Teaching Style and Attitudes: A Comparison of Two Collegiate Introductory Statistics Classes

Abstract

Many students who enroll in introductory statistics courses do not have positive attitudes about the subject. A 2012 wide-ranging study by Schau and Emmioglu showed that student attitudes do not tend to improve after completing an introductory statistics course. However, there is a need for more studies about attitudes in introductory statistics courses that utilize reform teaching methods. In this article, we present findings about student attitudes toward statistics in both a teacher-centered lecture-based class and a student-centered active learning class, taught by the same instructor. The overall results of this study were consistent with those reported in the study by Schau and Emmioğlu. Although on an overall level, it seemed that attitudes did not change for both classes, when each attitude component was analyzed on a deeper level, from both a quantitative and a qualitative perspective, differences were found between the two classes for the components of Effort, Affect and Cognitive Competence, Interest, and Difficulty.