A cross-sectional study on attitudes towards statistics in primary education students of Higher Education: prediction of variables through a multiple regression model

Abstract

The learning of statistics has been of high importance since the implementation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), and the new university degrees of the faculties of education in Spain have created curricula integrating subjects related to statistics and educational research. The subject is considered by most students to be difficult to learn, due not only to cognitive factors, but also to the attitude of the individual, a crucial factor in their learning. Therefore, the purposes of this study are: (1) to know the level of attitude regarding statistics of the future primary education teachers; and (2) to know what factors (gender, age, type of access to university, average admission score, frequency of class attendance, degree of involvement in work group) help to significantly predict these attitudes. For this, an ex post facto non-experimental design was implemented with a sample of 66 students from the primary education degree of the University of Almería (Spain). They completed an instrument based on attitudes towards statistics, which consisted of 16 items classified into three dimensions: negative emotional (threat, fear, tension); positive emotional (loving, liking, fun); and utility. Among the findings, the students exhibited an average level in the global attitude towards statistics. Regarding the global attitude, the results showed that the age of the students, the type of access to the university, the admission score, interest in the subject, and involvement in the work group influenced the attitudes of future students education teachers; while gender and class attendance did not show a significant influence. Further research is recommended to validate these preliminary findings in each of the instrument dimensions.