Implementation of Engineering Design Process for Gifted Students: A Case of Science and Art Centers

The present study aims to examine the levels of implementation of the engineering design process across different stages for gifted students, their views and experiences regarding these stages, the level of the products they create at the end of the process according to evaluation criteria and the teacher’s observations on the different stages of the process. A case study, one of the qualitative research methods, was implemented. The study was conducted with 14 middle school students attending the sixth grade. In this context, 14 hours of activities were carried out with the students over 7 weeks. The research results revealed that gifted students mostly achieved the targeted level in using the engineering design process. However, it was found that the groups formed for problem-solving had lower average scores in the prototype-making and testing stages of the engineering design process compared to other stages. This study has demonstrated the effectiveness of activities based on the engineering design process in creating fruitful educational environments for gifted students.