Students from non-statistics degree programs often perceive statistics as a burden, underestimating its usefulness and encountering difficulties that cause them anxiety and stress, which may lead many of them to fail statistics courses. Students’ attitudes can hinder their learning and development of useful skills associated with statistical thinking, which should be later applied outside the classroom. The aim of this study was to analyze students’ attitudes towards statistics in introductory courses in three schools of Argentina, enrolled in Agricultural Sciences and Biological Sciences. We analyzed students’ attitudes at the beginning and at the end of the courses, the differences between pre- and post-course attitudes, and the relationship between these changes and students’ performances. The sample consisted of 436 students and their attitudes were measured using the Survey of Attitudes Towards Statistics (SATS-28), considering four components: Affect; Cognitive Competence, Value, and Difficulty. Students’ performances were classified as: passed (and exempt from final exam), intermediate (but not exempt from final exam), and failed. Difficulty was not related to students’ performance, as opposed to what was detected with the other components. Cognitive competence was the only component that classified students’ performance in the correct order. Students who failed the course differed from the rest in that they developed more negative feelings towards statistics at the end of their course; in contrast, students with good performance showed an increase in the value given to statistics. Biological Sciences students presented higher average scores in the four components studied.
Abbiati, N. N.; Fabrizio, M. del C.; López, M. V.; Pérez, A.; Plencovich, M. C. & Cueto, G. (2021). Attitudes related to students’ performance in statistics in university programs in Argentina. Statistics Education Research Journal,20, (2),art.8
10.52041/serj.v20i2.356
Abbiati, Nidia Nora, Fabrizio, María del Carmen, López, María Virginia, Pérez, Adriana, Plencovich, María Cristina, Cueto, Gerardo. 2021. "Attitudes related to students’ performance in statistics in university programs in Argentina". Statistics Education Research Journal 20, no.2:art.8.
Recuperado de http://ri.agro.uba.ar/greenstone3/library/collection/arti/document/2021abbiati