Does Making Connections Improve Student Attitudes?

• Activity Number: 135
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Monday, August 5, 2013 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
• Sponsor: Section on Statistical Education
• Author(s): Jacqueline Wroughton*+ and April Kerby
• Companies: Northern Kentucky University and Winona State University
• Keywords: attitudes ; introductory course ; appreciation

Abstract

Disgruntled looks and horrifying stories are the first reactions we usually get when telling others we teach statistics. Due to this fact, one goal of statistics educators is to get students to see the value in learning statistics in the hopes they might gain some appreciation. A lot of work has been done by Candace Schau and Marjorie Bond in measuring students' attitudes towards statistics using the SATS © (Schau 2003) survey. The research presented here looks at one method utilized in an introductory statistics class at Northern Kentucky University and Winona State University in the spring 2013 semester. The authors asked students to answer a "question of the day" at the beginning of each class period. This specific task was chosen due to not only its aim at getting students to think how statistics can be applied to different facets in their lives but also due to its straightforward implementation. The hope is that if students could see the "usefulness" or relate to the material in class, their attitudes towards the subject matter might change for the better. Results and implications of the study will be presented.