Statistics Education in the Era of COVID-19

Abstract

The present survey explores the changes in the teaching of statistics modules during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the impact of these changes on the students of the Department of Statistics and Insurance Science of the University of Piraeus. A questionnaire was prepared and administered online. The survey involved a total of 88 participants aged between 18 and 23. The main questions that were asked addressed: (i) the online structure of the statistics courses compared with the structure of the lifelong courses; (ii) the psychological adjustment of the participants to the contents and obligations of the regular courses; (iii) internet-based communication within the scope of the statistics modules and its role in developing skills relating to the use of statistical software and programming languages (i.e., SPSS, RATS, and R); and (iv) the degree of active participation in the online courses. Based on the outcomes of the survey, we concluded that the students did not notice any significant difference regarding their interest in the course or the transfer of knowledge between the online modules and the lifelong courses. Moreover, we found that courses using games and computers were more effective in terms of learning objectives, though they were more costly than conventional courses. Finally, we discovered that the students preferred the online courses over the regular ones, probably because they were richer and more versatile in structure.