Statistics Anxiety Update: Refining the Construct and Recommendations for a New Research Agenda

Chew, Peter K. H.; Dillon, Denise

doi:10.1177/1745691613518077

Cited by 147 publications

(210 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…Both sections expressed anxiety and concern over the course initially. This finding was in agreement with Stork (Stork, 2003) and Chew (Chew & Dillon, 2014) who found that statistics courses are anxiety provoking. Because learning new statistical software is consistently a challenging component of this course, it is anticipated that continued use of lab time to teach the software will increase the approachability of the class.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Learning Outcomes in a Laboratory Environment vs. Classroom for Statistics Instruction: An Alternative Approach Using Statistical Software

McCulloch

2017

IJHE

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The role of any statistics course is to increase the understanding and comprehension of statistical concepts and those goals can be achieved via both theoretical instruction and statistical software training. However, many introductory courses either forego advanced software usage, or leave its use to the student as a peripheral activity. The purpose of this study was to determine if there was instructional value in replacing classroom time with laboratory time dedicated to statistical software usage. The first approach used classroom lecture presentations, while the second replaced one classroom period per week with statistical software laboratories. It was hypothesized that replacing classroom time with software based laboratories would increase the level of statistics knowledge as compared to an otherwise identical class with no lab based component. Both pre-course and end-of course surveys were used, as well as identical examination questions. Comparisons within a time point, and longitudinal performance over the course were both evaluated. Survey results indicated that students would recommend lab based instruction significantly more than a primarily lecture based instruction (32% more, p=.020). Additionally, the performance improvement over the course of the semester was significantly higher for those students participating in laboratories (19.2% increase, p=.011). These findings indicate that sacrificing classroom time for a laboratory period improves the educational experience in an introductory statistics course and may help with the understanding and retention of difficult topics.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Learning Outcomes in a Laboratory Environment vs. Classroom for Statistics Instruction: An Alternative Approach Using Statistical Software

McCulloch

2017

IJHE

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“…Studies on statistics anxiety and attitudes toward statistics, however, take the association between statistics anxiety or attitudes and academic performance for granted (Chew & Dillon, ; Hanna & Dempster, ). More research on the association between performance and attitudes as well as academic motivation is in order.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digital divide in quantitative methods: The effects of computer‐assisted instruction and students' attitudes on knowledge acquisition

Kolpashnikova

Bartolic

2018

Computer Assisted Learning

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Computer‐assisted instruction can change the way introductory statistics and quantitative methods courses are taught. Using a two‐group pretest–posttest design, we conducted an experiment using an undergraduate social science student sample to investigate whether the introduction of statistical software to teaching quantitative methods would improve knowledge acquisition and attitudes toward quantitative methods courses. Our project confirmed that implementing computer‐assisted instructional methods increased knowledge acquisition in quantitative methods courses compared with students' academic performance in other courses, measured by grade point average. We also found that student attitudes have weak and mostly nonsignificant influence on quantitative methods knowledge tests. Additionally, the paper suggests a curriculum‐level approach to teaching quantitative methods to undergraduate students.

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“…Positive beliefs and attitudes toward statistics tend to be associated with strong academic performance and confidence in applying statistical knowledge (Nolan, Beran, & Hecker, ). In contrast, negative attitudes generally result in higher levels of statistics anxiety and, consequently, lower exam scores (see references in Chew & Dillon, ). These findings suggest that students’ affective state plays an important role in statistics education and merits more attention in the quest to enhance statistical learning.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining Undergraduate Students’ Attitudes toward Business Statistics in the United States and China

Wang

Palocsay

Shi

et al. 2018

Decision Sci J Innov Edu

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The rapid growth of analytics is bringing more attention to quantitative core curriculum requirements in undergraduate business programs. Statistical knowledge and skills are unequivocally recognized as essential cornerstone of business analytics. Furthermore, educational research has shown that academic performance in statistics classes is related to the attitudes that students bring to the course. This article assesses the reliability and validity of the Survey of Attitudes toward Statistics (SATS) in measuring noncognitive dimensions of attitudes among undergraduate business students. Sample data from U.S. and Chinese introductory business statistics classes were collected and analyzed to learn more about this aspect of student engagement across business schools located in countries with substantially different levels of success in international mathematics achievement testing, as well as differing cultural and educational practices. Results show that the six‐factor model structure of the SATS provides a good fit in both populations, with students entering business statistics holding only slightly positive attitudes toward the subject. Significant distinctions between four of the six attitude components were identified. Implications of measuring and improving these attitudes are discussed. Business statistics instructors are encouraged to use the survey as a standardized instrument to measure effects of interventions and make evidence‐based pedagogical decisions.

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Statistics Anxiety Update: Refining the Construct and Recommendations for a New Research Agenda

Cited by 147 publications

References 69 publications

Learning Outcomes in a Laboratory Environment vs. Classroom for Statistics Instruction: An Alternative Approach Using Statistical Software

Learning Outcomes in a Laboratory Environment vs. Classroom for Statistics Instruction: An Alternative Approach Using Statistical Software

Digital divide in quantitative methods: The effects of computer‐assisted instruction and students' attitudes on knowledge acquisition

Examining Undergraduate Students’ Attitudes toward Business Statistics in the United States and China

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