Empowerment en leerresultaten bij getalenteerde bètaleerlingen in een verrijkte onderwijsomgeving

Abstract

Empowerment and learning results with talented upper secondary science students in an enriched learning environment Upper secondary school students with talents for science and mathematics need more challenge than they get at school. Education that is tailored for this group of students should have six special characteristics, such as compacted, enriched and an atmosphere of excellence. In this study, the question is answered to what extent such a programme is connected with empowerment of students. With a questionnaire, empowerment was measured amongst talented upper secondary students who follow such a programme. Moreover, it was measured what characteristics in the perception of students have effect on their empowerment and to what extent the goals of the programme, such as good examination results, were reached. The study has learnt that the students felt empowered, that in their perception, the six characteristics of the learning environment contributed to their empowerment and that the programme goals were mainly realised. Indications were found that syllabus topics and enrichment topics must be distributed in a balanced way throughout the curriculum and that even talented student have to pay sufficient attention to exam preparation. Student empowerment can possibly be increased if an other special characteristic is added: providing opportunities to choose optional parts in the curriculum.