THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS AND LEARNING STYLES OF GIFTED STUDENTS
Abstract
The current study investigates the relationship between critical thinking skills and learning styles of mentally gifted students. The participants were 225 gifted students in Turkey attending Science and Art Centres which are after-school activity centres for mentally gifted students. Participants were 9 -15 years old and were attending secondary schools and high schools. The data were gathered using the Kolb Learning Style Inventory and the Critical Thinking Scale and analysed using Chi-Square, t test, ANOVA and regression analyses. The findings revealed that gender was not a significant variable for learning styles but it was a significant variable for critical thinking skills. Gifted students had high scores on the Critical Thinking scale. Relationships were also found between gifted students’ learning styles and their critical thinking skills except in the analysis dimension of the Critical Thinking scale. Gifted students who achieved the highest scores on the scale had assimilating and converging learning styles.
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