Teaching, Learning and Culture
at HBCUs
NILL
San Diego, California
January
Dr. Joyce Williams-Green
Associate Provost for Information Resources / CIO
Winston-Salem State University
What is Culture?
The lens through which
we view the world.
Culture
Sir. E. B. Taylor (1871)
“…that complex whole which
includes knowledge, belief, art,
morals,law,custom,and any other
capabilities and habits acquired by
man as a member of society”
Banks (1994)
Cultures are dynamic, complex and
changing.
Cultures are systems, they must be
viewed as wholes, not as discrete and
isolated parts
Historically Black Colleges and
Universities (HBCUs)
•
•
•
•
116 Nationally
Most in South East
AN-MSIs
Technology Status
– NAFEO Infrastructure
Study
– Cencus Reports
– Campus Computing
Project
Cultural Nuances at HBCUs
Institutional
–
–
–
–
–
–
Evolving networks
Limited staff
Increasing computer access
More diverse socioeconomic status of students
Evolving access to software and upgrades
Traditionally African American
Microculture*
• Oral traditions
• Communities e.g. it takes a village
• Ethos (We/they)
• *smaller cultures that make up the national
shared macroculture
HBCU Student in the Knowledge Age
•
•
•
•
•
•
Older
With Children
Working
Limited Access
Largely African American
Larger Percent of white students
Teaching and Learning for the
Knowledge Economy
and
HBCU Students
Instructional Applications and
Culture
• Cultural Cognitiveness: Aware of and think about HBCU
microculture as unique and distinct from other cultures
– Dr. Bell’s Class
– Community Knowledge Centers (CKCs)
• On-Line Courses and WSSU-TRI
– Designed to meet need of Knowledge Age HBCU Student
• PDA Project
– Designed to compensate for institutional cultural nuances and meet
needs of knowledge age student
• Center for Innovative Teaching Technology, Learning and
Evaluation (CITTLE)
– Implemented to support changing roles of faculty in teaching and
learning
Dr. Bell’s Work
• Cultural Competence
• Parental Involvement
• Southern Poverty Law
Cultural Competence
Parental Involvement
Southern Poverty Law Center
Community Knowledge Centers
(CKC)
On-line Courses
• Problem
Based/Constructivist
Approach
• More activities that
require person-toperson interaction
• More visual and oral
presentations
Blackboard – Welcome
Blackboard – Course List
Blackboard – Course Catalog
WSSU-TRI
• Computer and PDA
Requirement for
freshman, new,
transfers, distance
education students,
and graduate students.
Remote
Access
PDA Article in Black Issues in Higher Education
link to article
Tools That Provide Access
• PDAs
• Remote Access Tools
• Off-Site Instruction
and Access Sources
PDA Pilot Project
- PDA Pilot Page
- Call for Proposals
- Proposal
Bell – Berry – Hafar - Herring
- Evaluation
- Student Agreement
- iPAQ
Center for Innovative Teaching,
Technology, Learning and Evaluation
(CITTLE)
References
• DuBois, W.E.B. The Souls of Black Folk. Chicago:A.C. McClurg &
Co. 1903. http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/DubSoul.html
• Williams-Green, J. F. , Holmes, G. A. and Sherman, T. M.(1997-98)
Culture As ADecision Variable in Instructional Design.. Journal of
Instructional Development. V. 26, 1, p. 3-18.
Dr. Joyce Williams-Green
Winston-Salem State University
[email protected]
(336) 750-2092
HSIs