The Relationship of Instructional Methods with Student Responses to the Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics.

Abstract

This study, conducted at the University of Memphis (Tennessee) , compared the effects of a self-paced method of instruction on the attitudes and perceptions of students enrolled in an undergraduate statistics course with those of a comparable group of students taking statistics in a traditional lecture setting. The non-traditional course used a modified version of the Personalized System of Instruction. Students learned the material at different rates ising the standard of unit perfection before advancing, retesting as necessary, and criterion-referenced testing. Many of those enrolling in the course were non-traditional students and female. The study surveyed 105 graduate and undergraduate students and of :hese, 18 were in the self-paced course and the others were in the traditional introductory course. The Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics was used to assess students' attitudes before and after course completion. A comparison of post-test attitude scores found no signir:cant difference in attitude between students enrolled in the self-paced statistics course and those in the traditional course. A t.s.-st of attitude differences between males and females also found no significant difference between these two groups. Eleven tables provide additional detail on the study's findings. (Contains 15 references.) (JB) * * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made . from the original document. *********************************************************************** 7*: THE RELATIONSHIP OF INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS WITH STUDENT RESPONSES TO THE SURVEY OF ATTITUDES TOWARD STATISTICS FOROOZANDEH FAGHIHI 84 ERNEST A. RAKOW, PHD THE UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS MEMPHIS, TN.