field trips to the Academy are led by IMSA high school students who are enrolled in the …

An Exploration Of The Factors That Motivate Gifted And Talented Black Males To Engage In Science, Technology, Engineering And Mathematics In A Gifted, Residential Community, Adrienne L. Coleman

Publications & Research

This study was an exploration of the factors that motivated gifted and talented Black males to engage in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The specific problem addressed was the lack of motivation among Black males to become gifted and talented learners engaged in STEM. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the factors that motivate gifted and talented Black males to engage in STEM at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA), a residential academy for gifted/talented students. Qualitative methodology was used to interview focus groups of 20 gifted and talented Black males who currently attended IMSA …

2014 Imsaloquium, Student Investigation Showcase, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

IMSAloquium Event Booklets

"The ability to work with professionals is a life-changing experience for our students. Working with world-class scholars and advisors, students have contributed to advances in a variety of fields from science, technology, engineering and mathematics, to the performing arts and history."

Increasing Interest Of Young Women In Engineering, Diane Hinterlong, Branson Lawrence, Purva Devol

Publications & Research

The internationally recognized Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA) develops creative, ethical leaders in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. As a teaching and learning laboratory created by the State of Illinois, IMSA enrolls academically talented Illinois students in grades 10 through 12 in its advanced, residential college preparatory program. IMSA also serves thousands of educators and students in Illinois and beyond through innovative instructional programs that foster imagination and inquiry. IMSA also advances education through research, groundbreaking ventures and strategic partnerships.

The Value Of Creating An Innovation Talent Pipeline, Britta Mckenna

Publications & Research

Investing in the innovation pipeline today translates to Illinois business tomorrow. Somewhere between the rise of “STEM” and “staying globally competitive” in a time after Millennials is Generation Z. Gen Z digital natives are now making their way to and through primary and secondary education and we need to be ready to nurture the emerging talents of these and other future innovators. This is particularly important in Illinois where developing – and retaining – top talent will be a key driver of the state’s knowledge-based economy. There is hard work ahead reimagining what education should look like to support this …

The Imsa© Promise: Diverse Perspectives Do Enrich Understanding!, Barb J. Miller, Adrienne Coleman

Publications & Research

For years we have grappled with the effects of the Achievement Gap, which has been defined by: (a) the National Assessment of Educational Progress (2011) as the “observed, persistent disparity of educational measures between the performance of groups of students, especially groups defined by socioeconomic status (SES), race/ethnicity and gender; (b) The National Education Association (2013) as differences between the scores of students with different backgrounds (ethnic, racial, gender, disability, and income) are evident on large-scale standardized tests, adding that test score gaps often lead to longer-term gaps, including high school and college completion and the kinds of jobs students …

Gifted Education Teachers' Perceptions On Implementation Of Blueprints For Biography: Stem Starters, Mary Christine Deitz

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative research study investigated gifted education teachers' perceptions regarding the implementation of the Blueprints for Biography: STEM Starters Series curriculum guide materials with gifted and talented pull-out classes in Grades 3, 4, and 5. Specifically, this study focused on gifted education teachers' perceptions about gifted students' knowledge, skills and interests, gifted education teachers' understanding of teaching biography, their perceptions about implementing science-related curriculum, and gifted education teachers' perceptions about teaching with primary-source materials. One group consisting of four gifted and talented teachers from two small, rural school districts who taught 124 students in 12 gifted and talented pull-out programs …

2013 Imsaloquium, Student Investigation Showcase, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

IMSAloquium Event Booklets

"This year, we are proudly celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of IMSA’s Student Inquiry and Research (SIR) Program. Our first IMSAloquium, then called Presentation Day, was held in 1989 with only ten presentations; this year we are nearing two hundred."

The Impact Of Demographics On 21st Century Education, Norman Eng

Publications and Research

Do all students need STEM education or should it be focused primarily on the mathematically and scientifically inclined? Here, demographics may hold the key to such questions from which a 21st century education model should be based on.

Comparing Overexcitability Levels Between Stem Talented Students And Generally Gifted Students Using The Oeqii, Taylor Imburgia '13, Deborah Mcgrath, Christopher G. Kolar

Student Publications & Research

Gifted individuals have been shown to have higher developmental potential, making them more likely to exhibit overexcitabilities (OEs) classified as psychomotor, sensual, intellectual, imaginational, or emotional. The OE levels between IMSA males and females and between IMSA students interested in STEM and Ohio generally gifted students were examined using the Overexcitabilty Questionnaire-two. Data from 70 IMSA sophomores were analyzed using descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and Bonferroni Correction method. Results showed that IMSA females had significantly higher sensual and emotional levels than males. Both IMSA males and females exhibited significantly lower imaginational OE levels than the Ohio students. This study will hopefully …

2011 Imsaloquium, Student Investigation Showcase, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

IMSAloquium Event Booklets

"Inquiry Without Boundaries reflects our students’ infinite possibilities to explore their unique passions, develop new interests, and collaborate with experts around the globe."

Discovering And Developing Diverse Stem Talent: Enabling Academically Talented Urban Youth To Flourish, Stephanie Pace Marshall, Glenn W. "Max" Mcgee, Eric Mclaren, Catherine C. Veal

Publications & Research

The Growing Excellence Gap in K-12 Education, Plucker, Burroughs, and Song (2010) provided compelling evidence that "the presence of an excellence gap is demonstrated on both national and state assessments of student performance," with "economically disadvantaged, English Language Learners, and historically underprivileged minorities representing a smaller proportion of students scoring at the highest levels of achievement" (p. 28). Three "case stories" of students from IMSA illuminate some of the (a) challenges and opportunities inherent in igniting STEM talent in urban youth and ensuring their success; (b) principles for designing and creating learning experiences and environments that ignite and nurture the …

Stem Talent: Moving Beyond Traditional Boundaries, Stephanie Pace Marshall

Publications & Research

The future well-being, prosperity and sustainability of our nation, the global community and our planet resides in igniting and nurturing decidedly different STEM minds that can advance both the new STEM frontier and the human future.

Igniting And Nurturing The Next Generation Of Stem Talent, Innovation And Leadership, By Design, Stephanie Pace Marshall

Publications & Research

Regrettably, most American students experience STEM learning as an exclusive, individual, theoretical and “formulaic” enterprise. By decoupling STEM education from the human experience, we have distorted the essential nature of the scientific enterprise and advanced instrumentalist and utilitarian rationales for pursuing STEM careers—global economic superiority and technological competition.

Blessed Unrest: The Power Of Unreasonable People To Change The World, Stephanie Pace Marshall

Publications & Research

In her keynote address at the 2008 NCSSSMST Professional Conference, Dr. Stephanie Pace Marshall addresses what work can be done with the collective resources of its Consortium members which beg to be shared and connected--and also explores what the source of "...our Blessed Unrest that will give us the courage to become unreasonable advocates for our children and for STEM transformation?"

2008 Imsaloquium, Student Investigation Showcase, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

IMSAloquium Event Booklets

"Marking its twentieth year, IMSA’s Student Inquiry and Research Program (SIR) is a powerful expression of the Academy’s mission, “to ignite and nurture creative ethical minds that advance the human condition.”

2007 Imsaloquium, Student Investigation Showcase, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

IMSAloquium Event Booklets

"In conjunction with IMSA's 20^th Anniversary and to better represent and capture the sophistication and quality of the students' exemplary investigations, IMSAIoquium: Student Investigation Showcase was developed as the new name for what has previously been termed "Presentation Day."

2006 Eighteenth Annual Imsa Presentation Day, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

IMSAloquium Event Booklets

"We believe that our goal of creating "decidedly-different learners" is already being met and will make a profound impact on the future of humanity."

Imsa20: Bold Ideas, Two-Decade Report Of The Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy 1986-2006, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

Annual Reports

Twenty years ago, Illinois citizens dared to design a bold future by asking this visionary question. One of the astonishing outcomes of their brave imaginations is the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy...

2004-05 Annual Report, Igniting Talent And Leadership For Our State, Nation And World, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

Annual Reports

In the mid 1980s, the state of Illinois, recognizing that the nation was on the verge of unprecedented technological advances and a sharply increased need for highly skilled leaders, founded the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy®. Twenty years later, the national demand for science and technology leaders has never been greater. The National Academies new report - Rising Above the Gathering Storm and the President's American Competitiveness Initiative address the growing concern that the U.S. is losing its competitive advantage as countries abroad invest heavily in the education and training of scientists and engineers. The report and the initiative call …

2005 Seventeenth Annual Imsa Presentation Day, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

IMSAloquium Event Booklets

"The Student Inquiry and Research Program fosters the development of students as highly skilled and integrative problem finders, problem solvers, and apprentice investigators, all skills required to succeed in the global workplace of the 21" Century."

2004 Sixteenth Annual Imsa Presentation Day, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

IMSAloquium Event Booklets

"Students who attend the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy do not have to wait until they graduate from college to begin to make significant contributions to science, mathematics, the humanities and the world around them."