AskAcademia-1525275057-8giacj.json

{
  "sid": "8giacj",
  "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/",
  "title:": "Need advice on Black/African American students in chemistry.",
  "text": "Context: I teach at a regional state PUI. My campus has a lot of at-risk students, many first generation, many with low ACT scores. \n\nFor many years I taught biochemistry and had very few Black/AA students. I assumed they were simply not majoring in chemistry. I was moved to organic chemistry a few years ago (the gateway course to biochemistry) and I have found LOTS of these students. \n\nAlmost all of them fail. Regardless of instructor. The fail rate of my White students is about 35%, the fail rate of my Black students is closer to 80%. When I brought this to the attention of administrators, it was sorry of a, \"yeah, it's been like that for years.\"\n\nWhat the hell can I do to help this demographic do better? They are generally failing because they aren't studying, and/or didn't retain what they needed from general chemistry.\n\nEdit: I'm getting some great ideas and thoughts here. Please keep contributing if you think of something!",
  "author": null,
  "created": 1525275057,
  "updated": 1634081321,
  "over_18": false,
  "upvotes": 136,
  "upvote_ratio": 0.96,
  "comments": {
    "dybuihv": {
      "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dybuihv/",
      "text": "Do you have any peer-mentoring programs? These can really help, especially if the peer-mentor is someone within the target students' own demographic group.",
      "author": "NervousTumbleweed",
      "created": 1525275308,
      "upvotes": 80,
      "replies": {
        "dybw9hz": {
          "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dybw9hz/",
          "text": "Even outside of peer mentoring, developing community within the department/departments is crucial. \n\nA lot of issues come from a lack of feeling included, and it's a really slow (but possible) process to change that. \n\nI've found two things that help a lot with all my students:\n\n1. The first assignment of the semester is for them to read a couple of articles on study strategies and goal-setting, and write a short statement of their goals and approach to the course- then I go over it with them. We also revisit this after the first exam and modify things appropriately. \n\n2. I make all students come to my office to pick up their first exam so we can go over it together. It helps reduce the barrier to visiting office hours, and helps form a productive relationship and chance to talk to every student about strategies and success. \n\nI also have started using Slack for my class to build an online community, and it seems to really break down the barriers students have in asking me questions- a quick message and photo on their smartphone is a lot less of a barrier than an email, and it also lets them set up study groups with each other. ",
          "author": "Eigengrad",
          "created": 1525276822,
          "upvotes": 91,
          "replies": {
            "dyc182w": {
              "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyc182w/",
              "text": "> I also have started using Slack for my class to build an online community, and it seems to really break down the barriers students have in asking me questions- a quick message and photo on their smartphone is a lot less of a barrier than an email, and it also lets them set up study groups with each other.\n\nI like Piazza for this as well, in big classes it lets them talk to each other a bit online (and also reduces the volume of email I get).",
              "author": "justaboringname",
              "created": 1525281152,
              "upvotes": 13,
              "replies": {
                "dydk8ck": {
                  "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dydk8ck/",
                  "text": "Pros and cons list for Slack vs Piazza? Does Piazza even have an app for smartphones?",
                  "author": "pimpinlatino411",
                  "created": 1525347799,
                  "upvotes": 3,
                  "replies": {}
                }
              }
            },
            "dyc1hnw": {
              "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyc1hnw/",
              "text": "What do you do when students just don't come by? I have taken that approach with exams in the past, but I get students who won't even bother to pick them up.",
              "author": null,
              "created": 1525281383,
              "upvotes": 7,
              "replies": {
                "dyc4io6": {
                  "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyc4io6/",
                  "text": "It varies. Usually a combination of in and out of class reminders will get them to come in. \n\nThis has been my first year with the new strategy... I'm considering adding points into participation to go along with it. Something like a few extra credit points if you come go over it with me within a certain time frame. ",
                  "author": "Eigengrad",
                  "created": 1525283986,
                  "upvotes": 9,
                  "replies": {
                    "dycbiy0": {
                      "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dycbiy0/",
                      "text": "That's a good idea. I need to start doing something creative to build community for sure.",
                      "author": null,
                      "created": 1525289937,
                      "upvotes": 4,
                      "replies": {}
                    }
                  }
                }
              }
            }
          }
        },
        "dybza82": {
          "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dybza82/",
          "text": "We don't have a peer mentoring group on campus for chemistry specifically, but I ran one for pre-med students for several years that showed very little success in anything other than getting failing students to change their major faster.",
          "author": null,
          "created": 1525279470,
          "upvotes": 11,
          "replies": {
            "dyc0pog": {
              "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyc0pog/",
              "text": "> very little success in anything other than getting failing students to change their major faster.\n\nThat's not necessarily a bad thing for students who think they're pre-med!\n\nBut seriously, you should consider some sort of formalized peer tutoring arrangement. ",
              "author": "justaboringname",
              "created": 1525280708,
              "upvotes": 17,
              "replies": {
                "dyc1oxb": {
                  "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyc1oxb/",
                  "text": "I explicitly tell them on their first exam if they need a tutor, but as far as I am aware very few seek it out. I can't force them to do it, and we have 40% non-trads at the school, making an enforced tutoring outside of class unrealistic.  \n\nI do have them do a lot of work in class in groups, but that just isn't enough.",
                  "author": null,
                  "created": 1525281555,
                  "upvotes": 3,
                  "replies": {
                    "dyc9g9n": {
                      "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyc9g9n/",
                      "text": "Do they not have recitation that they are required to go to? I went to an undergrad only college but we still had recitation for gen chem, organic I and II. It was taught by a senior student who had already taken the class and done really well in it. ",
                      "author": "stathicus",
                      "created": 1525288195,
                      "upvotes": 3,
                      "replies": {
                        "dycakaq": {
                          "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dycakaq/",
                          "text": "Nope. We have nothing like that. We used to have it in general chemistry, but the state came down and made is get rid of it.",
                          "author": null,
                          "created": 1525289130,
                          "upvotes": 3,
                          "replies": {}
                        }
                      }
                    }
                  }
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    },
    "dybvbra": {
      "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dybvbra/",
      "text": "Is organic chemistry a first-year course, or is there a gen chem prerequisite? If there is a gen chem prereq, can you coordinate with its instructor(s) to address the issues you're seeing? Early intervention will be the most helpful.\n\nIs there a common theme in where they're failing? Stoichiometry? Rates? Functional groups? The large number of reactions which are generally memorized by rote? If you notice a pattern (e.g. students are particularly underprepared in math), focused attention can be helpful.\n\nOne approach the first-year team at my university is trialing is basically \"re-exam\", with midterms having two phases. The first phase is exactly like a typical exam. After the first phase exams are collected, the same exam is passed out, to be completed again in groups automatically determined by the instructor team.\n\nThe second phase is optional, and will either (not change|somewhat improve) the mark any student can get, but it gets groups together talking about their answers and their thought processes.\n\nThe instructing team is still trying to determine if this change is driving improved results downstream, but it's one of the larger changes they've made. For reference, the final is still entirely traditional, and the two midterms are weighted in total about 20, 25% of the overall class grade.\n\nGood luck!\n\nEDIT: Also, do try to get support from any additional departments or offices within your institution. Is there an office dealing with minority student support? They may have additional advice or resources to draw upon.",
      "author": "Eltargrim",
      "created": 1525276014,
      "upvotes": 25,
      "replies": {
        "dyc0ft6": {
          "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyc0ft6/",
          "text": "They have a year of general chemistry and precalculus with a C or better to get in. \n\nI really think the biggest issue is study skills. Organic isn't math-based like general chemistry, so they are having to learn all new info for most of the class. It becomes very obvious very quickly what students aren't studying. So then I come to them and try and help them with their study skills, seeking tutoring, etc... That has proven ineffective. \n\nWe have an AA student center on campus that has a new director who refuses to work with me on anything. I was good friends with the previous director, but this new guy is just super abrasive and, as much as I hate to say it, he really seems to dislike white people (like, he has gone off on me before about owing reparations and such--it's hard to work with that, and he refuses to even answer my emails). I do still send students over, and I do send him emails letting him know that and what's going on with the students, but it's complete radio silence on his end.",
          "author": null,
          "created": 1525280468,
          "upvotes": 24,
          "replies": {
            "dyc4d7e": {
              "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyc4d7e/",
              "text": "Oh jeez. Without institutional support your hands are pretty tied. I'd personally be pretty wary of trying any targeted initiatives without working hand-in-hand with community representatives.\n\nDoes your course allow for a one-page handwritten cheat sheet? I know opinions are mixed about its utility, but it's an easy way to encourage actually writing reactions down.\n\nIt sounds like you're in a very frustrating situation. I wish I could offer more concrete advice, but I'm sure you've taught more than I have. I wish you the best of luck with this challenging situation!",
              "author": "Eltargrim",
              "created": 1525283857,
              "upvotes": 8,
              "replies": {
                "dycahi9": {
                  "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dycahi9/",
                  "text": "I feel like my administration wants to talk the talk but not walk the walk, if that makes sense. \n\nAnd for me, I don't want to give them a cheat sheet. That isn't going to do anything to prepare them for the MCAT or PCAT or other standardized exams they will need to show mastery in. I could make them submit notes or something for extra credit, but my colleague that does that only gets a 15% response rate. ",
                  "author": null,
                  "created": 1525289062,
                  "upvotes": 4,
                  "replies": {
                    "dyd65yn": {
                      "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyd65yn/",
                      "text": "Cheat sheet for the First exam only?",
                      "author": "tripacrazy",
                      "created": 1525321114,
                      "upvotes": 0,
                      "replies": {
                        "dyd7efo": {
                          "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyd7efo/",
                          "text": "I don't understand what purpose that serves. If I need them to know and understand content, why should they have a sheet with that content on it?",
                          "author": null,
                          "created": 1525322709,
                          "upvotes": 3,
                          "replies": {
                            "dydfhv9": {
                              "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dydfhv9/",
                              "text": "I suppose the general idea is to incentivize them to write notes in a systematic way. (I.e. studying).",
                              "author": "dais4773",
                              "created": 1525337999,
                              "upvotes": 4,
                              "replies": {
                                "dydl92i": {
                                  "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dydl92i/",
                                  "text": "I see what you're saying, but I don't think it is useful to dumb down the exam difficulty by giving them a cheat sheet. That's not really solving the problem. I've seen those sheets before and people write them as small as possible to cream in as much info so they don't need to actually study. And they are likely multitasking when they do it, so they don't even pay attention to what they write. This class is taken by all pre-professional health students; I wouldn't want a doctor that made passing scores because they had a cheat sheet...\n\nI mentioned in the thread somewhere that I have a colleague who gives extra credit for turning in chapter outlines, rewritten notes, and flashcards, but only about 15% of his students even bother.",
                                  "author": null,
                                  "created": 1525349301,
                                  "upvotes": 3,
                                  "replies": {}
                                }
                              }
                            }
                          }
                        }
                      }
                    }
                  }
                }
              }
            },
            "dyduj67": {
              "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyduj67/",
              "text": "Would it be possible to structure assignments to replicate the study skills that they're missing?",
              "author": "cosmololgy",
              "created": 1525359374,
              "upvotes": 2,
              "replies": {
                "dye7mvp": {
                  "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dye7mvp/",
                  "text": "I do that to a degree as well as I can, but the main issue seems to be that they aren't studying. ",
                  "author": null,
                  "created": 1525371009,
                  "upvotes": 1,
                  "replies": {
                    "dye9emx": {
                      "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dye9emx/",
                      "text": "Hmmmm. Do you know if it's because they were never taught to, or because they don't believe in its effectiveness, or because they simply don't want to?\n\n",
                      "author": "cosmololgy",
                      "created": 1525372545,
                      "upvotes": 1,
                      "replies": {
                        "dyeady0": {
                          "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyeady0/",
                          "text": "I honestly have no idea. Probably all 3 to some level.",
                          "author": null,
                          "created": 1525373400,
                          "upvotes": 1,
                          "replies": {}
                        }
                      }
                    }
                  }
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    },
    "dybvjwq": {
      "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dybvjwq/",
      "text": "If you're teaching organic chemistry, this isn't a problem you can solve by yourself even if you totally revamp your course according to educational research. It needs to be a departmental thing - if a specific cohort of students is retaining their general chemistry at a lower rate than the other students, there's an issue with that class not matching the preparation of the students (even if they're passing it).  \n\nYou could check out [this paper](http://www.mdpi.com:8080/2227-7102/8/1/5/notes), which is of course not a silver bullet but may give you some insights on the scope of the problem. ",
      "author": "justaboringname",
      "created": 1525276214,
      "upvotes": 19,
      "replies": {
        "dyc0nbv": {
          "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyc0nbv/",
          "text": "Thank you.\n\nI have a feeling that if I looked at general chemistry scores, the failing students would likely all have low C's in general chemistry. \n\nThe thing is, organic chemistry isn't super reliant on general chemistry knowledge. So while it would explain why they don't do as well on the first exam (has relevant review on it), it doesn't explain the rest of the semester. ",
          "author": null,
          "created": 1525280653,
          "upvotes": 8,
          "replies": {
            "dyc0zm6": {
              "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyc0zm6/",
              "text": "I think you're right to focus on study habits. Organic chemistry is really different from general in the way you need to approach your studying - relying on algebra skills and brute-force memorization of concepts can get you through gen chem, but will eventually fail in organic (I speak from my own experience as an undergraduate, unfortunately).  Plus, many students have seen some general chemistry material in high school, but the vast majority of them are seeing the organic material for the first time.",
              "author": "justaboringname",
              "created": 1525280947,
              "upvotes": 10,
              "replies": {
                "dyc6lh4": {
                  "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyc6lh4/",
                  "text": "I particularly like this article:\n\nhttps://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1021069.pdf\n\nIt's a summary of the strategies laid out by Dunlosky that same year in APS (http://www.indiana.edu/~pcl/rgoldsto/courses/dunloskyimprovinglearning.pdf), but in a much more student-friendly format. \n\nI find that it is really beneficial to give my students hard and concrete evidence on what strategies are and aren't effective. \n\nI also like Bode & Flynn's article on successful strategies for synthesis in particular, again with evidence on outcomes students can see. \n\nhttps://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jchemed.5b00900\n\nAll my students have to read both at the start of the semester. \n\nAnother nice article is this 2013 NYT piece \"How to get an A- in Organic Chemistry\" written by an older student going back to take organic chemistry. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/03/education/edlife/how-to-get-an-a-in-organic-chemistry.html",
                  "author": "Eigengrad",
                  "created": 1525285774,
                  "upvotes": 9,
                  "replies": {}
                }
              }
            }
          }
        },
        "dyd1o6s": {
          "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyd1o6s/",
          "text": "Oof, that paper needs an updated literature review (it's sparse and kinda outdated), and I don't think their stats are right. Comparing their gen chem population (N >200) to their prep chem population (N =22) with a parametric test is suspicious (are the variances really the same in such different sample sizes?) But I would definitely not report Cohen's d when Hedge's g can account for the difference in sample size.\n\nI wish they could have broken down the results they saw by intervention. Incorporating peer learning assistants, active learning, and a remedial course aren't novel, but it would be interesting to see how much each intervention contributes to positive outcomes",
          "author": null,
          "created": 1525315884,
          "upvotes": 2,
          "replies": {}
        },
        "dybyw6i": {
          "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dybyw6i/",
          "text": "Side convo.  Is MDPI a reputable journal now?  I like open access but Im still iffy on them.  ",
          "author": "meowcat187",
          "created": 1525279131,
          "upvotes": 3,
          "replies": {
            "dyc0j5j": {
              "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyc0j5j/",
              "text": "I don't know. They go out of their way to emphasize their peer review process, which is good at least. For stuff like this I'm fine with them. I also like open access so maybe I just want to give them the benefit of the doubt.",
              "author": "justaboringname",
              "created": 1525280549,
              "upvotes": 1,
              "replies": {}
            },
            "dyd1rx0": {
              "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyd1rx0/",
              "text": "[deleted]",
              "author": null,
              "created": 1525315995,
              "upvotes": 1,
              "replies": {
                "dyd2iam": {
                  "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyd2iam/",
                  "text": "They have tons of journals, all open source.",
                  "author": "meowcat187",
                  "created": 1525316802,
                  "upvotes": 1,
                  "replies": {}
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    },
    "dyc3dx5": {
      "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyc3dx5/",
      "text": "Black students underperforming at college is a known problem related to underperformance at every educational level. It\u2019s especially so at predominantly white institutions. Theories for why include feeling isolated and lacking a community, not feeling connected to the overwhelmingly white faculty, conflicting cultural values with the standard education format of banking-style teaching, lack of college preparation from high school, first generation college students, and self-supporting students with multiple outside jobs. (I think there\u2019s others but these are the ones I remember.)\n\nI like the earlier comment about collaborative learning and getting students info study groups\u2014making sure to create a community and shared responsibility between students who will look out for one another. I try to monitor my problem students early in the semester, even building in weekly check ins with some of them. I ask them if they have ideas for methods or activities that would work better for them. Of course, the larger the class size the harder this becomes and the less time-per-student. Rest assured this problem isn\u2019t yours alone. It\u2019s common in writing and literature classes as well.",
      "author": "mylifeisprettyplain",
      "created": 1525283018,
      "upvotes": 31,
      "replies": {
        "dyc99uh": {
          "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyc99uh/",
          "text": "I'd be remiss if I didn't bring up stereotype threat",
          "author": null,
          "created": 1525288041,
          "upvotes": 15,
          "replies": {
            "dyc9ff3": {
              "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyc9ff3/",
              "text": "Oh yeah. Of course. ",
              "author": "mylifeisprettyplain",
              "created": 1525288174,
              "upvotes": 4,
              "replies": {}
            },
            "dycappy": {
              "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dycappy/",
              "text": "I'm not sure I know what that is. I study up a lot in sociology and took a lot of undergrad courses in it years ago, help?",
              "author": null,
              "created": 1525289256,
              "upvotes": 3,
              "replies": {
                "dycbeej": {
                  "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dycbeej/",
                  "text": "oh, it's something I learned about in my graduate teaching and mentorship courses.\n\nbasically, the fear and stress of confirming pernicious stereotypes about their social group may itself lead negatively-stereotyped groups to underperform (academically or otherwise).\n\nthe archetypal example of this was a 1995 study that showed that black students systematically underperformed white students in solving SAT math questions when they were told that the test was \"diagnostic of intellectual ability\", but the difference disappeared when the test was described as \"a laboratory exercise, not diagnostic of ability\".",
                  "author": null,
                  "created": 1525289832,
                  "upvotes": 14,
                  "replies": {
                    "dycc0l4": {
                      "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dycc0l4/",
                      "text": "Wow. That's insightful, thanks. \n\nI finally decided to reach out today because of a thought I had: I am so ashamed to admit it, but I realized that after several years of having this group consistently fail that I'm no longer surprised. I don't like that feeling. I've consistently been their cheerleader for years, but now I'm starting to feel apathetic. I think it's because nothing I say or do seems to matter at all. \n\nI really needed a fresh perspective on this. Thanks for contributing.",
                      "author": null,
                      "created": 1525290356,
                      "upvotes": 11,
                      "replies": {
                        "dycglc7": {
                          "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dycglc7/",
                          "text": "[Whistling Vivaldi](https://www.amazon.com/Whistling-Vivaldi-Stereotypes-Affect-Issues/dp/0393339726) by Claude Steele is a really good book on the topic of stereotype threat.",
                          "author": "justaboringname",
                          "created": 1525294242,
                          "upvotes": 3,
                          "replies": {
                            "dycsih2": {
                              "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dycsih2/",
                              "text": "That was actually the assigned reading last year for all freshmen.",
                              "author": null,
                              "created": 1525306329,
                              "upvotes": 3,
                              "replies": {
                                "dycspmy": {
                                  "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dycspmy/",
                                  "text": "Wow, good choice. I read it as part of a professional development thing at my last job. I bet it'd be very interesting to read as a new college student, especially if you were first-generation.",
                                  "author": "justaboringname",
                                  "created": 1525306548,
                                  "upvotes": 2,
                                  "replies": {
                                    "dycu1ak": {
                                      "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dycu1ak/",
                                      "text": "Most of the students I asked didn't bother, and the ones that did said it was stupid.\n\nI'm telling you, in dealing with some pretty extreme apathy.",
                                      "author": null,
                                      "created": 1525307974,
                                      "upvotes": 2,
                                      "replies": {}
                                    }
                                  }
                                }
                              }
                            }
                          }
                        }
                      }
                    }
                  }
                }
              }
            }
          }
        },
        "dyca362": {
          "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyca362/",
          "text": "I can understand the lack of community issue for sure. I was very isolated as a student for similar reasons. \n\nThe different thing with me I think, is I had a strong natural academic aptitude; it was hard for me to admit early in my career, but not all students are as good at school as we (professors) were/are. \n\nMy brother has less aptitude and the same isolation issue, and failed spectacularly in community college. \n\nIt's like... I can see the problem but have no way to fix it. I can't make them have a better home life, I can't make them go to better schools. I can't make them not a minority (although we have a very diverse student body). I can try to help them develop study skills, but they can choose to ignore me. \n\nAll I know is 25% of my class is Black, and next semester it will be less than 5%. It's so damn frustrating... I want them to succeed so badly.",
          "author": null,
          "created": 1525288726,
          "upvotes": 3,
          "replies": {
            "dycv2xa": {
              "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dycv2xa/",
              "text": "[deleted]",
              "author": null,
              "created": 1525309050,
              "upvotes": 10,
              "replies": {
                "dycw2ye": {
                  "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dycw2ye/",
                  "text": "Ah, I should have been more specific. I want referring to only my African American students with that, just my students in general. I had to realize not all my students that have a ton of other obligations will also have the aptitude to get through the material with diminished study hours and such. At my school, that is the case majority of the student body. Most are on Pell Grants, most are first generation, a ton are non-trads, and a large number are non-white (I'm in Tennessee and we get a lot of students from Memphis and Nashville). I was actually hired in large part because I was part of an at-risk group myself, and they thought I would understand the student population better than others. Go figure. Here I am, and they fail my class too.\n\nI know exactly what you mean though. The students that make it through are often children of immigrants or immigrants themselves; not students that associate with the African American culture. There has to be some way to raise up their self-esteem. I tell them I have faith they can do it. Is not just that though, there is something self-defeating in some of them that I just can't put my finger on our even understand. \n\nAt this point I'm rambling. Sorry about that. ",
                  "author": null,
                  "created": 1525310095,
                  "upvotes": 3,
                  "replies": {
                    "dycx6j6": {
                      "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dycx6j6/",
                      "text": "[deleted]",
                      "author": null,
                      "created": 1525311234,
                      "upvotes": 3,
                      "replies": {
                        "dycxfo0": {
                          "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dycxfo0/",
                          "text": "You know the part that really gets me?\n\nAnd in hindsight this sounds stupid as hell...\n\nAfter my second year teaching the class, I was like, \"HOLY SHIT. There ARE Black students that are in chemistry, they just aren't making it through past organic I.\" So I went to my chair, some bio profs, my fellow members of the diversity committee, etc...\n\n\"Hey folks, there is a HUGE program. Black students aren't passing organic. That's why they aren't getting degrees in chemistry.\"\n\nThen everyone responded with, \"uh. yeah. It's been like that forever. There's even more in gen chem that flunk out at that stage. It happens in biology with genetics also.\"\n\nSo, for YEARS I literally thought it was a recruitment issue, where we just didn't have these students interested in chemistry, but really they weren't getting through, and when I realized this, everyone else already knew.\n\nI was energized that day to do something about it, but 3 years later and I'm still at a loss.",
                          "author": null,
                          "created": 1525311502,
                          "upvotes": 5,
                          "replies": {
                            "dycyjw0": {
                              "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dycyjw0/",
                              "text": "[deleted]",
                              "author": null,
                              "created": 1525312639,
                              "upvotes": 5,
                              "replies": {
                                "dycytw6": {
                                  "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dycytw6/",
                                  "text": "That's what I see as well. \n\nAnd in Tennessee, we are dealing with some pretty severe poverty and some really rough underfunded schools. It's a recipe for disaster.",
                                  "author": null,
                                  "created": 1525312933,
                                  "upvotes": 3,
                                  "replies": {}
                                }
                              }
                            }
                          }
                        }
                      }
                    }
                  }
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    },
    "dybx1aw": {
      "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dybx1aw/",
      "text": "Do you do a diagnostic quiz during the first week and then do you follow up on the results of that quiz with an action plan to make sure all of the students are up to speed? This seems like one actionable item in which you can make sure students understand what's expected of them to have a chance of succeeding.\n\nOn the matter of studying, have you provided this feedback to those teaching first semester students? Are you honest with students when you see them struggling?",
      "author": "brimacki",
      "created": 1525277506,
      "upvotes": 9,
      "replies": {
        "dyc1197": {
          "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyc1197/",
          "text": "I've discussed it with my chair, but not the entire department. I don't even know where to start. Biology has told me they have similar issues in genetics. \n\nI'm very honest with my students. I tell them on day 1 what they need to be doing. I reiterate that throughout the term. I tell them on their first exam if they need a tutor and where to find them. It seems most of them just don't listen or care. If I hold their exams and make them pick them up, many just don't even come.\n\nI can say though, the issue is not attendance-based. My Black students have the best attendance of all my students.",
          "author": null,
          "created": 1525280986,
          "upvotes": 9,
          "replies": {
            "dyc1d18": {
              "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyc1d18/",
              "text": "> I can say though, the issue is not attendance-based. My Black students have the best attendance of all my students.\n\nIn that case, have you thought about a flipped (or partially-flipped) classroom approach? If they're not studying on their own, but they are coming to class, maybe you can move some of the \"studying\" (in the form of small group practice problems or whatever) into the classroom. I have the impression that the students in the middle (those ones who got the C in general chemistry) are the ones who tend to benefit the most from a flipped class.",
              "author": "justaboringname",
              "created": 1525281271,
              "upvotes": 11,
              "replies": {
                "dyc1ueg": {
                  "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyc1ueg/",
                  "text": "I don't do a fully flipped classroom, but I do a TON of problems for small groups in class. When other instructors have done fully flipped, it resulted in a lot of angry students in the chair's office. ",
                  "author": null,
                  "created": 1525281687,
                  "upvotes": 7,
                  "replies": {
                    "dyc2a6k": {
                      "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyc2a6k/",
                      "text": "> When other instructors have done fully flipped, it resulted in a lot of angry students in the chair's office.\n\nYeah :(",
                      "author": "justaboringname",
                      "created": 1525282060,
                      "upvotes": 3,
                      "replies": {
                        "dyca60q": {
                          "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyca60q/",
                          "text": "So that happens elsewhere too? I thought it was just our non-traditional students. It wasn't me who tried it before, but based off their experience I said \"not for me\".",
                          "author": null,
                          "created": 1525288794,
                          "upvotes": 3,
                          "replies": {
                            "dycggok": {
                              "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dycggok/",
                              "text": "Yes, I've taught at two universities now (one mid-size state school and now an R1) and student resistance to anything that's not the traditional lecture/discussion model happened at both.",
                              "author": "justaboringname",
                              "created": 1525294133,
                              "upvotes": 4,
                              "replies": {}
                            }
                          }
                        }
                      }
                    }
                  }
                }
              }
            },
            "dyc5ph2": {
              "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyc5ph2/",
              "text": "Do your students know how to get/use a tutor? I\u2019m betting that it\u2019s less that they don\u2019t listen or care and more that they don\u2019t know what it means to get a tutor. Perhaps you\u2019re being more explicit in class, but if not, a handout or a paragraph in your syllabus that says where your campus tutoring center is and how to get an appointment and how many sessions are \u201cfree\u201d for students or a link to wherever your campus hosts ads for private tutors and an explanation of expected costs would help students know how to act on your advice. A sample agenda for such a meeting would show how the experience would be beneficial too.",
              "author": "ProfAcorn",
              "created": 1525285017,
              "upvotes": 2,
              "replies": {
                "dyca7wj": {
                  "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyca7wj/",
                  "text": "All of that is on my syllabus, and I go over it in detail several times.",
                  "author": null,
                  "created": 1525288837,
                  "upvotes": 3,
                  "replies": {
                    "dycpxle": {
                      "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dycpxle/",
                      "text": "It may also be that the failing students don't have the time and energy to get a tutor. This sort of difference in outcomes between groups is a priority at my institution and our studies show that it comes down focus. Students with outside obligations of work and family don't have as much time to study, do homework, and access extra help, so they do poorly and drop out. It's class, not race (although those are highly correlated). \n\nSo if you want to help, it probably will have to be something that doesn't require extra work outside of class or it will just help those already in good shape.",
                      "author": "ZootKoomie",
                      "created": 1525303499,
                      "upvotes": 3,
                      "replies": {
                        "dycse1s": {
                          "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dycse1s/",
                          "text": "Yes, I agree with you there. Actually, since I'm at a school with a ton of non-trads and first generation students (not just my Black students, the whole student body), it is an issue I'm aware of and I construct my class accordingly to help those students. Things like not requiring books to not requiring turning in homework.",
                          "author": null,
                          "created": 1525306194,
                          "upvotes": 2,
                          "replies": {}
                        }
                      }
                    }
                  }
                }
              }
            },
            "dyc5ir4": {
              "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyc5ir4/",
              "text": "> If I hold their exams and make them pick them up, many just don't even come.\n\nMaybe you can try to not allow them to be eligible to take the second exam until they pick up the first? Kind of like an incomplete would work for an entire class.",
              "author": "brimacki",
              "created": 1525284853,
              "upvotes": 1,
              "replies": {
                "dyca9ck": {
                  "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyca9ck/",
                  "text": "I think the administration would it a hard foot down on that idea. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that either.",
                  "author": null,
                  "created": 1525288871,
                  "upvotes": 2,
                  "replies": {}
                }
              }
            }
          }
        },
        "dyc1d7x": {
          "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyc1d7x/",
          "text": "Oh, I forgot to add...\n\nI don't do a diagnostic anymore. I used to, but generally speaking it wasn't super informative, with the exception of letting me know that the vast majority of students at my institution don't perform well under pressure and they rarely retain much information.\n\nThis is unsurprising if you look at our entrance criteria though. Our ACT scores are generally quite low. ",
          "author": null,
          "created": 1525281276,
          "upvotes": 5,
          "replies": {}
        }
      }
    },
    "dydnoh3": {
      "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dydnoh3/",
      "text": "* Hi! I did some research this past summer on barriers to minority success in STEM Education. Hopefully I can help a little bit. Many minority students come to college woefully under-prepared academically. This includes not just the rigor of coursework that they've been exposed to, but also things that are the making of a good student - knowing how to manage your time, knowing how to study *effectively*, knowing when, where, and how to ask for help, knowing to form collaborative study groups. And of course, there's the feeling out of place/feeling like you don't belong in an institution of higher learning issue/lacking the identity of a scientist.\n\n* Here are two successful programs working to address minority student success if you'd like to adopt some of their strategies:\nhttp://bsp.berkeley.edu/about\nhttps://meyerhoff.umbc.edu/\n* There's another program at the University of Texas - Austin (I believe) that does similar work that integrates research opportunities/experiences into each major as coursework and it apparently does wonders are reducing the attrition rate among minorities. I'll update this if I can find it. \n\n* One problem that I think we have is that the burden of success falls, almost entirely, on the student. To an extent that's fair, but in my opinion a greater burden of success needs to be placed on the institution. That implies changing pedagogy to be cognizant of its failings among at-risk populations, but also to be more efficient in general. One of the things I found that successful programs do is change their institutional practices/mentality regarding student success. The administration, faculty, and staff all get on-board about implementing institutional changes/changing mentality and acknowledge that as a community, we're all accountable for student success. That means all of those people at that level showing genuine concern for students, but also teaching students to concern themselves about the success of their peers. Teach them to ask their friends and their peers about how school is going. How did they do on that exam? Is there anything they can do to help? Students need to be accountable to both themselves and others. \n\n* Emphasize the importance of group work and give them extra practice problems to work on. The problems should frankly be intellectually stimulating and challenging. They don't have to be remedial. I can't remember the name of the program, but there's a calculus program out in a western university that focuses on helping essentially at risk students. The person leading the program either leads sessions himself, or successful students volunteer to help, but basically they lead their students through these study sessions and work to collectively learn concepts and solve challenging problems. \n\n* Study habits - My understanding is that among at risk students...their study habits are generally pretty terrible. I can speak to that personally because I'm Hispanic and had no idea how to study for college when I did my undergrad in molecular biology. I coasted during HS and college was a wake-up call. Personally, what helped me the most in organic chemistry was the immediate application of whatever concept I'd just read. Emphasize DOING and APPLICATION over things like...taking notes from the chapter or flashcards which can be a pretty passive form of learning. I did that and bombed my first O-chem exam. But basically what I would do is read the textbook, and immediately after finishing a section, I would go to the chapter problems and immediately try to solve the problems related to that section. I would do this section by section until I'd finished the chapter, but the immediate application of what I'd just read got me out of that false sense of \"Oh I just read this and I understand it\" followed by moving onto the next chapter section. So basically emphasize do do do and the application of whatever they're learning. If you can, give them old practice exams as well. All my courses in grad school allowed us to study from old practice exams and it helped a ton. \n\n* Time management - I use a few apps. \nI just finished graduate school for something else, but one Chrome extension I used was **Blocksite**. It does exactly what it sounds like and forces you to be productive by blocking whatever sites you might visit that take away from your time. I also use one on my phone called **Offtime**. It basically blocks me from using my phone for an hour and a half, but has permissions for what apps you might need (G-mail, texting perhaps, spotify, the calculator), things like that. \n\n* I also used one called **Toggl** It's free and its a time-keeping app. My project management professor stated that in graduate school the expectation is that for every credit hour of class you take, you should be spending 40 hours in the class studying, doing homework, attending class, and taking exams. So a 3 credit hour course through the semester should mean about 120 hours, 12 credit hour course load is about 480 hours. Over a 14 week semester that's about 34 hours per week that should be devoted to school. But the problem we have is that often we don't know where our time goes. So basically, I would use this app to only track my time devoted to studying. You can be extreme and see where ALL of it is going, but I don't think that's necessary. So for example, 34 hours per week should be school. Say you have 4 classes that you're taking, that means you spend 12 hours JUST in lecture (assuming 1.5 hours per class). That means you should be spending 22 hours with your nose in the books each week. It might feel like you did, but I think we tend to overestimate the amount of work we actually do. Toggl helped me up my study hours and actually approach that number. \n\n* Get them to form a schedule. To the best of their ability, their days and weeks should be routine. That means accounting for time with friends, time at the gym or doing other activities, time in school (obviously). Google Calendar helps a TON. I also go through all my syllabi and add every assignment to my google calendar as a task and sort by date. Then I can just look on the right and I know exactly what I have to do to get through this whole semester. I would put in papers, problem sets, exams, projects, etc. It helps to have everything in one big list already sorted and accessible. \n\n* If they do need remedial help, point them toward something like Khan Academy to go through things like algebra I/II which will be helpful in passing other courses. \n\n* And just emphasize that they should be there. It'll mean so much to them coming from a person in a position of power to hear that they believe they all should be there, that they can be scientists or doctors or whatever else. Check this out: http://bayerfactsofscience.online-pressroom.com/ Basically Bayer did a survey of like...3000 (that number might be wrong) minority chemists. Asked them what contributed to their success in science, how they feel about things like discrimination, things like that. This population believed that the biggest contributor to their success was mentoring and support from professors/similar people. But they also find that the people most likely to discriminate and be an obstacle were those same professors. \n\nThat's all I can think of for right now. \n\n\n",
      "author": "dcbarcafan10",
      "created": 1525352411,
      "upvotes": 9,
      "replies": {
        "dye7qe9": {
          "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dye7qe9/",
          "text": "Thanks! I'll go through this in detail when I'm finished grading!",
          "author": null,
          "created": 1525371096,
          "upvotes": 1,
          "replies": {}
        },
        "dyf9ch2": {
          "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyf9ch2/",
          "text": "I just looked through some of those and I think these are some great suggestions. \n\nThe biggest difference though is that the students I'm working with are ALREADY underachievers. I very seriously doubt Berkeley is taking students with an 18 ACT score. I have given them a TON of information (like what you mentioned) already on how to get help, how to effectively study, even things like how we form memories and how to reinforce them at a neuroscience level. The problem that happens is that they seemingly don't care. I assign extra credit problems here and there, and very few students bother to even turn them in.\n\nAfter reading all these really insightful responses from everyone here,  I've had to accept a really hard truth: my students are bottom of the barrel as far as ability goes. Our ACT scores are low to get in. Our high school preparation is low. Our students have huge time management issues and I know part of that is working 2 jobs, etc... but I DO have a lot of traditional students (most of my minority students are) who live on campus and only work a small part time job. \n\nThe approach I've taken over the years is to try and encourage them to change their major to something that is more conducive to the skills they already have. I've had great success with them going into criminal justice, but that's not solving the problem I want to solve: I want them to do well in CHEMISTRY. \n\nI don't even know if I'm making sense at this point. I just graded too many lab reports! Thanks so much for your response though. I'm going to go through all these and come up with some changes to see if it helps. ",
          "author": null,
          "created": 1525408735,
          "upvotes": 1,
          "replies": {}
        }
      }
    },
    "dych8yt": {
      "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dych8yt/",
      "text": "Here's the thing: black students regularly receive the message that they can't do it.  \"It\" can be school, goals, whatever.  Society is programmed to think that they will fail.  If you're at a PWI it's just rough.  Many black students think they can't approach instructors, especially if it's a white instructor.  I find they cling to teachers of color, just because they see that instructor as \"safe.\"  You're going to have to do some work.  The question is, are you willing?\n\nYou have to make them feel as if you are approachable, and that you care about their success.  Is it that they aren't studying?  Or they don't know what to study?  What can you do to make sure they retain the knowledge they receive in class?  You need to not only talk to your department, but also academic advisors and maybe if you have a multicultural services type of entity on campus you can engage their help for outreach.  It's rough.  But it's rougher being a scared student, wanting to do better, and be better, but not knowing how the hell to do it.\n\nSource: Black American woman with a PhD whom started a program for at-risk students to help them adjust to university life edit: oh and I was an academic advisor, for a few years because the job market is a beyotch.",
      "author": "ambassadorix",
      "created": 1525294803,
      "upvotes": 22,
      "replies": {}
    },
    "dyc6b43": {
      "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyc6b43/",
      "text": "I agree it probably has to do with the Org Chem being more akin,  study skill wise, with a History class (seeing patterns, recognizing relationships, memorizing) than math or Gen Chem. I would talk with History department and see what study skills they use with their students and map them over.  Along with reiterating to students that Org Chem is different that way.",
      "author": "IkeEis",
      "created": 1525285530,
      "upvotes": 10,
      "replies": {
        "dyc9fbe": {
          "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyc9fbe/",
          "text": "That's a good idea. I hadn't thought of going outside STEM for advice (but that's what brought me to here).",
          "author": null,
          "created": 1525288172,
          "upvotes": 5,
          "replies": {}
        }
      }
    },
    "dyczeu6": {
      "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyczeu6/",
      "text": "Lots of good food for thought here; I want to add two more ideas, which might require more buy-in than just you (but at least one you can start on your own).\n\n(1)  Add a recitation section to your course.  This is the tough one, because you have to change the course layout and possibly credit hours and find an extra hour (or create a new one-credit co-requisite class).  This requires departmental buy-in and institutional support as such a course change will likely have to go through an accreditation committee.  That's usually a pretty easy approval process though, and offers help to all students.  The advantage of the recitation period is that it is a mandatory one-hour session of problem solving.  Just find ways to set up problems and figure out how to think through a pathway/reaction.  You can mix it up a play \"follow the electrons\" one week and have more standard problems the next.  Courses with recitations generally tend to produce more students passing and mastering the material, if only because it's an extra hour of practice each week.\n\n(2)  Contact an HBCU near you and see if you can pick some brains for strategies they use to retain students.  You might see a handful of students fail, but when you have 50%+ fail, then the problem gets addressed.  Some HBCU's strategies are better than others but there are some good ideas out there and some collaborations and partnerships available.  You'll likely find a some integrated programs using a variety of techniques for success in STEM, and hopefully you can mimic or apply those.\n\nIt's been suggested elsewhere, but both a sense of belonging and peer study groups are very useful in promoting retention.  I'm lucky in that my institution is small enough that the study groups self-organize now (especially after I strongly encourage it).  Sometimes you can get that ball rolling by hosting an initial study session, maybe providing pizza and drinks or something, maybe on- or off-campus, a lot depending on your class sizes and campus culture.  Good luck.",
      "author": "the_Stick",
      "created": 1525313552,
      "upvotes": 4,
      "replies": {
        "dyczkch": {
          "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyczkch/",
          "text": "We are a state school, and the state has made it so we can't do recitation sections anymore. We had to get rid of the one we had for general chemistry, so did our physics program.\n\nIt was something about eliminating extra costs to students I think.\n\nI do have some HBCUs near me down in Nashville, maybe I'll make some contacts and pick some brains. I have a few friends that I went to grad school with that came from HBCUs too, so maybe I can reach out to them as well. Thanks for the suggestions! ",
          "author": null,
          "created": 1525313712,
          "upvotes": 4,
          "replies": {
            "dyd02vb": {
              "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyd02vb/",
              "text": "Glad one was useful!  I'm sorry to hear about the state de-funding recitations - ouch!  We just added recitations to several general chemistry sections (without adding credit hours, so keeping student costs the same) after encouragement from administration.  Part (all?) of the costs are covered by some grants, so maybe a TIP or CAREER might help too.  Or maybe even private funding.",
              "author": "the_Stick",
              "created": 1525314243,
              "upvotes": 3,
              "replies": {
                "dyd09fe": {
                  "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyd09fe/",
                  "text": "I'm not sure. Perhaps.\n\nWe also have ACS accreditation to contend with, which limits our contact hours per week with students. We don't have any graduate students, so it would logistically be a nightmare. What the physics department did was force the students to take an \"enhanced\" section of physics, which is actually reserved for struggling students. They just made EVERYONE do it. I think the administration caught on and they had to stop that too.",
                  "author": null,
                  "created": 1525314430,
                  "upvotes": 4,
                  "replies": {}
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    },
    "dydp12y": {
      "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dydp12y/",
      "text": "I'm not sure how much it can apply to your courses (I'm in humanities), but some things I've had (moderate) success with are: \n\n- distributing a list of campus resources on the first day with the syllabus and talk about them. I emphasize that those resources are there for them because it's hard to be a good student if you're worried about food, legal troubles, whatever. \n\n- also on the first day, I distribute a written survey where I ask name, previous experience, challenges they expect to face (I leave it open and some write about school, others about personal life, resources (maybe from the list?) to help with those challenges,  and what pronouns they use. \n\n- my classes work in groups a lot so I like to also create a list of \"group norms\" that include things like \"don't talk over others, lean into disconfort/take risks, make it your own, embrace that everyone has a different contribution.\" \n\n- make an effort to learn names and use them often if class size allows. \n\n- work in activities that explicitly show \"this is what you'll do when you are working in this field.\" For a lot of students they have a hard time imagining the application for their life and it's hard to find motivation for that. \n\n- public recognition can be totally foreign (and motivating) to students from certain educational backgrounds.  Things like \"Nate made a really good observation as I was circling around in the groups, can you share that with us Nate?\" Or \"that's perfect, can you write how you worked through that up on the board as an example\" In the same way addressing errors in a measured way is important.\n\n- competitive games can build a sense of community. I'm a fan of kahoot. Just keep in mind that not all students have smart phones so have them play in teams with one designated phone person. \n\nGood luck! I think no matter what emphasizing early in the term that you expect them to succeed but understand challenges will be helpful. ",
      "author": "KiltedLady",
      "created": 1525353951,
      "upvotes": 3,
      "replies": {}
    },
    "dyewe2u": {
      "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyewe2u/",
      "text": "I'm not sure it helps here, but Asimov's World of Carbon is a fantastic light-introduction to O-Chem that's understandable even if you haven't studied chemistry.  He has a very conversational way of making some of the concepts almost obvious.\n\nWhenever I hear someone is going to be taking Organic Chemistry, I recommend they give short book a read just to lay some groundwork.",
      "author": "grandzooby",
      "created": 1525394288,
      "upvotes": 2,
      "replies": {
        "dyf16ms": {
          "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyf16ms/",
          "text": "That would be great if my students were interested in reading anything.\n\nI am starting to dream for these magical schools where it seems like all of you work. My students won't study, read, or do ANYTHING that they don't have to do. They don't have time for it between raising 2 kids, working a couple jobs, etc... I love working with at-risk students, but unfortunately, most of them are in a situation where they have no way to succeed in college. It's either through apathy, lack of ability, lack of time, or laziness. ",
          "author": null,
          "created": 1525399151,
          "upvotes": 2,
          "replies": {}
        }
      }
    },
    "dyjcqq4": {
      "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyjcqq4/",
      "text": "Can you give them points for making study guides for themselves?",
      "author": "booscouts",
      "created": 1525617512,
      "upvotes": 2,
      "replies": {
        "dyjm1m6": {
          "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyjm1m6/",
          "text": "My colleague actually does that, and most don't bother with it. When I've offered extra credit, I only get a 15-40% response rate. They are really apathetic.",
          "author": null,
          "created": 1525628125,
          "upvotes": 2,
          "replies": {
            "dykbz2a": {
              "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dykbz2a/",
              "text": "I meant as a course requirement. But if your students already lack study skills they might need guidance to create them ",
              "author": "booscouts",
              "created": 1525656981,
              "upvotes": 3,
              "replies": {}
            }
          }
        }
      }
    },
    "dybvpkq": {
      "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dybvpkq/",
      "text": "Refer them to peer mentoring groups, peer tutoring centers on campus, encourage them to come to office hours. Many at-risk students simply did not have the resources and advantages other students had, so they are starting out behind. Point them to the resources they need to succeed and show them you\u2019re invested in their success. ",
      "author": "melian517",
      "created": 1525276349,
      "upvotes": 3,
      "replies": {
        "dybz5rb": {
          "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dybz5rb/",
          "text": "I do all that. I'm one of the advisors for conditionally admitted students to boot. ",
          "author": null,
          "created": 1525279362,
          "upvotes": 7,
          "replies": {
            "dyc2m61": {
              "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyc2m61/",
              "text": "Ah, that must be so frustrating. I\u2019m sorry that I don\u2019t have more/better advice. Since it\u2019s a systemic issue, there may not be much you can do on your own to fix it. If there\u2019s a chance you can get other departments and administrators on your side, the initiative UT Austin took described in this article has been pretty successful so far at addressing those systemic issues: https://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/05/18/magazine/who-gets-to-graduate.html If you can convince your institution to try even a couple of components similar to this, you might see a huge difference. ",
              "author": "melian517",
              "created": 1525282347,
              "upvotes": 2,
              "replies": {
                "dyc9kx5": {
                  "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyc9kx5/",
                  "text": "We write a ton of diversity type grants to get extra funding for services for this cohort, but I have talked with our HR director about this (because this is something she knows a lot about) and she and I both think a bridge program would be great. It would have to start in middle/high school, long before they come to us.",
                  "author": null,
                  "created": 1525288309,
                  "upvotes": 3,
                  "replies": {}
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    },
    "dyc88jj": {
      "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyc88jj/",
      "text": "[deleted]",
      "author": null,
      "created": 1525287185,
      "upvotes": 3,
      "replies": {
        "dyc9dlx": {
          "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyc9dlx/",
          "text": "I tell them in detail. And I put pass/fail stats from 5 years back on my syllabus. AND I put a slide up after every exam that showed the anonymous stats. ",
          "author": null,
          "created": 1525288131,
          "upvotes": 3,
          "replies": {
            "dycwgnc": {
              "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dycwgnc/",
              "text": "I know you're hoping to impel students to study and ask for help earlier than they might normally would, but I wonder if showing the pass/fail rates and exams statistics work to reinforce any stereotype bias/feelings of \"I-can't-do-this-ness\".  Bringing up the pass/fail rates in the very first document they encounter in the class might come across as \"gloating\" about how many students you fail (because students often think we want to fail as many of them as possible).  If they score about average on the first exam, they might think \"look how many people are above me\" rather than \"look how many people are below me\".  Do fewer students in general show up to lecture/office hours after seeing the first exam stats?  Do the underrepresented students show up significantly less so?  If you take attendance it might be worth running some quick stats, especially if you have it for a few years.  \n\nDo you grade each exam on a curve relative to its statistics?  If not, the data are reasonably irrelevant to the students.  Next time I would do a little experiment and take out all references to the P/F rate and not share the individual exam stats.\n\nAlong a different vein, many years ago my colleague and I did an intervention during the first day of class (or for HW that night).  In addition to having them fill out a survey with their preferred name [now I also ask pronouns], major, prerequisites, comfort with various levels of math and computer programs, they had to write a paragraph or two about either something they were good at and why or their career goals (or major) and why they chose them (it).  [It was ~8 years ago and the exact wording/file is on a different computer, so I'm going off memory.]  IIRC, my colleague adapted it from a paper she had read about increasing female success in physics/STEM.  You could also try that to see if it helps.  ",
              "author": "BotticusMaximus",
              "created": 1525310482,
              "upvotes": 6,
              "replies": {
                "dycx41w": {
                  "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dycx41w/",
                  "text": "I used to not do it, and then I started doing it. Of course my students don't see racial breakdown of those rates, so the numbers are actually pretty high. I do it to be as transparent as possible, and I've had a lot of students who have said they like having it there because it means they KNOW that MOST people pass the class, and that A's aren't impossible (it is a frequent rumor on campuses that nobody passes organic, etc...).\n\nSo overall, I would say the experience is generally positive with showing those numbers day 1, and it hasn't changed the outcome in any significant way on semesters I've done it and ones I haven't.\n\nI DO actually do something similar to the first day though. My classes are small enough that I go through every person in class and get information from them so I can start off building a relationship with them. ",
                  "author": null,
                  "created": 1525311160,
                  "upvotes": 5,
                  "replies": {}
                }
              }
            },
            "dycem30": {
              "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dycem30/",
              "text": "[deleted]",
              "author": null,
              "created": 1525292567,
              "upvotes": 1,
              "replies": {
                "dycf0tl": {
                  "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dycf0tl/",
                  "text": "It's comparable to the other organic classes, so at least I know it isn't just me. Also genetics, apparently. Those are the first \"hard\" classes though for chemistry and biology majors at my school though. \n\nReading through these comments though, I have some ideas I'm going to try and work on. ",
                  "author": null,
                  "created": 1525292923,
                  "upvotes": 1,
                  "replies": {}
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    },
    "dybutui": {
      "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dybutui/",
      "text": ">they are generally failing because they aren\u2019t studying, and/or didn\u2019t retain what hey needed from general chemistry \n\nTypo? If not yeesh your bias\u2019 is showing implicitly or maybe even explicitly. Do you know for a fact that these particular students don\u2019t study? And has it ever dawned why they haven\u2019t retained intro from general chem? \n\n",
      "author": "verbyournoun123",
      "created": 1525275580,
      "upvotes": -33,
      "replies": {
        "dybzqgc": {
          "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dybzqgc/",
          "text": "It is pretty obvious when they aren't studying; that goes for all students. The answers on exams makes it easy to see because they make up a lot of stuff. And when I ask, they generally admit it. I try and get them to office hours, I try and get them to email me questions. I come up to them in the hall when they are playing video on their computers to see if they need any chemistry questions answered.\n\nThe part I've been trying to figure out is why they aren't retaining information from general chemistry. It is not an uncommon issue at all with all my students, but something must be different with this demographic to see such a high number like I'm seeing. \n\nA general trend in organic is students failing who had a low C in general chemistry courses. They just aren't very prepared, but it's technically a passing grade so we let them move on. ",
          "author": null,
          "created": 1525279864,
          "upvotes": 16,
          "replies": {}
        },
        "dyc0hc5": {
          "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyc0hc5/",
          "text": "Have you ever taught a course and graded exams? It's often pretty easy to tell which students didn't study, especially if you have provided clear study materials like sample problems. ",
          "author": null,
          "created": 1525280505,
          "upvotes": 10,
          "replies": {}
        },
        "dybvf7a": {
          "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dybvf7a/",
          "text": "OP is asking for constructive advice on helping struggling students, nobody asked for your virtue signaling empty accusations with not a shred of actual suggestions offered.",
          "author": "MrMehawk",
          "created": 1525276101,
          "upvotes": 26,
          "replies": {
            "dybvjke": {
              "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dybvjke/",
              "text": "How is saying \u201cmy black students don\u2019t study hard enough so they\u2019re failing more\u201d constructive?\n\n",
              "author": "verbyournoun123",
              "created": 1525276206,
              "upvotes": -17,
              "replies": {
                "dybw0bj": {
                  "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dybw0bj/",
                  "text": "But that's not what they said. They said the students they're worried about generally are failing for one of two reasons. \n\nAlso, most of my students that are failing fail for those same two reasons- not studying and not having a good background are pretty much the two general reasons *everyone* in my organic chemistry courses are failing.",
                  "author": "Eigengrad",
                  "created": 1525276602,
                  "upvotes": 17,
                  "replies": {}
                },
                "dybvwnl": {
                  "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dybvwnl/",
                  "text": "By helping to define the problem. You assume that OP is saying that with no evidence, but what if you're wrong?",
                  "author": "justaboringname",
                  "created": 1525276514,
                  "upvotes": 3,
                  "replies": {}
                }
              }
            }
          }
        },
        "dybv557": {
          "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dybv557/",
          "text": "> Do you know for a fact that these particular students don\u2019t study?\n\nIt's plausible that the OP does know that, yes. Why would you assume otherwise?",
          "author": "justaboringname",
          "created": 1525275851,
          "upvotes": 9,
          "replies": {
            "dybve46": {
              "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dybve46/",
              "text": "How can OP know the study habits of his students 24/7? Are they with them during studying time?\n\nThis post reeked of implicit racism that the academy still fails to rectify because it\u2019s \u201ceducated\u201d ",
              "author": "verbyournoun123",
              "created": 1525276074,
              "upvotes": -22,
              "replies": {
                "dyc14ii": {
                  "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dyc14ii/",
                  "text": "Her*.\n\nI'm a female. Believe it or not, not all chemists are white men. ",
                  "author": null,
                  "created": 1525281066,
                  "upvotes": 27,
                  "replies": {}
                },
                "dycblmp": {
                  "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dycblmp/",
                  "text": "Even if it did (which I don't think it did), it doesn't change the fact that there is a demographic of students failing at a much larger percentage than other demographics.",
                  "author": "powerman5002",
                  "created": 1525290001,
                  "upvotes": 2,
                  "replies": {}
                },
                "dybvuvi": {
                  "link": "/r/AskAcademia/comments/8giacj/need_advice_on_blackafrican_american_students_in/dybvuvi/",
                  "text": "> How can OP know the study habits of his students 24/7?\n\nAnonymous surveys are one way to get information about how much your students study. Online homework systems that track when and where students engage with material are another. Just for example.",
                  "author": "justaboringname",
                  "created": 1525276473,
                  "upvotes": 1,
                  "replies": {}
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}