I. Who Are the Talented in Mathematics and Science ? The talent necessary for success in mathematics or science may, on the one hand, be due to some special inherited ability. Without this ability the pupil may find mathematical learnings difficult. On the other hand, the requirement for success in mathematics or science may be high general intelligence plus the proper learning environment. Perhaps there is no single ability for mathematics or science potential. Science or mathematics potential is more likely to consist of a complex pattern of primary abilities. However, the question is an academic one because the teachers in most schools do not have the time or facilities to seek out illusive single abilities, if they exist. They can identify the student with high general intelligence who seems apt and interested in science and mathematics. For the purpose of this discussion, the talented and rapid learners in mathematics and science will be interpreted to mean the pupils who are among the upper 20 percent of the students in general intelligence and who seem to be apt in science and mathematics. These students will usually show high accomplishment in science and mathematics courses, but may not have high grades in such courses due to lack of proper motivation and instruction. II. The Need for the Talented in Science and Industry A SHORTAGE OF SPECIALIZED PERSONNEL The technological advances of the world during the last decade have been made possible by the increasing number of specialists. Reports indicate that both the United States and USSR have doubled their supply of technical specialized personnel during this period. If advances in medicine, the humanities, and the sciences are to continue at the present rapid rate, the supply of specialized personnel must expand. It is reported that the present annual output of engineers and technicians in the USSR is approximately 100,000 with prospect for rapid expansion. The outlook is not the same for the United States. Present evidence indicates that the supply of scientists and engineers in the United States will not continue to expand at the same rapid rate. Our engineers and scientists for the next few years must come from the graduating classes in our colleges. There is not enough manpower in our colleges to meet needs now seen. It is true the number graduating in 1950 was more than double the figure for 1940. However, this increase was abnormal due to the influx of GI's. The present graduating class is approximately three-fourths of the number graduated in 1950. Basing estimates on the population reaching college age and the normal increase in persons going to college, it seems fairly certain that for the next few years the supply of scientists and engineers cannot increase as it has during the past 5 years. Yet the survival of our democratic way of life may depend upon our increased technological progress. The battle for the freedoms we so fondly cherished may be lost in the laboratory. Our supply of engineers and scientists already is getting dangerously low. A Manpower Supply That Can Be Tapped There is a potential source of scientists and mathematicians that needs to be tapped. Only 40 percent of the high-school graduates of college ability are granted a college degree. What happens to the other 60 percent? What happens to this large pool containing many potential scientists and engineers? Twenty percent drop out during college, and 40 percent never enter college. Why do 40 percent of our capable youth fail even to enter college? It was reported that of the capable graduates of the Minnesota high schools who were not going to college 50 percent stated that they did not have the money. Other reports indicate the foremost reason for the failure of these potential scientists, engineers, and leaders of our Nation to undertake college studies is lack of money. Another significant reason is a failure to appreciate the importance of college studies. Here inadequate motivation and guidance may be the basic reasons. We are spending large sums of money to develop our material resources and at the same time fail to develop a large part of our human resources. We spend millions of dollars for stockpiles of critical minerals, but we spend little to increase our supply of the most vital instruments of defense-the scientists. We should make a special effort to provide better opportunities for the rapid learner in our high schools and, through proper guidance and financial aid, prepare the capable students for leadership in the area in which he can be of most value to himself and society. Is it not time that we stop wasting our human resources and develop to a maximum the youth of our Nation? III. Ways of Identifying the Talented Student in Mathematics and Science To facilitate the reading of this report, a separation is made between identifying the student and providing for his development. However, in many cases, the talents become evident only when opportunities are provided for their development. INSTRUMENTS FOR IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL IN SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS Standardized tests are frequently used to help identify the rapid learners in mathematics and science. They are especially helpful in identifying the superior child who is recitation shy or who has a language handicap. Such tests also bring into proper perspective the pupil who appears talented by comparison to retarded classmates. To be most effective as a guidance instrument, the tests should measure depth as well as breadth in understanding and knowledge. Success in quantitative reasoning is the single factor most 242912°-53- -2 3 closely related to success in training for science, engineering, and related careers. Mere tests of knowledge, such as the ability to recall formulas or standard processes, do not reveal the potential scientist as well as tests that require reasoning in solving problems. Those who use achievement tests in identifying the able student in science and mathematics should study carefully the available tests to avoid those that emphasize merely recognition or recall of time-honored information. Verbal comprehension is the second most significant factor to test for in identifying students with potential in mathematics and science. The student must be able to read to become a scientist. Mechanical reasoning tests help to further identify the potentially able student in science. Abstract reasoning tests which measure the ability to interpret relationships among diagrammatic materials have met with success when used in addition to the other tests indicated above. Spatial visualization tests give additional assistance in identifying the talented student in science, engineering, and mathematics. Spatial visualization is necessary for success in descriptive geometry, surveying, and engineering drawing, which are required in most curricula of colleges of engineering. Interest tests are of secondary importance in locating the potential scientists. Although potential scientists and mathematicians are likely to be interested in problems in that area, all those who have the interest may not have the ability. Interest may be faked, and it is unstable in adolescents. It would seem wise, therefore, to consider school grades and other data from the student's cumulative record in interpreting scores from interest tests. In all these tests, power tests are preferable to speed tests. Ability to solve difficult problems seems to be a better predictor of scientific success than speed in solving simple ones. No One Test Is Adequate It was emphasized at the conference that caution should be used in attempting to identify the student with potential in science and mathematics by the measurement of any single ability. Most students superior in either reasoning ability or verbal ability are above average in the other. However, many studies have shown that there are students of ordinary verbal ability who do superior work in mathematics, while some students of superior verbal ability have a disability in mathematics. Teachers have found that tests including sections on both quantitative reasoning and verbal comprehension are to be preferred to a single measure I. Q. test. In any case, test results along with the student's total cumulative record give the best evidence for identifying the students with potential in mathematics and science. POTENTIAL IN MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE Teacher's opinion is of value in identifying the talented in mathematics and science. Evidence of superiority is often colored by student friendliness, obedience, and attractiveness. Completing routine assignments perfectly may be mistaken as a sign of high potential in science or mathematics. Creativeness of the student and conformity to inflexible regulations are hard to reconcile. Special interests of superior students may even hinder achievement in unchallenging school subjects. Although investigators have reported that attempts of teachers to identify the future leaders in science were correct in only 15 cases in 100, it does not mean that teachers' opinions are of no value or that they cannot be improved. Teachers can improve their judgment by observing many informal criteria that indicate aptness in mathematics and science. Keeping a record of their predictions and, after the student has left college, checking the predictions with his achievement would be helpful in improving predictive techniques. If the records indicated in detail the criteria used in making predictions, they would be valuable to future teachers. Although our present supply of reliable criteria is limited, teachers have found certain characteristics of pupils that indicate potential in science and mathematics. 1. Extraordinary memory seems to indicate a capacity for superior learning. A boy who in the senior year of high school could give at sight the square of any number between 1 and 100 or the senior girl who could repeat extensive information concerning the planet Jupiter based on her studies in the ninth grade are examples of students with extraordinary memories. 2. Intellectual curiosity is often indicated by a persistence in asking questions and an eagerness to investigate marginal content, which usually challenges only those who are intellectually mature. 3. Ability to do abstract thinking may be revealed by unusual insight into probable discrepancies and by skill in formulating hypotheses from new data. 4. Ability to apply knowledge to other situations is found in superior students. A student who selects formulas and principles appropriate to a new situation and evaluates the results is exhibiting such ability. 5. Persistence in worth-while behavior is a characteristic common to leaders in science. It is reported that Edison worked continuously for 72 hours while working on the wax record. After he was 80 years of age, he began the study of botany. He tested thousands of plants for rubber in the remaining 4 years of his life. A scientist does not give up easily. This type of perseverance should not be confused with aimless plodding. 6. Insight into abstractions is found to an extraordinary extent in the scientist and mathematician. Many teachers have had students in their classes who always seemed to see the answer before the problem was com pletely stated. A student in geometry was asked to describe the figure formed by joining consecutively the midpoints of the sides of a quadrilateral. He gave the correct answer in a few seconds and immediately asked what figure would be formed by joining the midpoints of the sides of any polygon. Such insight is rare. Characteristics such as extraordinary memory, intellectual curiosity, persistency, insight into abstractions, the ability to do abstract thinking on a high level, the ability to translate data into generalizations, and the ability to apply knowledge to new situations have been used successfully by many teachers in identifying the student with outstanding ability in science and mathematics. Cumulative Record—An Aid in Identifying the Able Student The criteria for informally identifying students with potential in science and mathematics should be used in conjunction with other information in the student's cumulative record. For example, in one school where special attempts are being made to identify superior students, the cumulative record folder of a student contains I. Q. scores, a profile chart, a detailed elementary school record, anecdotal records of the student's behavior in class and out of class, scores on tests in verbal comprehension, English, mathematics, mechanical ability, space perception, and interests. A folder of this kind used by a competent teacher will be very helpful in identifying and intelligently guiding students into appropriate professions and occupations. IV. Providing for the Talented in Science and Mathematics Many types of provisions are now being made for talented students. Some of these provisions are largely matters of organization, guidance, and physical facilities. In other cases the provisions are almost entirely the responsibility of the classroom teachers. In fact, there can be no ef fective substitute for enthusiastic, well-informed teachers who know the needs of talented students and who also know how to guide the students in appropriate activities. In making provisions for the superior students, the teachers need books and pamphlets for supplementary study, time and facilities for preparing instructional material, time for student counseling and individualized instruction, and equipment for meaningful learning activities. A program of this type needs full support of administrators. ORGANIZATIONAL PROVISIONS FOR THE TALENTED A separate school is one organizational method used in providing better educational opportunities for the talented student. The talented student is challenged by working with other students of similar ability; he seems to meet the challenge with increased effort. |