Virtual Booth

Gifted students require systematic support to strengthen their mental skills and support their holistic development. MSKILL is an innovative instructional module developed to integrate mental skills training into Physical and Health Education specifically for gifted students. Guided by the ADDIE model, the module was developed through five phases: analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. The needs analysis involving 214 gifted students indicated an overall good level of mental skills (M = 3.94, SD = 0.59), while concentration and anxiety and worry remained at moderate levels, highlighting areas requiring further enhancement. MSKILL comprises two submodules with 28 structured activities integrating five core mental skills strategies: goal setting, mental imagery, self-talk, relaxation, and mindfulness. Expert evaluation demonstrated high agreement for general content (90.5%), activity-based content (91.1%), and language (93.3%), while pilot testing demonstrated excellent internal consistency (α = 0.974). The module was subsequently implemented for eight weeks within Physical and Health Education lessons and evaluated using a quasi-experimental pre-test and post-test design involving 65 gifted students, supported by semi-structured interviews. Significant differences in overall mental skills were observed between groups following the intervention, t(63) = −4.262, p < .001, with a large effect size (Cohen’s d = 1.06). Qualitative findings further supported improvements in participants’ mental skills. MSKILL offers a structured, theory-informed, expert-validated and empirically supported approach to embedding mental skills training within existing Physical and Health Education instruction, with potential to support the holistic development of gifted students.