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Published on: August 28, 2021
Communal versus individual learning of a math-estimation task: African American children and the culture of learning
Eric A Hurley1, A Wade Boykin, Brenda A Allen
1Center for Research on the Education of Children Placed at Risk, Howard University, USA. eric_hurley@yahoo.com
Abstract:
The authors compared the performance of 78 African American 5th-grade students who studied a math-estimation task in one of two learning contexts. Learning contexts differed in the degree to which they afforded the expression of communalism. ANCOVA confirmed that posttest performance was best for students who studied in the high communal-learning context. The findings support A. W. Boykin's (1994) contention that the cultural context of learning can be a critical mediator of children's performance.
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