Motivating Gifted Adolescents Through the Power of PIE: Preparedness, Innovation, and Effort

ABSTRACT This qualitative cross-case study explores gifted adolescents’ perspectives on motivation in learning as a means to better understand their complex motivational and academic needs. Participants consisted of 6 students, ranging in age from 11 to 16, identified as gifted through holistic measures including cognition scores, interviews, and other diagnostic procedures. All participants committed to participate in an interview, complete electronic student response journals, and submit self-selected work samples with reflection tags. Data were analyzed using qualitative methods and through the theoretical framework of Gagné’s Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent, as well as expectancy-value theory. From the analysis of data, the answers to the guiding research questions and the construct of PIE (Preparedness, Innovation, and Effort) emerged. Three major outcomes indicated a need for specialized gifted curricula, continued professional development, and strategies to increase task valuation for gifted adolescents.