Semester

Fall

Date of Graduation

2013

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

EdD

College

College of Education and Human Services

Department

Learning Sciences and Human Development

Committee Chair

Richard T. Walls

Committee Co-Chair

Joy Faini Saab

Committee Member

Jill Olthouse

Committee Member

Luise B. Savage

Committee Member

Barbara Warash

Abstract

This investigation relates to the impact of service learning on leadership skills of students who are gifted in the middle school while the students plan the project in-school and execute their goals out-of-school for their yearlong service learning project called Community Problem-Solving, or CmPS. Based on surveys, observations, and interviews from 25 students identified as gifted in the middle school, this study describes the student responses and observations from the researcher and teacher of the gifted. Findings show that most of the students in the study felt that their yearlong service learning project positively impacted their leadership skills. The data reveal some grade, age, and gender variances in the post survey because they spent more time sharing ideas and implementing their goals for their service learning project. Contributions this study makes to the existing literature in gifted education are to consider service learning as a part of gifted programming at the middle school level.

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