ASU Research E-Magazine: When Learning Knows No Bounds

One student builds a rocket and readies it for launch. Another creates an Internet home page using HTML language. A third dissects owl pellets while peering through a microscope.

Sound like a typical day at Arizona State University? Perhaps, except that the students doing the work are only seven or eight years old. They are among the 650 students, ages five through 17, enrolled in advanced mathematics, computer, humanities, and science programs as part of the CAP program.

CAP is the Center for Academic Precocity. Its mission involves identifying students who can handle material that is at least two grade levels above their grade in school, then creating courses that match their interest and abilities.

CAP students use many of ASU’s facilities, equipment, and faculty. In fact, many CAP students take virtually the same classes as graduate students.

“It’s an accident of history that the resources of a university like ASU were reserved for students age 18 and older,” says CAP director Barry Grant. “Much of what ASU and other universities reserve for older students can also be used to great benefit by younger students.”

Part of CAP’s mission is to make ASU learning resources such as computer and science laboratories, television production studios, and sophisticated digital editing technology available to academically talented young students.

“The growth of formal education has abstracted everything from its real context,” Grant adds.

In the good old days, children learned by watching parents and working by their sides. Learning occurred as it was needed or when interests were piqued. Today, he says, most schools have set curriculums. Individual interests and abilities rarely enter in to play.

“At CAP, we really believe that it’s important for kids to take charge of their learning. Of what they want to learn. Of when. And of how fast,” Grant says. “What we really want is for them to take an active role in designing their futures.

“We also think it’s important to make learning come alive,” he adds. “That’s why our classes are extremely hands-on and interesting. It’s the being excited about learning part that really carries kids through life.”

Not all CAP kids need to learn to problem solve. Many are drawn to CAP because it strengthens skills they already possess. For example, one computer-savvy 6-year-old who sought CAP entrance was almost two years too young to qualify for “Introduction to the Internet”—despite CAP’s flexible age guidelines.

A quick test showed that the girl was, indeed, working more than two grade levels above her age. But, staff members were was still worried. That is, until the girl did something on her own to seal her deal. She looked up CAP’s address on the Internet and e-mailed Grant directly with her plea. He admitted her.

Although the youngster’s teacher had to modify her assignments slightly to accommodate her slower keyboard skills, she turned out to be extremely adept on the Internet.

That is the whole point of CAP: Artificial boundaries get removed and learning becomes “cool.” Neither is often true in more traditional classrooms.

Even though ASU has offered CAP for 17 years, drawing students from around the world, many parents still hesitate to pursue enrollment for their kids. They think kids must be “brilliant” to attend.

Not so, stresses Grant. In fact, most kids who get excited about a topic easily work at least two grades above their age.

As for “brilliance,” well, Grant says it’s sometimes nothing more than exposure, interest, and effort.

Exposure and interest are two reasons CAP offers a wide variety of programs. Class titles range from “Wild, Wild, Wildlife,” “Having Your Way with Words,” and “Computer Game Design,” to “Space Exploration,” “Television Production,” and “Honors Calculus.”

Courses are available in age groups in four categories—mathematics, science, computers and technology, and humanities and writing. Courses also are offered both during the school year and during a five-week summer school session.—Lindsey Michaels