TDNet Discover

The purpose of this capstone study will be to investigate the achievement gaps experienced by African American male students enrolled in MAT 171: Precalculus Algebra at Catawba Valley Community College (CVCC). For this study, the achievement gap will be defined as the persistent difference in course success and retention rates between African American male students and their peers in gateway mathematics courses. The theory guiding this study will be Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory, which explains how beliefs in one’s ability to succeed influence motivation, persistence, and achievement. This framework will align with the study’s focus on strengthening student confidence through targeted instructional strategies, tutoring supports, and culturally responsive teaching. The study will employ an action research design integrating quantitative and qualitative data to address the problem of practice. Quantitative data will be drawn from CVCC’s Informer reports and the North Carolina Community College System dashboards to examine course success, withdrawal, and retention trends, while qualitative data will include surveys and focus groups to explore student and faculty perspectives on math confidence and support. Data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic coding to identify key trends and actionable themes. The goal will be to design and evaluate interventions that strengthen self-efficacy and engagement among African American male students, thereby reducing equity gaps and improving persistence in STEM pathways.