GIFTED AND TYPICALLY DEVELOPING STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to examine the perceptions of gifted and typically developing students regarding the COVID-19 epidemic through metaphors. In the study, in which phenomenology, one of the qualitative research methods, was used, the data were obtained by demographic information form and semi-structured interview form. A total of 130 students, 69 of whom are typically developing and 61 gifted, who are 5-8th grade students between the ages of 10-14, were studied in the city center of Amasya. The students' “COVID-19 epidemic is like …….. Because ………………..” when their answers to open-ended sentence completion are examined; the first three metaphors most frequently used by gifted students regarding COVID-19 are in the category of limiting and/or changing habits (f=18), fatal (f=15), and contagious and/or chronic (f=11). When we look at the metaphors of the students with typical development regarding COVID-19, the first three categories are limiting and/or changing habits (f=17), fatal (f=13), and preventable and/or temporary (f=12) categories. As a result of the research, it was found that both groups used metaphors that they were generally negatively affected by the epidemic process, and discussions and suggestions were made through literature studies.