The effect of the differentieted mathematics program according to the parallel curriculum on the mathematics creativity, success and self-efficacy of gifted student's

Considering the mathematical competence levels of gifted students, it is observed that their needs differ from those of other students in the classroom and that they require different educational interventions during the mathematics teaching process. Environments where they can question concepts and have the opportunity to use their high-level cognitive skills affect their interest in mathematics and their desire to work in this field in the future. Differentiated programs that encourage gifted students to think like mathematicians are of key importance for the future of society. Although mathematics encompasses high-level thinking skills, the way the course is handled -the intervention in content and process- should aim to increase the quality of education offered for gifted students. In this context, the purpose of the current study is to examine the effects of a differentiated implementation of the sixth-grade "Numbers and Operations" unit, designed based on the Parallel Curriculum Model (PCM), on the mathematical achievement, mathematical creativity, and mathematics self-efficacy of gifted students. In the research, the experimental research method, which is one of the quantitative research methods, was used to measure the effectiveness of the intervention program. The research design is a matched pretest-posttest control group design. The research group was formed from 6th-grade students attending the Science and Art Center, and the groups obtained by matching the students in the context of their pretests were randomly assigned as the experimental and control groups. Data were collected from a total of 28 students (14 in the experimental group, 14 in the control group). The data collection tools included a Mathematics Achievement Test, the Mathematical Creativity Test (Akgül & Kahveci, 2016), and the Mathematics Self-Efficacy Scale (Akgül, 2014). These instruments were carried out to both the experimental and control groups as posttests following the intervention. Mathematical achievement was analyzed across Bloom's taxonomy levels: remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating, as well as overall mathematical achievement. No statistically significant difference was found between the experimental and control groups in the "remembering" level. However, statistically significant differences in favor of the experimental group were found in understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, creating, and total mathematical achievement. Mathematical creativity scores were evaluated in terms of fluency, flexibility, originality, and total mathematical creativity. Significant differences in favor of the experimental group were found in all these dimensions. Mathematics self-efficacy was analyzed through the dimensions of using mathematics, positive self-efficacy, negative self-efficacy, and total mathematics self-efficacy. While no statistically significant difference was seen between the experimental and control groups in mathematics self-efficacy, a significant difference was found between the pretest and posttest results of the experimental group. In conclusion, it was observed that the mathematics teaching program differentiated according to the Parallel Curriculum Model (PCM) significantly improved gifted students' levels of mathematical achievement, creativity, and self-efficacy. Keywords: Differentiation, Giftedness, Mathematical Creativity, Mathematics Self-Efficacy, Experimental Research