Assessment of the impact of the Saudi Aramco-research science institute programme in terms of fostering higher-order thinking skills among gifted students at the high-school level

Abstract EN

The current study investigates the impact of the Saudi Aramco Research Science Initiative (SA-RSI) on the participating gifted and talented Saudi female students' acquisition of higher-order thinking skills.

In this investigation, a particular emphasis is placed on the students' metacognitive skills, time-management skills, problem-solving skills and decision-making skills.

This study also measures the participants' ability to engage in metacognitive thinking in terms of planning, self-monitoring and self-assessment.

A scale was applied while measuring the students' acquisition of skills in time management, problem solving and decision-making.

The researchers employed multiple training methods and strategies in order to stimulate and enhance the participants' abilities, especially in the areas of metacognitive thinking, problem solving, decision-making and time management.

The study data indicate significant pre and post differences at the level of significance of 0.01 in the participants' mean scores pertaining to meta-cognitive thinking skills, problem-solving skills, decision-making skills and time-management skills.

Section one1.1: IntroductionOver the last decade the education system of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has experienced unprecedented development as a result of the implementation of a number of key initiatives by the Ministry of Education (MoE).

Many of these initiatives involve an increased emphasis on fostering students' academic and life functionality skills, including their ability to think critically.

One of the most prominent specific actions was the launch in 2008 of the King Abdulaziz and His Companions' Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (2015) (also known as Mawhiba),