PERSPECTIVES ON. . .● Developing Research Skills in African-American

Students: A Case Noteby Patrick Hall

Thirty-three years ago as a freshmen at a small Jesuitcollege in upstate New York, I, like so many fresh-men, was presented with the task of learning how to

conduct college-level research. For many of us in the socialsciences and humanities, this meant negotiating the complex-ities of a typical academic library. My learning curve be-came even more difficult due to the socioeconomic make-upof this college, which drew students from upper-class back-grounds whose academic preparation in high school far out-paced my own. I was one of only a handful of AfricanAmerican students, and we were considered somewhat of anexperiment at the time. The Jesuit admissions office wantedto see how well we would perform in an academically com-petitive private institution.

I believe it is not an overstatement to suggest that one ofthe most pertinent accomplishments for young AfricanAmerican college students is improving their college-levelresearch skills. I was fortunate enough to find a faculty men-tor, a librarian, who took the time, over the course of severalmonths, to give me the necessary research “building blocks”to develop what is sometimes referred to as a “researchIQ”.1 Today, with a host of electronic sources availablethrough the Internet and proprietary databases housed on thelibrary web page, developing the research IQ of AfricanAmerican students and other special needs clientele is evenmore critical. When we review statistics dealing with theretention of African American undergraduates, especially atpredominately white institutions, many of the reasons whythese young people are not graduating can be traced to theirshortcomings in this area.2

A student unable to look-up a magazine or journal article,either through a manual index or through a proprietary data-base, faces a serious handicap. If you haven’t learned thecritical thinking skills necessary to distinguish between thebest resources on a given research topic, or if you do notknow how to cite your sources properly, you may have greatdifficulty submitting acceptable college-level research. As aresearch pedagogue, I have worked with African Americanstudents, and other students of color, who have never doneresearch papers in which they had to cite their sources. Trag-ically, this is not been an isolated occurrence. The notion ofbibliography, footnotes or endnotes and everything else we

take for granted that a student should know before theycome to college can no longer be assumed. Far too manyAfrican American students, especially those from disadvan-taged backgrounds, do not possess these research accoutre-ments as they begin their studies.

In addition, and this is becoming more common in ournew information environment, if a student cannot make thecritical distinction between a source located via a generalInternet search engine like Yahoo, Google or Lycos and ma-terial lifted from refereed proprietary databases such as Psy-cLit, JSTOR, Web of Science, Education Abstracts, Socio-logical Abstracts or the Environmental Universe, then theirefforts to obtain a college degree are extremely hampered.As alluded to in several studies on the academic achieve-ment of the Black undergraduate, the mastery of researchskills, that is the ability to collect, organized and interpretdata out of books, journals, proprietary databases as well asInternet sites into a coherent term project is the intellectualcurrency that young African Americans students must mas-ter.3 If we who work with minority students on a daily basisare at all serious about their retention and intellectualgrowth, it is vital to view their growth as competent library/information researchers as the key ingredient in their successat our universities and colleges.

To interject, the term research skills will be employedthroughout this essay when referring to library researchskills. It is understood that research skills or other forms ofinformation seeking, gathering and interpretation are hardlythe exclusive province of the library. However, most aca-demic programs, especially in the humanities and social sci-ences have a symbiotic relationship with academic librariesthat supports many of their endeavors. As a library researchpedagogue, a key element in directing student research, hasbeen a thorough overview of the information seeking skillsnecessary for compiling and submitting college level termprojects.

PROCEDURAL NOTE

The bulk of this case essay will outline a program employedat the University of Notre Dame, Penn State and other uni-versities I have been associated with. The Research Assis-tance Program or RAP was specially developed to enhanceresearch skills in African American undergraduates. As willbe discussed later, a key element of the Research AssistanceProgram entailed research mentoring. Students were encour-aged to identify a faculty librarian or teaching faculty withwhom they could develop an instructional relationship with.

Patrick Hall is Associate Librarian for Public Affairs andEducation, Penn State University, Harrisburg, PA�pah23@psu.edu�.

182 The Journal of Academic Librarianship, Volume 29, Number 3, pages 182–188

Over the past twenty-seven years as both a high school andcollege instructor I have come to view relationships as aform of pedagogy4- one that is especially relevant for teach-ing African American students with shortcomings in theirpreparation for college.

The past twenty years of research on instructional com-munication has identified several interpersonal variables thatare positively related to learning. Variables such as immedi-acy, communicator style, affinity seeking, caring, compli-ance-gaining have contributed to an understanding of thedynamic student-teacher relationship and how it results instudent learning.5

In other words, it is essential to realize that student/teacher interaction is both relational as well as contentdriven. As suggested by Barbara J. Robinson-Shade in hercompendium dealing with culture and learning styles, devel-oping our referential and ego support skills as instructors ispivotal if we seek to improve the research skills of minoritystudents.6 In definition, referential skills involve the peda-gogue’s ability to explain things clearly, thus facilitating un-derstanding. For many minority students understanding theinstructor’s goals and objectives will help reduce their feel-ings of uncertainty and tentativeness. Ego support skills arethe more subjective elements of the relational learning pro-cess. Encouragement, clear confirmation of their success orconstructive criticism of where they might need improve-ment, are elements of ego support skills.

Simply showing a clear interest in the student helps builtthe confidence many minority students need to succeed inacademia. In short, ego support skills are communicationskills that will help students believe in themselves.

Empowered students feel competent to perform in-classtasks. And empowered students report learning more andhaving higher levels of motivation than students who arenot. Proving ego support may be a way of motivating stu-dents.7

From cursory observations and anecdotal comments fromlibrarians and other faculty involved in Research AssistantProgram, as the student’ research competence grew manyAfrican Americans developed the confidence to take on fur-ther challenges in their major course of study.

But before we present the case study, an underlying sub-text for designing programs to help these minority studentssucceed is the phenomenon of cognitive style. Although athorough treatment of cognition style is well beyond thescope of this case analysis, a basic overview is vital in un-derstanding the role cognition style plays in teaching AfricanAmerican undergraduates.8

RELATIONSHIP AS PEDAGOGY: COGNITIVE STYLE OF

AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS

Many factors affect how well African American undergradu-ates develop their research competencies. Not the least ofwhich is the set of mental operating perceptions in whichthese student give, receive and store information. The man-ner in which an individual’s perception is influenced by sen-sory data are often called their cognitive style.

Cognitive styles are the many ways students think andorder their environment. They are also the sensory prefer-ences of the individual or group. More importantly, and thisis more culturally sensitive, cognitive styles are the ways

which people formulate and communicate ideas. As cited inthe literature, even as far back as in the seminal work onlearning styles by Hermann A. Witkin,9 individuals andgroups usually have a tendency toward a particular cognitivestyles. Field dependent, field independent, conceptualizingstyle, reflectiveness or impulsivity learning modes, con-stricted or flexible control modes of cognition are just a fewlearning styles that individuals use to bring order to thelearning process.

As indicated by Herman A. Witkin, African Americanstudents have a tendency toward a field dependent mode ofcognition. A field dependent learner will more easily under-stand input data (i.e., course content) if it is presented aspart of the whole picture. He or she has a propensity fordeductive reasoning. They start with the general and worktheir way to the specifics of a problem. A field dependentlearner tends to experience his or her environment more sub-jectively and does better at an academic task if he or sheconnects on a personal level with the pedagogue. The fielddependent learner has a strong interest in people and isdrawn to socially oriented subjects. Field dependency is lessanalytical and more synergetic in performing an academictask. This is to say they tend to use and rely on approxima-tion rather exactness. Anecdotal evidence is perceived asvalid especially as it applies to the study of the human con-dition such as in the social sciences or humanities.10 Sincethe field dependent individual has a strong interest in peopleand their subjective qualities within the learning environ-ment, they search for facial cues, body language, and tone ofvoice in the individuals they work with. If they perceive thatthe instructor is aloof and not interested in them, they willhave tendency not to do well at a particular task or in spe-cific classroom or computer lab setting.

On the other hand, the field independent learner is moreanalytical and objectively oriented. This type of learner ismore of an inductive type. They thrive in a pedagogic envi-ronment which proceeds from the specific to the general.They view knowledge and their environment in discrete in-dependent elements. In terms of interaction with the peda-gogue, they are more socially detached and might appearcold and distant to a field dependent students. They tendtoward a “just the facts” approach to learning.

In contrast, observers describe mainstream white Ameri-cans as valuing independence, analytical thinking, objectiv-ity, and accuracy. These values translate into learning expe-rience that focus on competition, information, test andgrades and linear logic.11

Most of us can easily recognize these values as the corecognition modalities of our education system and society.But they are not the values that many African American stu-dents from disadvantaged backgrounds are acculturated intoand in many cases their poor school performance may bepartially attributed to cultural incongruities in their learningstyle. These incongruities according to some social theoristsarise because many Blacks aren’t part of the culture ofpower from which a certain type of cognitive style or learn-ing modality has arisen. This culture of power as coined byLisa Delpit and other cognition theorists is based upon amiddle class/upper middle class value system, which by de-fault benefits those raised in it.

Children from middle-class homes tend to do better inschool than those from non middle-class homes because the

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culture of the school is based on the culture of the upper/andmiddle classes of those in power.12 This means that middle-class students come to school with all the accoutrements ofthe culture of power already in place, including a cognitivestyle congruent with the school culture.

As a cautionary note, drawing a relationship between aca-demic achievement and culture or social class is not an exactscience. But with regard to the African American undergrad-uates, issues of culture and class as they affect learning re-main a background element. For example, the majority ofmiddle-class families, specifically white middle-class, havemiddle class friends, relatives and send their kids to middleclass schools. Blacks on the other hand even if they are mid-dle class have working or lower class relatives or friendsand reside in mixed class neighborhoods. African Americansseldom sever ties with their extended family who play a rolein socializing their children. The majority of African Ameri-cans are first generation middle-class, but retain working orlower class values and culture. Many Whites, if not a signif-icant majority, have been culturally middle class for at leasta generation.

What is important to keep at the forefront when discuss-ing cognitive style and culture is that social class or racealthough not a proven behavioral determinant is nonethelessa statement of probability that a behavior (a learning style)is likely to occur. The African American student who wemay be interacting with may have a proclivity toward a cer-tain style of learning. It has been my experience over thepast twenty years that being aware of these variations can behelpful in designing instruction or research assistant pro-grams for this clientele.

CASE NOTE: THE RESEARCH ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

(RAP)

The Research Assistance Program, or RAP, was a need-cen-tered program that provided African American students withone-on-one library research mentoring.13 Working closelywith various minority students’ associations, admissionscounselors and teaching faculty, students were identified andprovided with the necessary class work to enhance their re-search skills.

The most important features of RAP were:

1. The high priority placed on individualized research men-toring.

2. Development of critical thinking skills pertaining to theselection and analysis of various library research tools.

3. Developing the research confidence of our student clien-tele that aided them in successfully completing theirdegrees.

It should be noted here that the number of students in-volved in RAP varied from semester to semester. At theUniversity of Notre Dame, I and two other librarians plusthree faculty members from the Freshmen Composition Pro-gram would mentor between 30 and 40 students in anygiven calendar year. Here at Penn State Harrisburg, a medi-um- sized branch campus serving 3000 students, I alongwith two professors from the School of Education presentlymentor about a dozen minority students in any given semes-ter.

With the tremendous growth in both computerized and

traditional paper source housed in our libraries, coupled withthe fact that a high percentage of African American under-graduates still come from socioeconomic environment whichhave left them significantly less prepared for college, thegoal of RAP was to offer individualized assistance to stu-dents in research instruction beyond the normal library in-struction sessions or lab. Although the administration ofRAP varied from university to university, collaboration be-tween librarians, admission counselors, teaching faculty, andAfrican American student groups was imperative to the suc-cess of this program. Students were encouraged to contractwith an individual librarian as their research mentor.

As part of the students and faculty commitment to RAPboth parties agree to meet at designated time throughout thesemester to confer on their research project. For example,we would contract with a student to meet with him or her ona “first Tuesday” of the month or depending on the student’sneed, the student and faculty would meet more often. In ad-dition, students were asked to sign the RAP description sheetthat served as a good faith contract indicating their commit-ment to the program (see Appendix).

I have found over the years that when both student andfaculty make a commitment of their time through such acontract, it often helped legitimize the pedagogic seriousnessof this library program.

Four broad skills objectives were emphasized throughouta student’s participation in the Research Assistance Program.They were:

1. To assist students with formulating a more focus researchtopic. To help them identify proper descriptors, searchterms, subject heading and other controlled vocabularygermane to their research topics.

2. To teach effective search strategies or techniques whenusing an electronic reference tool.

3. To help students discern the difference between generalInternet sources (i.e., documents found via a Internetsearch engines such as Yahoo or Google) and informationlocated through proprietary or refereed databases. Ascited earlier in this narrative proprietary databases such asProQuest Direct, EconLit, JSTOR, IEEE, Westlaw, First-Search, etc. need to be introduced to students as soon aspossible in order that they understand that the most perti-nent, credible and authoritative types of research are mostlikely found in these sources.

4. To teach information seeking as a process that involvescritical thinking and decision making.

SKILL OBJECTIVE NO. 1—FORMULATING A RESEARCH

TOPIC

Teaching or more correctly mentoring effective researchskills in the current electronic information environment in-volves more than demonstrating the mechanical skills ofnavigating proprietary databases and other Internet sources.Assisting students with defining or articulating their informa-tion needs via a well defined research topic was one of thefirst skill objectives student involved in RAP were con-fronted with. Within the first meeting, we try to informallydiscuss the nature and scope of their project. For many ofstudents, this would be their first attempt at doing college

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level research either in the form of a unit writing assignmentor the beginning of a term research project.

As stated earlier, research on learning styles has indicatedthat African Americans have a propensity toward field de-pendent learning. Cognitive specificity, that is the tendencyto narrow down a given research inquiry is not as operativeas in a field independent learner.14 Subsequently many Afri-can American undergraduates may come to our first session

with a broad or undefined topic such as racism, drug abuseor profiling and have not begun the specificity process inorder to get a workable search inquiry. A host of proceduresfor helping students narrow down a topic maybe employedat this point. For example, having the student pose theirtopic in the form of question often helps them see the com-plexity involved in a given topic. Having them read an arti-cle on some aspect of racism and then delineating the most

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pertinent ideas in the article often helps them to specifywhat they wish to research. However those of us involved inthe Research Assistance Program have often found that theconversation itself, which takes place with the student in theinitial session as the mentoring relationship is established,often helps facilitate the learning process. I have discoveredthis to be preferable to having the students systematicallyrun through an online tutorial or having them take some sortof library diagnostic, which I have done in the past. A face-to-face discussion concerning what the student wanted toresearch was more effective in eliciting topic specificity.

For African Americans, relationship is form of pedagogythat more directly links to their natural cognitive or learningstyle. As cited earlier in this case essay, ego support skills,that is a teaching modality that stresses encouragement, con-firmation, personal rapport and other forms of affective be-havior were key in developing research competencies inthese students. Within the context of these informal discus-sions, students would be introduced to such research tools asLC Subject headings, subjective specific thesauri of the so-cial sciences and sciences. Gradually within the first coupleof sessions many students begin to appreciate the need touse controlled vocabulary in their formulation of a workableresearch topic. Once the need to establish a clear and “do-able” research inquiry was accomplished, this helped facili-tate the other skill objectives within RAP.

SKILL OBJECTIVE NO. 2—EFFECTIVE SEARCH

STRATEGIES

Beyond teaching the mechanical skills that are necessary fornavigating in the new information environment, tutoring stu-dents in effective search strategies is equally important. Al-though many of our incoming undergraduates have been em-ploying the Internet for research during high school, theirawareness of the information available on the numerous pro-prietary and academic online reference tools is often lacking.Search strategies that were viable on various Internet searchengines such as Yahoo, Google, Lycos and DogPile, etc.,will not work on many specialized academic databases thatare common on our university library web pages. JSTOR,EconLit, Web of Science, Historical Abstracts, AcademicUniverse, ProQuest Direct, FirstSearch, the Health andSafety Science Abstracts and other online research toolshave search protocols that vary from your standard Internetnavigational tools. Differences in truncation, field and prox-imity searching, boolean protocols and specialized featuresthat can limit your search to peer review, empirical research,case studies, document type are not yet apart of the studentsresearch competencies.

These complexities of library research are especiallyproblematic to many African American students whose prep-aration to deal effectively with this new research environ-ment may have been hamstrung by the poor preparation theyreceived during their pre-college years. Within the ResearchAssistance Program we have taken time beyond the normallibrary instruction classes to mentor these individuals con-cerning these complexities of generating authoritative re-search for their papers. It was an information epiphany tomany of students that there is a difference between searchingGoogle vs. ProQuest Education Complete. The normal oneterm or ill defined free-text (i.e., shotgun) searches that work

perfectly fine for their high school research will not yieldthe specificity of information that using the search protocolsof ProQuest or the myriad of other proprietary online refer-ence tools that have become second nature to those of uswho assist students with their research on a daily basis.

Although the problems outlined are hardly unique to Afri-can American undergraduates, they become compounded forindividuals who preparation for college level research is attimes lacking. Not all incoming African Americans comefrom deficient high schools. However, the literature has indi-cated that nationwide less than 35% of African Americanscomplete a four-year college degree and these numbershaven’t significantly improved over the last twenty-fiveyears.15 I believe a big part of this failure can be partly at-tributed to their inability to do college level research.

SKILL OBJECTIVE NO. 3—DISCERNMENT AND THE

DOCUMENT

Understanding the difference between information locatedthrough a general Internet search engines and informationgleaned from an academic database such as PAIS, PsycLit orMLA Bibliography is critical in their maturation as studentresearchers.

Beginning in the early nineties with the emergence ofweb browsers such as Mosaic and later Netscape and Inter-net Explorer, surfing the Internet or World Wide Web forinformation became easier. Cumbersome methods of FTPinvolving GO, GET, PUT, ZIP and UNZIP commands alongwith Gopher clients were no longer needed for the averagesearcher to use the Internet. A cursory review of the litera-ture analyzing how the average high school student does hisor her research confirms that the use of electronic documentslocated on an Internet search engine, is how most of ourincoming freshmen gather information. However, despite thevast amount of useful documentation located on the Internetmuch of it isn’t peer reviewed. Nor does it undergo the sim-plest form of information quality control that is so typical ofresearch materials obtained from peer review journals of thesocial sciences, humanities and the sciences. Although theacademic publishing cycle has been better integrated into theNET via various proprietary files purchased and housed onour university library web pages, college freshmen do notmake the distinction between information located throughYahoo and scholarly research gleaned from JSTOR, theMLA Bibliography or the Environmental Universe.

The problem of source equivalence among the typicalundergraduate becomes even more problematic when assist-ing African Americans students. In RAP it has been my ex-perience that students vary greatly in their skill level when itcome to using computerized research tools. On the one handwe have students who have been using the Internet for yearseither at home or more typically in the case of AfricanAmericans at their public library or school.16 These individ-uals have the mechanics of surfing the Net in place. At theother end of the spectrum, and this is more common, wehave African American undergraduates who have neverspent any serious time surfing the Internet and their search-ing mechanics are either nonexistent or elementary at best.

Ironically many of the librarians involved in RAP havefound this latter group easier to introduce to the right type ofscholarly appropriate materials than those individuals who

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view the Internet as the depository of all knowledge. Fromday one it is much easier to direct these individuals to schol-arly databases, those that will yield the most authoritativeand relevant information given the nature and scope of theirundergraduate writing assignments. If there is one overallepistemological paradigm of the Research Assistant Pro-grams it is the notion that not all sources or materials theylocate on the Internet are created equal. There is a criticaldifference between using a general Internet source dealingwith substance abuse and an article on the same subjectfound in an empirical, peer reviewed journal generated fromPyscLit, Sociological Abstract or the Web of Science data-base.

To reiterate, the above problem of source equivalencearen’t unique to African American students. It is endemic inour incoming undergraduate population. What is importanthere is that these deficits in African American students arenot just minor transitions in their sojourn from high schoolto college level research. They can seriously impede theirability to do college level work, thus contributing to the re-tention problems that are so prevalent. The one-on-one men-toring that is at the heart of RAP where African Americansconnect at some personal level with the instructor (i.e., egosupport skills), although labor intensive for teacher and stu-dent alike, is one of the few strategies I have been associ-ated with over the past twenty years that actually work.

SKILL OBJECTIVE NO. 4—INFORMATION SEEKING AS A

PROCESS

This objective can be viewed as a synthesis of the previousthree and yet presents its own instructional problems in thestudent’s overall mastery of college level research. At thispoint in the student’s involvement in RAP, we try to get thestudent to begin the process of discerning the nature of theassignment and what will be the most appropriate researchtools deemed relevant to the task at hand. Decisions con-cerning the best sources to employ for an assignment is per-haps the most difficult skill to impart, not only AfricanAmericans but undergraduates in general.

As exemplified earlier, source equivalence is a recurringproblem since incoming freshmen don’t distinguish betweena document generated from a Google or Yahoo search andthose located through a peer reviewed academic databasesuch as JSTOR or Historical Abstracts. Even after the stu-dent begins to make these distinctions, getting them to adoptthis same critical attitude to peer reviewed scholarly sourcesis the next big step in expanding their research IQ.

Here at Penn State Harrisburg, I engaged in a lot of one-on-one instruction with the criminal justice students. SeveralAfrican American students who I have worked with havemade incredible strides as researchers and yet they are justbeginning to apply this next step of critical source analysisskills to academic research tools.

For example, two of the major sources that students em-ploy in their criminal justice research are Criminal JusticeAbstracts (CJA) and the Criminal Justice Periodical Index(CJPI). The latter is a full-text database providing access tojournal articles and trade publications pertinent to the disci-pline. However the total number of criminal justice periodi-cals that are indexed in the CJPI number around 150. To thelaymen or undergraduate student, this might seem like an

adequate number. However, the CJA which is a citationaldatabases containing references to thousands of peer re-viewed journals, monographic works, trade publications, sta-tistical studies, dissertations and a host of international re-search, provides a scope of coverage that supersede anythingfound in the CJPI. In short, Criminal Justice Abstracts moreaccurately reflects the academic publishing cycle in thecriminal justice discipline that is not even approached in thestudent’s exclusive use of the full-text CJPI. There is somuch more pertinent information found in the CJA that, inorder to conduct a thorough literature search, they need to becognizant of these content differences. They need to developand more importantly maintain a critical eye as they selectfrom and employ datafiles and other research genre in theexecution of a written assignment.

It has been my observation in working with AfricanAmerican students that nurturing critical assessment skills isthe most problematic area of developing their research IQ,and that the one-on-one mentoring that RAP provides makesthis process more attainable in the short time we have withthese individuals.

CONCLUSION

It should be stressed that teaching critical thinking and deci-sion-making skills is something that all students, not justAfrican Americans undergraduates, need in order to negoti-ate the labyrinth of college level research. Still, as outlinedthrough the above description of the RAP program, AfricanAmerican students in predominately white institutions bringspecial learning styles and deficits as they begin collegework. With appropriate sensitivity, time, and attention, theseissues can be successfully addressed. If we in the academicworld are at all serious about the retention of not only Afri-can American students but also other at-risk clientele, it isvital that we find the time and energy to mentor these indi-viduals into the world of academic research.

NOTES AND REFERENCES

1. Michael Avery, “Retention Issues and Special Admission Stu-dents,” Journal of Negro Education 68 (Winter 1999): 23–41.

2. Philip R. Newman & Barbara M. Newman, “What Does it Taketo Have Positive Impact on Minority Students’ College Reten-tion,” Adolescence 34 (Fall 1999): 483–492; George Sailes, “AnInvestigation of Black Student Attrition at a Large Predominan-tely White Midwestern University,” Western Journal of BlackStudies 26 (1993): 385–402.

3. Margaret Lynn, “Toward a Critical Race Pedagogy,” Urban Ed-ucation 33No. 5 (999): 606–626.

4. Patrick Andrew Hall, “The Role of Affectivity in InstructingPeople of Color: Some Implications for Bibliographic Instruc-tion,” Library Trends 39 (Winter 1991): 316–326.

5. Ann Bainbridge & Marian L. Houser, “The Teacher-StudentRelationship as an Interpersonal Relationship,” CommunicationEducation 49 (July 2000): 207.

6. Barbara J. Robinson Shade, Culture, Style and the EducativeProcess (Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas 1989).

7. Bainbridge & Houser, “Toward a Critical,” p. 208.8. At this juncture it should be stressed that although one’s cultural

background has a definite effect on cognitive and learning styles,it is a serious error to conclude that all African Americans havethe same learning modality. Drawing a relationship betweenacademic achievement and cultural background is a problematictask; however, many African American students, because of poorpreparation at the elementary and secondary level, don’t possess

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the research skills necessary to compete within the academicenvironment. See Lisa Delpit, Culture and Power in the Class-room (Westport, Conn: Bergin & Gavery, 1991); Craig L. Frisby,“One Giant Step Backward: Myths of Black Cultural LearningStyles,” School Psychology Review 22 (No. 3, 1993): 535–557;Tina Q. Richardson, “Black Culture Learning Styles: Is it Reallya Myth?” School Psychology Review 22 (No. 3, 1993): 562–567.

9. Herman A. Witkin,” Personality Through Perception: An Exper-imental and Clinical Study (New York: Harper 1954).

10. As an experiment, I have deliberately taken a more field depen-dent approach in compiling this case study. My use of a storynarrative at the beginning of this paper would normally be per-ceived as inappropriate for academic study. However, the use ofa personal antidote to connect with the reader on a more subjec-tive level configures this case analysis within a field dependentlearning paradigm. In short, personal narrative is a way of know-ing or instructing. See Donald Porkinghorne, Narrative Knowingand the Human Sciences (Albany, NY: State University of NewYork Press, 1988).

11. Susan W. Graybill, “Questions of Race and Culture: How TheyRelate to the Classroom for African American Students,” TheClearing House 70 (July/August 1997): 315.

12. Delpit, “Culture and Power,” p. 123.13. It should be noted that the Research Assistance Program was in

many cases an adjunct to the libraries’ normal information in-struction or bibliographic instruction activities, As cited in the

literature on the learning styles of African Americans, the need toconnect on a personal level in the educational setting has provento be a signature attribute of the Black learning style. See Ber-nadett M. Gadzella, William G. Masten & Jiafen Huang, “TheDifference Between African-American and Caucasian Studentson Critical Thinking and Learning Styles,” College Student Jour-nal 33 (December 1999) 538–542; Doris B. Matthews & John V.Hamby, “A Comparison of Learning Styles of High School andCollege/University Students,” Clearing House 68 (March-April1995):257–271; Joan Thrower Timm, “The Relationship BetweenCulture and Cognitive Style: A Review of the Evidence and SomeReflections for the Classroom,” Mid-Western Educational Re-searcher 12 (Spring 1999):36–44.

14. Timm, “The Relationship,” p. 41.15. Avery, “Retention Issues,” pp. 23–41.16. Despite the preponderance of computers in the homes of Cauca-

sian and Asian Americans, there does exist a digital divide incomputer ownership in African American homes, According tothe latest figures, less than 30% of African Americans own a PCor laptop. This compares to nearly 68% of Caucasian and AsianAmericans who have personal computers at their residence. SeeKelly Ervin, “Traveling the Superinformation Highway: AfricanAmericans’ Perceptions and Use of Cyberspace Technology, ”Journal of Black Studies 29 (January 1999): 398–409; Kelvin M.Pollard, “America’s Racial and Ethnic Minorities,” PopulationBulletin 54 (September 1999): 1–46.

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