Learning Environment - What Matters for the High Ability Computer Science Students?

The aim of this exploratory research effort was to examine the triggers of motivation to learn in highly capable Computer Science students and to identify which types of environments they perceive as being likely to ensure their academic success. The study participants, gifted students and graduates from Innopolis University, Russia, were categorized as gifted based on winning and participating in the higher stages of school subject and project Olympiads. Mixed approach was used to study this population. First, qualitative data were collected by way of offline interviews of four focus groups. Based on the results of these interviews, and to collect quantitative data, an online questionnaire of forty questions was designed and distributed among the University students online; 106 of the University students responded, each of those also qualified as gifted based on their self-identification as Olympiads participants or winners. The results of both qualitative and quantitative data analysis revealed the importance of appealing to interest and challenge in the learning process of gifted IT students, as well as the need for greater independence and flexibility in the choice of material they focus on; these conclusions imply such students are likely to prefer educational experiences that are similar to the process of preparation to the said Olympiads.