African American Studies: A model course. Effects on the attitudes of students in the Virginia Community College System

This doctoral project in African American Studies will fill an academic gap in scholarship that currently exists in the Virginia Community College system. It is hoped that this course in African American Studies will provide pertinent and relevant information regarding African Americans and other people of color since they and their contributions have historically been omitted. This research focuses on the effects of an African American Studies course on the attitudes of students in the Virginia Community College system. As a result of this study, one of the expected outcomes will be the adoption of African American Studies in all community or two-year colleges.;The research problem centers on the attitudes of students. Within this scope, several relevant questions will be asked: (1) Who are the students enrolled in the African American Studies course? (2) What is the knowledge and what are the attitudes of students upon entering the course? (3) What impact does knowledge have on the attitudes of students completing the course?;The instruments to be used in this study will be the African American Knowledge Inventory (AAKI-I&II), The Project Ethnic Instrument and the Attitudinal Inventory Instrument. The African American Knowledge Inventory, Newton (1976), was developed to: (1) measure students' knowledge of African Americans and their contributions to the world, (2) ascertain what effect African American Studies has upon students' knowledge of African Americans, and (3) provide a description of students' attitudes toward African American Studies. The Project Ethnic Instrument developed by Williams (1977) is a questionnaire which measures the differences in opinions concerning attitude, knowledge or behavior about African Americans. The Attitudinal Inventory Test (O'Neill, 1969) consists of statements pertaining to African Americans in which the students must utilize a plus or minus point system to either agree or disagree.;The initial phase of the research project presents a survey of the community college system to determine the need for a course in African American Studies. As a result of the survey, a model course in African American Studies is designed/developed and implemented by the writer. The goals of the course are as follows: (1) to analyze the sociology, history, politics and culture of African Americans, and (2) to examine the role and contributions of African Americans in American life. The African presence in the United States is analyzed from the perspective of history, religion, economics, sociology, psychology, politics, the plastic arts and literature.;The final phase of the research project is a follow-up assessment to determine through the utilization of research instruments, generally, the attitudes and knowledge base of students upon entering and upon completing the course and, specifically, to answer the research question: "What kind of attitudinal and behavioral changes resulted from students taking the course?" (Abstract shortened by UMI.).