Sharon Dole

The implications of the risk and resilience literature for gifted students with learning disabilities

This article examines the risk and resilience literature, focusing on the protective factors in the lives of both gifted individuals and those with learning disabilities. The intent of the research is to further our understanding of the constructs of risk and resilience and to discuss their implications for gifted children with learning disabilities. Recommendations are suggested for nurturing resilience in these students so that they may be successful in school and in life.

Reconciling Contradictions: Identity Formation in Individuals with Giftedness and Learning Disabilities

Our knowledge is extremely limited regarding the educational experiences of students who are gifted with learning disabilities, and there has been no research on how these dual exceptionalities affect identity formation. To address this gap, qualitative narrative inquiry was used to explore identity formation in 4 college students who are gifted with learning disabilities. The themes that resulted from the analysis of the narratives fell under 2 categories: (a) contextual and (b) personal. Under the contextual category, 2 themes emerged in the data analysis as being integral to the identity formation of the participants: support systems in the way of family, teachers, mentors, and friends and involvement in extracurricular activities, volunteer work, and jobs. The life stories suggested 4 personal themes in identity formation: self-knowledge, self-acceptance, self-advocacy, and self-determination. Educational and psychological implications are discussed and recommendations suggested for further research.

Using Videotherapy to Help Adolescents Cope With Social and Emotional Problems

One way teachers can help adolescents who have learning disabilities and behavioral problems cope with social and emotional problems is through the use of videotherapy. Similar to bibliotherapy, in which students learn through the experiences of characters they read about in books, videotherapy uses videos for the same purpose. In videotherapy, the students identify with the characters in the film with the help of teacher-facilitated dialogue. This article provides a lesson plan featuring the movie Rudy and suggests films with themes relevant to adolescents.

Engaged Learning: Impact of PBL and PjBL with Elementary and Middle Grade Students

This study used structured online interviews with teachers to examine the impact that inquiry-based teaching methods had on their students. The research question was the following: What are the effects on student learning and motivation as a result of teachers using problem-based and project-based learning? Interviews were conducted with 36 teachers, followed up by telephone interviews with four teachers. Participants had taken a hybrid course consisting of four weeks online followed by a one-week intensive field experience facilitating problem-based and project-based learning with children in grades 1–9. Student-related themes that resulted from the data analysis are grouped under the main categories of learning attitudes, learning behaviors, and learning preferences.