Browsing by Author "Saarikoski, Juha"

Objectives In this Master's thesis, intervention studies targeting development of academic giftedness were examined. The objective of the research was to discover effective interventions based on scientific evidence. In the theoretical sections of the study, it is examined (1) what components the theoretical models and definitions of the giftedness concept are built upon, (2) how academic gifted potential can be identified in schools and what kind of support needs are associated with it, and (3) the most common forms of intervention used in the education of academically gifted students are depicted. (4) The final part of the theoretical framework examines the provision of support within the context of the Finnish school system. In the research section (5), through a systematic literature review, the effects of educational interventions aimed at developing academic giftedness are examined and the obtained results are compared with previous research evidence. Finally, the study examines the applicability of evidence-based interventions in the context of the Finnish inclusive school and special education. This research was carried out as part of the special education studies at the University of Helsinki and is based on evidence-based support measures for groups and individuals in need of special solutions. Methods The acquisition of research material was carried out through a systematic literature review. Database searches were conducted in ERIC (ProQuest), ASC (EBSCO), Science Direct (Elsevier), PsycInfo (Ovid), Web of Science (Abstract), Scopus (Elsevier), and JSTOR da-tabases. The research included peer-reviewed intervention studies from the years 2000-2023. The studies targeted primary school-aged children and included data on effects, efficacy, and statistical significance concerning the impacts of interventions aimed at supporting academic giftedness. The theoretical framework of the research was constructed through a literature review. Meta-analyses and extensive systematic reviews were utilized to reinforce the research's theoretical framework and to evaluate the results. In total, fourteen studies met the defined search criteria. These studies are marked with an asterisk in the bibliography. The quality assessment process (EPHPP) reduced the number of studies that made it into the final synthesis to ten (10) intervention studies. Research Questions: 1. What types of effects have intervention studies demonstrated in interventions targeted at the education of academically gifted students? 2. Does prior review research evidence align with the findings of this study regarding the effectiveness of different intervention types? Results. (T1) The study found evidence of positive effects of the examined interventions on students' academic achievements, thinking skills, and socio-emotional variables such as motivation and attitudes. The results of the study reinforce earlier evidence of the diverse benefits of enrichment interventions aimed at academically gifted students. (T2) For different forms of interventions, the results of the study corroborated earlier evi-dence on the effectiveness of content enrichment in supporting academic giftedness. The study also found evidence of the benefits of psychosocial interventions and systematic instructional adaptation.