Perceptions of African American Students About Their Success in Mathematics at a Historically Black College and University (HBCU)
Abstract
The purpose of this qualitative study using a phenomenological research analysis was to understand and examine perceptions of African American students about what constitutes success in mathematics from their perspective. A sample of ten participants was selected from a population of 51 STEM students who were currently enrolled in Pre-Calculus II or Calculus I and had passed College Algebra or Pre-Calculus I with an A or B grade. Participants responded to a series of open-ended questions from a questionnaire and filled out an initial demographic profile questionnaire. Analysis of the interview questions was conducted using an in-vivo coding approach which allowed the words of the participants to form the initial codes. In addition, Dedoose which is a qualitative software was used to help with sorting and organizing large amounts of interview data. Among the findings of the study, five major themes emerged: (a) Perceptions of Math Success, (b) Pre-College Experiences and Math Success, (c) Self-belief and Motivation connected to Math Success, (d) The HBCU Experience and Math Success, and (e) Women in STEM and Math Success. Further areas of research may include: (1) a longitudinal study with some of the major relevant themes to better understand the experiences of successful African American STEM students, (2) a study conducted at a PWI to determine if African American STEM students within that community would have similar findings, and (3) a comparative study could be conducted to determine if non-STEM majors would share similar findings as found in this study with STEM majors.
Subject Area
Mathematics education|Science education|Higher education
Recommended Citation
Davon Waheed Williams,
"Perceptions of African American Students About Their Success in Mathematics at a Historically Black College and University (HBCU)"
(2020).
ETD Collection for Tennessee State University.
Paper AAI28153921.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI28153921