Deepening understanding of prior knowledge: what diverse first-generation college students in the U.S. can teach us

ABSTRACT

Educational research indicates that teachers revealing and utilizing students’ prior knowledge supports students’ academic learning. Yet, the variation in students’ prior knowledge is not fully known. To better understand students’ prior knowledge, I drew on sociocultural learning theories to examine racially and ethnically diverse college students’ sociopolitical prior knowledge, a component of sociopolitical consciousness. In this qualitative study, I interviewed 18 first-generation college students in the U.S. who were enrolled in two introductory undergraduate sociology courses. Study participants identified as African-American, Latino, and/or White. The study reveals that students’ sociopolitical prior knowledge is comprised of awareness and understanding and it varies by topic of discussion. Further, college students’ sociopolitical prior knowledge is informed by lived experiences and can relate to subject-matter content. Implications for teaching and learning include having a deepened sense of novice learners’ modes of thinking.

KEYWORDS:

• Prior knowledge
• novices
• first-generation
• college teaching
• diverse students

Notes

1 I use the terms college and university interchangeably to represent post-secondary educational settings focused on degrees in humanities, social sciences, sciences, and professional degrees.

2 By underserved college students, I mean students who have historically not been served or who have been marginalized within the higher education system. Each country has its own traditionally underserved student population. Given that this study took place in the U.S., the traditionally underserved student populations are African-American and Latino students. As such, they are the focus here. I use the term African-American to describe students who in the U.S. self-identify, irrespective of national origin, as non-Hispanic Black or as African-American. I use the term Latino to describe students who in the U.S., irrespective of national origin, self-identify as Hispanic, Latino, or as belonging to an ethnic group representative of one of the Spanish-speaking Latin American or Caribbean countries.

3 I use the terms White and Caucasian interchangeably to describe students who self-identify as non-Hispanic Whites. I use the term White as well when a study or student uses that term and I use Caucasian when a student uses that term.

4 K-12 is shorthand for the U.S. educational system that begins with primary school and continues to secondary school.

5 I use race/ethnicity to reflect the challenge of discussing these distinct from one another. Students often conflated them and the field of sociology is moving toward joining them to discuss ethnoracialization (Brown and Jones 2015).