The Significance of Contextual Factors in African American Students’ Transfer of Learning

This study sought to address the lack of experimental research examining the influence of contextual factors on African American students’ learning. A total of 162 low-income African American and White fourth graders were randomly assigned to ethnically homogeneous, communally structured groups of t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of black psychology 2006-11, Vol.32 (4), p.418-441
Main Authors: Serpell, Zewelanji N., Boykin, A. Wade, Madhere, Serge, Nasim, Aashir
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic achievement
African American Students
African Americans
Black American people
Cognitive style
Comparative Analysis
Computer Simulation
Context Effect
Contextual factors
Control Groups
Cooperative Learning
Elementary school students
Experiments
Grade 4
Group dynamics
Group learning
Learning
Learning Activities
Low Income Groups
Motion
Multivariate Analysis
Psychology
Racial Differences
Students
Transfer of Training
Undergraduate students
White Students
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Summary:This study sought to address the lack of experimental research examining the influence of contextual factors on African American students’ learning. A total of 162 low-income African American and White fourth graders were randomly assigned to ethnically homogeneous, communally structured groups of three to work on a motion acceleration task using either computer simulation or physical tools, or to a control group that did not participate in the learning activities. A 3 (condition) × 2 (ethnicity) MANOVA was computed with initial learning and transfer as dependent variables. Results indicate African American and White students performed equally well on the test of initial learning, with both groups scoring significantly higher than the control group. However, African Americans’ transfer outcomes were better than those of their White counterparts. Regarding tools, work with physical apparatus yielded better transfer outcomes than work with computer simulation. Implications for creating optimal learning contexts for African American students are discussed.
ISSN:0095-7984
1552-4558
DOI:10.1177/0095798406292466