Attitudes toward learning statistics: the case of applied linguistics postgraduate students
Keywords:
Learning-Teaching Statistics, Attitude, Applied linguistics students
Abstract
Researchers, students, and practitioners in the area of English language studies often avoid statistics which may be due to their fear of its numeric nature and high technicality. This paper presents the findings of a study that investigated a small group of postgraduate students’ attitudes toward learning statistics. The respondents were 20 postgraduate students from the language faculty of a public university in Malaysia. Schau et al.’s (1995) Survey of Attitudes toward Statistics was used to elicit the data. The quantitative findings indicated the majority of students had moderately positive attitudes toward learning statistics. These findings also indicated how a two-day workshop could significantly improve these postgraduate students' attitude toward learning statistics. The qualitative results revealed that the students regarded statistics workshops as highly necessary and could make their results more presentable and credited. The results highlight the necessity of more and better statistics courses and workshops for students in similar areas.
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References
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Tezer, M., Ozcan, D. (2015). A Study of the Validity and Reliability of a Mathematics Lesson Attitude Scale and Student Attitudes. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 11(2), 371-379.
Waters, L. K., Martelli, T. A., Zakrajsek, T., & Popovich, P. M. (1988). Attitudes toward statistics: An evaluation of multiple measures. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 48(3), 513-516.
Wise, S. L. (1985). The development and validation of a scale measuring attitudes toward statistics. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 45(2), 401–405.
Zhang, Y., Shang, L., Wang, R., Zhao, Q., Li, C., Xu, Y., & Su, H. (2012). Attitudes toward statistics in medical postgraduates: Measuring, evaluating and monitoring. BMC Medical Education, 12(117), 1-8.
Aleksandrovna Maximova, O & V. Aleksandrovich Belyaev (2017). Generational Indigenation in a Multi-Ethnic and -Religious Society (Tatarstan, Russia). Opción, Año 33, No. 84 (2017): 38-64.
Benson, J. (1989). Structural components of statistical test anxiety in adults: An exploratory model. Journal of Experimental Education, 57(3), 247-261.
Berk, R. A., & Nanda, J. P. (1998). Effects of jocular instructional methods on attitudes, anxiety, and achievement in statistics courses. International Journal of Humor Research, 11, 383- 409.
Brunner, J.J & Ganga-Contreras, F. (2017). Vulnerabilidad educacional en América Latina: Una aproximación desde la sociología de la educación con foco en la educación temprana Opción, Año 33, No. 84 (2017): 12-37
Casem, R. Q. (2016). Effects of flipped instruction on the performance and attitude of high school students in mathematics. European Journal of STEM Education, 1(2), 37-44. https://doi.org/10.20897/lectito.201620
Chiese, F., & Primi, C. (2010). Cognitive and non-cognitive factors related to students’ statistics achievement. Statistics Education Research Journal, 9(1), 6-26.
Cruise, R. J., Cash, R. W., & Bolton, D. L. (1985, August). The development and validation of an instrument to measure statistical anxiety. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago.
Elmore, P. B., & Vasu, E. S. (1980). Relationship between selected variables and statistics achievement: Building a theoretical model. Journal of Educational Psychology, 46, 215- 222
Escalera-Chávez, M. E., García-Santillán, A., Venegas-Martínez, F. (2014). Modeling Attitude toward Statistics by a Structural Equation. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 10(1), 23-31. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2014.1019a
Estrada, A., Batanero, C., & Lankaster, S. (2011). Teachers’ attitude towards statistics. In C. Batanero, G. Burrill, & C. Reading (Eds.), Teaching statistics in school mathematics- Challenges for teaching and teacher education: A joint ICMI/IASE study (pp. 163-174). Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
Gal, I., & Ginsburg, L. (1994). The role of beliefs and attitudes in learning statistics: Towards an assessment framework. Journal of Statistics Education, 2(2).
Gal, I., Ginsburg, L., & Schau, C. (1997). Monitoring attitudes and beliefs in statistics education. In I.
Gal, & J. B. Garfield (Eds.), The assesment challenge in statistics education (pp. 37-51). Voorburg, The Netherlands: IOS Press.
Griffith, D. J., Adams, T. L., Gu, L. L., Hart, L. C., & Nichols-whitehead, P. (2012). Students' attitudes toward statistics across the disciplines: a mixed-methods approach. Statistics Education Research Journal, 11(2), 45-56.
Hannigan, A., Hegarty, A. C., & McGrath, D. (2014). Attitudes towards statistics of graduate entry
medical students: The role of prior learning experiences. BMC Medical Education 14(70), 1-7.
Hogg, R. V. (1991). Statistical education: Improvements are badly needed. The American Statistician, 45, 342-343.
Hu, R., Xiaohui, S., Shieh, C.-J. (2017). A Study on the Application of Creative Problem Solving Teaching to Statistics Teaching. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 13(7), 3139-3149.
Jatnika, R. (2015). The effect of SPSS course to students attitudes toward statistics and achievement in statistics. International Journal of Information and Education Technology, 5(11), 818- 821.
Keshtkar M. M., (2017). Energy, exergy analysis and optimization by a genetic algorithm of a system based on a solar absorption chiller with a cylindrical PCM and nano-fluid, Int. Journal of Heat and Technology, 35 (2), 416-420.
Keshtkar M. M., Talebizadeh, P., (2018). Investigation of transient conduction–radiation heat transfer in a square cavity using combination of LBM and FVM, Sadhana, 43 (4), 145-155.
Keshtkar M. M.; Dadkhoda Zadeh M. (2018). Thermal Simulation of the Symmetric and Asymmetric Arrangement of Barriers on Heat Transfer Enhancement in a Porous Gas Heat Exchanger, Journal of Thermal Science and Engineering Applications, 10 (1), 120-135.
Keshtkar M.M. (2018). Numerical analysis of transcritical carbon dioxide compression cycle: a case study, 7 (1), 1-6.
Mills, J. D. (2004). Students’ attitudes toward statistics: Implications for the future. College Student Journal, 38(3), 349–361.
Roberts, D. M., & Saxe, J. E. (1982). Validity of a statistics attitude survey: A follow up study. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 42(3), 907–912.
Schau, C. (2003). Students’ attitudes: The “other” important outcome in statistics education. Paper presented at the Joint Statistical Meetings, San Francisco, CA. (Online: http://evaluationandstatistics.com/JSM2003.pdf)
Schau, C., Stevens, J., Dauphinee, T., & Del Vecchio, A. (1995). The development and validation of the survey of attitudes toward statistics. Educational & Psychological Measurement, 55 (5), 868-876.
Tezer, M., Ozcan, D. (2015). A Study of the Validity and Reliability of a Mathematics Lesson Attitude Scale and Student Attitudes. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 11(2), 371-379.
Waters, L. K., Martelli, T. A., Zakrajsek, T., & Popovich, P. M. (1988). Attitudes toward statistics: An evaluation of multiple measures. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 48(3), 513-516.
Wise, S. L. (1985). The development and validation of a scale measuring attitudes toward statistics. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 45(2), 401–405.
Zhang, Y., Shang, L., Wang, R., Zhao, Q., Li, C., Xu, Y., & Su, H. (2012). Attitudes toward statistics in medical postgraduates: Measuring, evaluating and monitoring. BMC Medical Education, 12(117), 1-8.
Published
2018-02-27
How to Cite
Nimehchisalem, V., Nazemi Ashani, Z., & Jahedi, M. (2018). Attitudes toward learning statistics: the case of applied linguistics postgraduate students. Amazonia Investiga, 7(12), 6-17. Retrieved from https://amazoniainvestiga.info/index.php/amazonia/article/view/543
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