Cognitive factors influencing statistical performance of Diploma Science students: A structural equation model approach

Abstract

Students normally perceive statistics as a difficult subject, more so those who have weak mathematical foundation and low quantitative reasoning ability. This research attempts to determine the influence of prior mathematical knowledge and statistical reasoning on the outcome of the statistical performance of Diploma Science students in UiTM Campus Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan. Paper-and-pencil assessment instruments that measure the prior mathematical knowledge, statistical knowledge and statistical reasoning ability were administered to 145 Diploma students. Data obtained were quantitatively analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach. The results showed prior mathematical knowledge has a significantly moderate influence on their performance while statistical reasoning has negligible effect. Overall, the exogenous latent variables explained 37.2% of the total variation in the model. Furthermore, the study showed that there was a moderate relationship between prior mathematical knowledge and statistical reasoning but surprisingly no correlation between performance and statistical reasoning raising pertinent questions that are examined further in this paper.