Özet:
The outstandingly able learner has been conceptualised, in terms of test and
examination performance, as the learner showing superior academic performance
which is markedly better than that of peers and in ways regarded as of value by
wider society. In Kuwait, such superior examination performance leads to a
classification regarded as being ‘gifted’. This study looks at the inter-correlations
between performance in various subjects in examinations and then considers how
examination performance correlates with measures of working memory capacity,
extent of field dependency, extent of divergency and visual-spatial abilities. A
very large sample of grade 7 Kuwaiti students (aged ~13) was involved, the
sample being selected in such a way that it contained a high proportion of those
regarded as ‘gifted’ under the procedures used in Kuwait. While specific learner
characteristics have been related to examination performance, this study brings
four different characteristics together to gain a picture of the way these
characteristics may be seen in those who perform extremely well in examinations.
Principal components analysis using varimax rotation, was used to look at the
examination data and one factor accounted for 87% of the variance. A
consideration of the examination papers led to the conclusion that the national
examinations tested only recall-recognition. It was also found that those who
performed best in all six subjects tended to be those who are highly divergent and
strongly visual-spatial as well as those tending to have higher working memory
capacities and being more field independent. The inter-correlations between the
various learner characteristics are explained in terms of the way the brain is
known to process information. The implications of the findings for assessment
and for the way high ability is considered are discussed.
