Something strange and useless: service students’ conceptions of statistics, learning statistics and using statistics in their future profession

Petocz, Peter; Reid, Anna

doi:10.1080/00207390500271503

Cited by 33 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…The results of our investigations have been published in a series of papers (Petocz & Reid, 2001, 2003, 2005; Reid & Petocz, 2002, 2003). We have also supported this with investigations of teachers' views of teaching statistics and of the characteristics that make “good” students (Gordon et al , 2007).…”

Section: Students' Conceptions Of Statistics Learning and Teachingmentioning

confidence: 99%

On Becoming a Statistician—A Qualitative View

Petocz¹,

Reid²

2010

Int Statistical Rev

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In this paper, we highlight some qualitative facets of the discipline of statistics and argue that a qualitative approach, in particular a qualitative methodology known as phenomenography, allows us to research important aspects of statistics pedagogy. We summarize several components of our recent research into students' conceptions of statistics, their learning of statistics, our teaching of statistics, and their perceptions of their future professional work. We have obtained this information on the basis of analyses of several series of interviews with students studying statistics, both as statistics majors and as service students. In each of these cases, the broadest views relate in some way to personal connection, growth, and change. In other words, they contain a strong ontological component-focusing on being or becoming a statistician-above and beyond the standard epistemological component-focusing on the knowledge required to do statistics. We discuss the importance of personal change in becoming a statistician, or an informed professional user of statistics, and investigate the pedagogical conditions under which such change is likely to occur. Copyright (c) 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation (c) 2010 International Statistical Institute.

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Section: Students' Conceptions Of Statistics Learning and Teachingmentioning

confidence: 99%

On Becoming a Statistician—A Qualitative View

Petocz¹,

Reid²

2010

Int Statistical Rev

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“…Diante dessa relevância, os cursos universitários da área de ciências aplicadas, como a Administração, Engenharia, Psicologia, Medicina, Turismo etc., costumam possuir disciplinas obrigatórias de Estatística em suas grades curriculares (PAN;TANG, 2004;PETOCZ;REID, 2005). A Estatística é incluída nestes cursos com intuito de capacitar os aprendizes na utilização dos conceitos estatísticos como uma ferramenta de apoio e não como uma habilidade central no contexto profissional, ou seja, a Estatística é considerada um meio e não um fim para estas profissões (PETOCZ; REID, 2005).…”

Section: Ensino De Estatísticaunclassified

Ensino de estatística aplicada à administração a distância: um estudo empírico

Mantovani

Viana

Gouvêa

2011

Semin. Cienc. Soc. Hum.

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ResumoEste artigo tem como objetivos: avaliar a experiência dos alunos do curso de graduação em Administração da FEA-RP/USP nas atividades on-line de uma disciplina de Estatística Aplicada e conhecer as características de seu perfil. Focalizou-se uma disciplina semipresencial, que utilizou um ambiente virtual acessado via Internet para disponibilizar materiais didáticos digitais e realizar atividades como enquetes e discussões síncronas e assíncronas. Para o sucesso de um curso on-line, é necessário que os estudantes possuam estrutura adequada de acesso; assim, estudou-se o perfil dos alunos inscritos na matéria. Eles apresentaram estrutura de acesso favorável e conhecimentos sobre Internet, e-mail, chat e fórum, o que influenciou positivamente a satisfação com o curso. Ao final do semestre, realizaram-se grupos focais nos quais os alunos avaliaram a experiência na disciplina. Esta foi considerada positiva, e atribuiu-se flexibilidade ao curso, pois os materiais puderam ser acessados e os trabalhos entregues via Internet a qualquer hora e de qualquer lugar. A interatividade e o atendimento da tutoria contribuíram para a aprendizagem. No entanto, os alunos apontaram que, caso não houvesse obrigatoriedade, não teriam participado das atividades on-line, o que torna este ponto relevante no planejamento do curso. A EAD pode ser utilizada com sucesso no ensino de Estatística; porém, o planejamento cuidadoso é fundamental. The present article has two purposes: to assess the experience of undergraduate students in the course of Administration at FEA-RP/USP in on-line activities of an Applied Statistics discipline and to learn the characteristics of its profile. We focused on a discipline taught in a blended way where a virtual environment accessed via Internet was used to provide digital teaching materials and perform activities such as research and synchronous and asynchronous discussions. In order to ensure the success of an on-line course, students must have proper access to digital tools; thus, the profile of the students enrolled in the discipline was studied. They were found to have proper access and knowledge concerning e-mail, chat and forum tools, which had a positive effect on their satisfaction with the course. At the end of the semester, focal groups were formed to assess the experience in the discipline. The students considered the discipline positive because it conferred flexibility to the course, with the materials accessed and works submitted via Internet any time and anywhere. The interactivity and tutorial assistance contributed to the learning. However, the students reported that they only enrolled in the on-line discipline because it

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“…In other words, because these disciplines use applied statistics, statistics is seen as a service subject in the teaching context. Many students do not know why they have to take a course in statistics or how it is related to their main discipline (Petocz and Reid 2005). One student in an earlier study by Petocz (1998) was reported as saying: ''Statistics is something strange and useless.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Development and use of an instrument to measure students’ perceptions of a business statistics learning environment in higher education

Nguyen

Newby

Skordi

2015

Learning Environ Res

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Statistics is a required subject of study in many academic disciplines, including business, education and psychology, that causes problems for many students. This has long been recognised and there have been a number of studies into students' attitudes towards statistics, particularly statistical anxiety. However, none of these studies investigated the classroom learning environment in relation to students' attitudes towards statistics. This paper describes the development and validation of two new instruments, the Business Statistics Computer Laboratory Environment Inventory and the Attitude towards Business Statistics instrument. The former measures appropriate aspects of the learning environment of a computer-based statistics class, whilst the latter measures students' attitudes towards business statistics. The instruments were administered to undergraduate business students at a university in Southern California. When exploratory factor analysis was carried out, it was found that the items of both instruments loaded onto their a priori scales. All the scales exhibited both internal reliability and discriminant validity. Correlation analysis between the scales of the two instruments demonstrated a strong relationship between aspects of the learning environment and students' attitudes towards business statistics.

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Something strange and useless: service students’ conceptions of statistics, learning statistics and using statistics in their future profession

Cited by 33 publications

References 12 publications

On Becoming a Statistician—A Qualitative View

On Becoming a Statistician—A Qualitative View

Ensino de estatística aplicada à administração a distância: um estudo empírico

Development and use of an instrument to measure students’ perceptions of a business statistics learning environment in higher education

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