Gifted and general high school students' perceptions of learning and motivational constructs in Korea and the United States

Abstract

This study examined differences between Korean and US gifted and general students' perceptions constructs related to motivation and learning, using the Student Perceptions of Classroom Quality (SPOCQ) instrument. SPOCQ assesses students' perceptions of appeal, challenge, choice, meaningfulness, and academic self-efficacy. Measurement equality between the original SPOCQ and its Korean translation was investigated using multi-group confirmatory factor analyses. The sample included 882 10th and 11th grade high school students (221 Korean gifted and 220 Korean general students, 221 US gifted and 220 US general students). MCFA results showed that the original and translated SPOCQ measure the same constructs and that partial invariance existed across the samples from each country. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to examine differences between gifted and general students, and between Korean and US students, revealing that differences existed between gifted and general students and between Korean and US students.