Exploring Unique Behavior of Gifted Students with Academic Talented

Purpose - Without proper support from the school and community, gifted students are vulnerable to social marginalisation, psychological issues and consequently lag behind in their studies. Previous studies have found that gifted students possess unique behaviour that can assist in raising their overall achievement. This study aims to explore the unique behaviour shown by gifted students at home, in class, and from their interactions with friends in school. Methodology - This study was conducted at Kolej GENIUS@Pintar Negara, which is a school for gifted and academically talented students from all over Malaysia. The respondents were five parents of gifted students, three lecturers, and six gifted students. In-depth and focus group interviews were conducted using adapted interview protocol to collect data and thematic analysis was employed to analyse the data collected. Findings - The results revealed that gifted students showed unique behaviour such as reading for long periods of time, preference for working alone to complete tasks, constantly asking questions to satisfy curiosity, inclination to argue to defend point of view, highly committed to complete tasks, and frequently participate in mentally challenging activities. Significance - This research serves to provide information to parents, teachers and the community to better understand and fulfil the needs of gifted students. It could also contribute to improving teachers' teaching methods and strategies to address some of the problems faced by gifted students in school. Hence, findings from this study could play a part in enhancing the gifted education programme in Malaysia.