The effect of differentiated social studies education on the creativity development of gifted students

The aim of the study is to examine the effect of differentiated social studies instruction on the creative thinking development of gifted students. The research investigates the impact of an instructional program specifically designed to address the cognitive and affective needs of gifted learners, implemented at Antalya Science and Art Center among 6th-grade students. A comprehensive review of the literature highlights the significant potential of social studies education in fostering creative thinking skills. However, empirical studies focusing on the differentiated instruction of social studies for gifted students remain limited. The study adopts a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design. The research sample consists of 30 gifted students enrolled at Antalya Science and Art Center (BILSEM), randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group was instructed using a differentiated social studies curriculum developed in accordance with the Integrated Curriculum Model (ICM), while the control group followed the standard institutional curriculum. The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) – Verbal and Figural Forms were employed as data collection instruments to assess students' creative thinking skills. A pre-test was administered to both groups prior to the intervention, followed by a post-test upon completion of the instructional period to evaluate potential improvements in creativity. The findings indicate that differentiated social studies instruction significantly enhanced verbal creativity in the experimental group, particularly in the sub-dimensions of fluency, flexibility, and originality, where students exhibited statistically significant improvements compared to the control group. Furthermore, in the domain of figural creativity, students in the experimental group demonstrated notable progress in abstractness of titles and elaboration, suggesting that differentiated instruction effectively supports both verbal and visual creative thinking skills. These results emphasize the importance of differentiated instruction in social studies for cultivating creative potential among gifted students. The study contributes to the field by providing empirical evidence that differentiated pedagogical approaches not only facilitate the cognitive and metacognitive development of gifted students but also enhance their capacity for innovative problem-solving, higher-order thinking, and creative expression. Based on these findings, it is recommended that differentiated instructional models be systematically integrated into social studies curricula to better meet the educational needs of gifted students and maximize their creative potential. Keywords: Gifted students, creative thinking, social studies education, differentiated instruction, Integrated Curriculum Model, Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking.