Journal of Research in Educational Systems

Abstract Objective:The present study aimed to model the academic vitality of critical thinking mediated by academic self-efficacy of gifted students of gifted schools.
Methods:The study employed a correlational-descriptive method using structural equation modeling (SEM). The research statistical population consisted of the gifted students of the lower secondary school (7th and 8th grade) in Isfahan gifted schools in the second semester of the academic year 2022 - 2023. The sample was selected via a convenient sampling method. Finally, 340 students were selected as participants to answer Hossein-Chari and Dehghanizadeh’s Academic Vitality Questionnaire (2013), Rickett's Critical Thinking Disposition Scale (2003), and The Morgan-Jinks Student Efficacy Scale (1999). Data were analyzed using SEM.
Results: As the results showed, the proposed model had a good fit to the data. The results demonstrated that critical thinking has a significant and positive effect on academic vitality both directly and indirectly through academic self-efficacy.
Conclusion: As a result, to increase the gifted students’ academic vitality, while paying attention to increasing critical thinking skills, focus on increasing their academic self-efficacy.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to compare academic engagement, academic self-efficacy and achievement with academic performance in gifted second-degree high school students (males and females) in Ahwaz city. This research was a causal-comparative study. The sample included 300 gifted students (140 gifted males and 160 gifted females) who were selected by stratified random sampling. The required data were collected from three educational questionnaires namely Zarang Questionnaire (2011), Mauritius Academic Self-efficacy Questionnaire (2001), and Midgley Development Goals Questionnaire (1998). The collected data were analyzed using statistical methods such as multivariate analysis of variance and One-variable. The findings of the study showed that gifted boys had lower mean than gifted girls did in three components of cognitive, behavioral, and motivational involvement and the self-efficacy of gifted boys was lower than the gifted girls was. The goals of achievement in the components of the goals of mastery and advancement of gifted students were averagely low and showed a high average for the gifted boys in the avoidance goals.Significant differences were found between the gifted- female students and the gifted-male students in all variables. This difference was significant at the 0.001 level. As a result, based on the findings, the gifted-male students that needs educational attention and individual efforts.