Study-group collaboration among high-achieving students of African descent studying mathematics at selective United States colleges

The purpose of this study is to identify the presence or absence of the strategy of voluntary study-group collaboration in studying and learning mathematics, among high-ability college mathematics students of African descent, and to account for differences in study practices among such learners. This investigation revisits observations reported in the literature that black college students on predominantly white campuses studied calculus alone, often ending up abandoning aspirations to major in an SMET (science, math, engineering, technology) field.; Focusing on their mathematics study practices at predominantly white institutions, an author-developed survey collected self-reported data from black undergraduates and recent college graduates who had earned above-average Math SAT scores and attended highly-selective colleges and universities, where they had taken at least one calculus course. Relationships were investigated between study practices and desired mathematics outcomes, as well as between those outcomes and other standard variables, namely course participation and social habits, institutional conditions, attitudes, gender and other demographic variables.; SAT scores and course participation practices had a significant relationship with grades earned. Students who took an advanced or rigorous mathematics course as their first college calculus course were those who persisted to further mathematics study. Self-confidence in mathematics had a significant relationship with both grade in calculus and persistence in mathematics. Most respondents reported use of study groups at some point while taking their first calculus course, but only for a small percentage of their study time. Most respondents reported some, but few, consultations with the calculus professor and any graduate assistants. There was no significant relationship between collaborative study practices and grade in first calculus course or persistence in mathematics course-taking; however, collaboration in mathematics study was significantly (p < .1) related to self-confidence in mathematics. The study supports the hypothesis that the factors that distinguish the successful and persisting college students of African descent, studying mathematics at selective institutions, include beliefs about their own competence in mathematics, and early commitment to careers requiring mathematics study. The study corroborates the notion that black college students underutilize consultative and collaborative study practices, and it found a significant association between those practices and self-confidence in mathematics.