Abstract

This study aimed to determine the mathematical thinking levels of gifted and non-gifted students and to compare them according to some variables. In this study, screening model was used from quantitative research methods. The study group of the study consists of 194 gifted students and 168 non-gifted students studying in grades 5-8 in a province in the southern region of Turkey in the 2022 to 2023 academic year. According to the results of the research, it was found that the mathematical thinking levels of gifted students were higher than their non-gifted peers. In addition, the mathematical thinking levels of gifted students showed a significant difference compared to grade level. This does not apply to non-gifted students. It was found that the mathematical thinking levels of female students were higher than the mathematical thinking levels of male students in gifted and non-gifted student groups, but this difference was not statistically significant. In addition, it was seen that the success grade of the mathematics course made a significant difference on the mathematical thinking level of both the gifted and non-gifted student groups.

Key words: Gifted students, mathematical thinking, non-gifted students.