Open AccessDO INTRODUCTORY STATISTICS COURSES IN THE UNITED STATES IMPROVE STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES?
Author(s) -
Candace Schau,
Esma Emmioğlu
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
statistics education research journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.538
H-Index - 14
ISSN - 1570-1824
DOI - 10.52041/serj.v11i2.331
Subject(s) - competence (human resources) , affect (linguistics) , psychology , mathematics education , cognition , statistics education , descriptive statistics , medical education , statistics , social psychology , mathematics , medicine , communication , neuroscience
We examined the attitudes of about 2200 students enrolled in 101 sections of post-secondary introductory statistics service courses located across the United States. Using the Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics-36, we assessed students’ attitudes when they entered and left their courses, as well as changes in attitudes across their courses. Results showed that, on average, students entered these courses with neutral (Affect, Difficulty), positive (Cognitive Competence, Value, Interest), and very positive (Effort) attitudes. Their attitudes either stayed about the same (Affect, Cognitive Competence, Difficulty) or decreased (Value, Interest, Effort). These results help us understand the current impact of introductory statistics instruction in U.S. institutions.
First published November 2012 at Statistics Education Research Journal: Archives