Abstract
Challenges to measuring students’ attitudes toward statistics remain despite decades of focused research. Measuring the expectancy-value theory (EVT) Cost construct has been especially challenging owing in part to the historical lack of research about it. To measure the EVT Cost construct better, this study asked university students to respond to items using both a Likert-type response and an Evaluative Space Grid (ESG)- type response. ESG items enable bivariate responses in a single item and permit distinguishing among two different types of neutral attitudes: indifferent and ambivalent. This pilot study evaluates the appropriateness of ESG-type items for measuring the EVT Cost construct by analyzing student response patterns to ESG-type items and comparing them with Likert-type items. Validity evidence is documented using descriptive statistics and graphs, correlations among items, and a trinomial hypothesis test. Internal consistency reliability indices are also reported. Friedman’s Test is used to compare the average response times for items of different types. Results indicate that students can meaningfully respond to ESG-type items in ways that are similar to their Likert-type responses, that students respond to ESG-type items quicker with more practice, and that distinguishing among indifferent and ambivalent attitudes seems appropriate for the EVT Cost construct. These findings suggest that ESG-type items may provide new insights not possible with Likert-type items but also that more research should be conducted to better understand their advantages and disadvantages within statistics education.
Highlights
Statistics educators have long been interested in affective constructs, and instruments measuring constructs such as attitudes (e.g., Roberts & Bilderback, 1980; Wise, 1985) and anxiety (e.g., Cruise et al, 1985) have been available for decades
Using periodic file downloads, it was possible to assemble to two groups that approximately corresponded to students who completed the survey before the COVID-19 disruption (Before, 21 students) and those who completed it after the disruption (After, 21 students)
This study provides initial evidence supporting the use of Evaluative Space Grid (ESG)-type items to measure the expectancy-value theory (EVT) Cost construct in the context of statistics education
Summary
Statistics educators have long been interested in affective constructs, and instruments measuring constructs such as attitudes (e.g., Roberts & Bilderback, 1980; Wise, 1985) and anxiety (e.g., Cruise et al, 1985) have been available for decades. The two most widely used instruments to measure affective constructs with students in statistics education are the Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics (SATS; Schau, 1992, 2003) and the Statistical Anxiety Rating Scale (STARS; Cruise et al, 1985). Pilot data collection using this new instrument, the Student Survey of Motivational Attitudes toward Statistics (S-SOMAS), is ongoing (Unfried et al, 2018; 2021; Whitaker, 2021; Whitaker et al, 2019) Both the SATS and the S-SOMAS are aligned to an expectancy-value theory (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002, 2020) and both employ scales composed of Likert-type items. The team held discussions about whether alternatives to Likerttype items might allow for better measurement of the Cost construct
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