An Investigation of African American Students' Mathematical Problem Solving

Abstract

In this study we examined the problem-solving characteristics, strategy selection and use, and verification actions of 24 African American 8th-grade students. Students participated in individual, talk-aloud problem-solving sessions and were interviewed about their problem solutions and attitudes about learning mathematics. Students displayed approaches attributed to African American learners in the literature, regularly using holistic rather than analytic reasoning; their display of confidence and high self-esteem did not appear to be related to success. Students' problem-solving actions matched previously reported characteristics of good mathematical problem solvers: successful use of strategies, flexibility in approach, use of verification actions, and ability to deal with irrelevant detail. Success was highly correlated with strategy selection and use and moderately correlated with verification actions.

(Mis)Taken Identities: Reclaiming Identities of the “Collective Black” in Mathematics Education Research Through an Exercise in Black Specificity

“…Still within the individual-in-context period, Malloy and Malloy (1998) proposed that African American children had different learning preferences that should be honored and leveraged in mathematics learning. Malloy and Jones (1998) conducted clinical interviews with 24 African American eighth-grade children. Their findings describe the African American children as showing characteristics endemic to good problem solvers and “exhibit[ing] other positive characteristics usually not credited to African American students” (Malloy & Jones, 1998, p. 161).…”

“…Malloy and Jones (1998) conducted clinical interviews with 24 African American eighth-grade children. Their findings describe the African American children as showing characteristics endemic to good problem solvers and “exhibit[ing] other positive characteristics usually not credited to African American students” (Malloy & Jones, 1998, p. 161). Additionally, Malloy and Jones (1998) found that the African American children frequently used holistic reasoning, a stance in which you view the world and problems in their totality.…”

“…Their findings describe the African American children as showing characteristics endemic to good problem solvers and “exhibit[ing] other positive characteristics usually not credited to African American students” (Malloy & Jones, 1998, p. 161). Additionally, Malloy and Jones (1998) found that the African American children frequently used holistic reasoning, a stance in which you view the world and problems in their totality. Carol Malloy’s work was groundbreaking insofar as little attention until this time had been given to the study of African American learners as a group of learners onto themselves.…”

Supporting African American Students’ Learning of Mathematics

“…One set of studies specific to African American children builds on the work of Boykin (1986) regarding African American students’ learning preferences and aspects of mathematics instruction (Bailey & Boykin, 2001; Hurley, Boykin, & Allen, 2005; Malloy & Jones, 1998; Rowser & Koontz, 1995). Studies of learning preferences tend to be experimental in nature and isolate narrow aspects of mathematics instruction; they do not attend to the nature of interactions between teachers, students, and the content.…”

Life Outside the Mathematics Classroom

“…The students' personal experiences and their relationship to those experiences increased their emotional commitment to the questions they raised. The questions were more motivating because they grew out of the students' experiences (Dewey, 1973;Ladson-Billings, 1997;Malloy & Jones, 1998;Prawat, 1998).…”