Equity in the mathematics classroom: A study of the connection between pre-college experiences and mathematics attitudes of undergraduate African American students

This study examined how pre-college experiences with equity in the mathematics classroom connect to mathematics attitudes in undergraduate African American students. In the study attitudes was defined as feelings about mathematics and feelings about oneself as a learner of mathematics. Equity was defined as the idea that all students, regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, social class, or other cultural characteristics should have equal educational experiences that support equal achievement. Equity in the mathematics classroom was examined from three aspects: curriculum, instruction, and classroom culture. The sample consisted of ten African American freshman undergraduates at a large, midwest university.; The study found that pre-college experiences with equity are integrally connected to the mathematics attitudes of African American undergraduate students in that the kind of mathematics experiences they had either encouraged or diminished positive attitudes toward mathematics and toward themselves as learners of mathematics. How those experiences affected attitudes were influenced by teacher characteristics (the type of math teachers the student encountered), student resiliency (personality and other individual traits), and student ideology (how the student viewed himself and the world).