(598) A PROJECT TO HELP STUDENTS WITH HIGH LEARNING ABILITIES IN MATHEMATICS IN SECONDARY SCHOOL: DESIGN AND FIRST STEPS

摘要

In Secondary Education many programs have been developed in order to improve education, trainingand skills of students with learning difficulties or those who may need special education services.However no much effort has been focused on addressing needs of students with high learningabilities. Sometimes these students get bored in class and waste time as teachers do not haveenough time for them. Therefore, it is important to detect talented students, nurture their growth andprovide them with opportunities to take advantage of their learning potential in order to achievemaximum personal and social development. It will benefit not only the student but the society as awhole, helping to eradicate mediocrity which too often is present in all areas of society. For thispurpose, it is necessary to know these students' characteristics and how to work with them in class inorder to meet their specific needs.Authors of this project have been analyzed some theories and practical tools to develop in class withthe aim of knowing pedagogical and methodological basis of intellectual giftedness and so mayestablish basic, structural and methodological elements that should be incorporated to mathematicalactivities designed for these students.Therefore, in this contribution we show our project which general objective is to help intellectual giftedstudents to bring out their best and reach their cultural, scientific and technological potential in thearea of Mathematics. Topics such as Geometry, Graph Theory or Statistics are considered in thisproject and different activities, which are described in the present contribution, have been designed inorder to reach our purposes. In the present academic year 2014/2015, they are being implementedwith students enrolled in the first and second year of “Compulsory Secondary Education” (ESO) in twohigh schools located in Albacete (Spain). Teachers from both institutions and professors from theUniversity of Castilla-La Mancha are involved in this initiative. Another objective of this work team is toencourage more teachers, professors and institutions to take part in this project.