Opportunities to Explore for Gifted STEM Students in Korea: From Admissions Criteria to Curriculum

The admission process and curriculum for gifted students are crucial because they provide opportunities to explore (OTE) for gifted science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students. Korean specialized STEM schools, science academies (SAs) and science high schools (SHSs), claim that their screening process and curricula are based on their educational philosophy and goals. This article examines how SAs and SHSs make efforts to offer OTE in STEM disciplines by controlling the admission process and curriculum. It is found that SAs have enough flexibility in providing OTE that emphasize creativity. SHSs, however, are limited in providing such OTE and instead value high achievement more.