| The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of talented students' perceptions of the means by which their college program and experiences have impacted their talent development in order to contribute to the body of literature on understanding talented collegians so that honors administrators, faculty and parents can better help to support students in their talent development. This study took place at a small selective liberal arts college in the southeastern United States.;This study used Gagne's (1985, 2009) Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent as a lens in an explanatory sequential mixed methods design. Quantitative data was collected through a survey pertaining to participants' perceptions of the four main constructs of the DMGT: gifts, intrapersonal catalysts, environmental catalysts and developmental process. These data was analyzed and used to select participants for the phenomenological interview phase of the study.;It was concluded gifted collegians are impacted by their gifts, such as intellectual, creative, and social gifts, intrapersonal catalysts, such as motivation and drive, environmental catalysts, such as peers and professors, and the culture of the college and developmental process, such as coursework, research opportunities and extra-curricular activities. Further study is needed to generalize the findings to a broader audience and to investigate themes that emerged as significant for gifted collegians, such as the role of faith, the increased impact of peers and the decreased impact of parents, the role of student affairs and administration, research opportunities and personal investment on the talent development process of gifted collegians. |
