Statistics Anxiety and Graduate Students Term Paper

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In a follow-up experimentalinvestigation among female college students, Onwuegbuzie (1995) reported asignificant interaction between statistics test anxiety and type of examination (i.e.

Specifically, three types of factors are identified: (a) situational factors, such as math experience (Betz, 1978; Roberts & Bilderback, 1980; Tomazic & Katz, 1988; Zeidner, 1991; Wilson, 1997; Balo_lu, 2001; Hong & Karstensson, 2002; Balo_lu, 2003), statistics experience (Sutarso, 1992), computer experience (Zimmer & Fuller, 1996), and research experience (Trimarco, 1997); (b) dispositional factors, such as math self-concept or self-esteem (Zeidner, 1991), scholastic competence or multiple intelligences (Birenbaum & Eylath, 1994; Daley & Onwuegbuzie, 1997; Onwuegbuzie, 2000c), perfectionism (Onwuegbuzie & Daley, 1999; Walsh & Ugumba-Agwunobi, 2002), hope (Onwuegbuzie. 1998b), and procrastination (Onwuegbuzie, 2000a; Walsh & Ugumba-Agwunobi, 2002); and - personal factors, such as learning style (Onwuegbuzie, 1998a; Wilson & Onwuegbuzie, 2001), age (Baloglu, 2003), gender (Betz, 1978; Roberts & Bilderback, 1980; Demaria-Mitton, 1987; Benson, 1989; Benson & Bandalos, 1989; Hong & Karstensson, 2002; Baloglu, 2003), and ethnicity (Bell, 1998; Onwuegbuzie. 1999).

Unfortunately, sparse studies have been found on how to reduce the anxiety in learning statistics for graduate students in the social sciences (Onwuegbuzie & Wilson, 2000). Schacht and Stewart (1990) reported incorporating humorous cartoon examples in statistics classes were perceived by the students to helpful in statistics anxiety reduction. Journal writing was suggested to be another effective tool in reducing levels of anxiety (Smith, Miller, & Robertson, 1992; Sgoutas-Emch & Johnson, 1998). However, theses studies did not find a statistically significant decrease in anxiety levels. Forte (1995) argued for an effective teaching approach that incorporates computer usage, real-world applications, humor, statistical language practice, and group-learning principles. Additionally, Dolinsky (2001) suggested creating a collaborative environment in which using active learning strategies as the primary method to teach statistics.

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These teaching methods reveal promise to reduce students' statistics anxiety, yet more innovations of teaching statistics are needed (Huntley, Schneider, & Aronson, 2000). More importantly, empirical studies are needed to examine the effectiveness of these methods in reducing statistics anxiety.

Innovative teaching methods can make the difference between who is able to master statistics to go on to the PhD level. For instance, such measuress, such as optional grading system, more flexible office hours, orientation letter, and the cheat sheet, are all measures that make it easier for students to pass the course. For most students with statistics anxiety, thought of failing the course is a huge stressor; therefore, even if they have the capability to learn statistics, the fear of failure overrides their ability. The application-oriented teaching methods, on the other hand, dispel the misconception about statistics that it is useless and that it is only for people with good math skills. Applying the class contents to daily life and actual research articles makes more meaning for students, and also have them feel more comfortable and close to learning statistics.

As documented above, recently, there has been an increase in the number of researchers investigating the construct of statistics anxiety. However, there is stil lmuch that we do not know about this phenomenon. Moreover, much of the research in this area has been undertaken among undergraduate students. Yet, as noted byOnwuegbuzie (1998a), statistics anxiety is extremely prevalent among graduate students, especially among women and minorities. Furthermore, because theses and dissertations typically necessitate the use of statistics, and because a significant proportion of students do not complete their theses and dissertations,.....

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