Undergraduate student attitude and perception toward the learning of statistics

Abstract

The study examined undergraduate study attitude and perception towards learning statistics: a case study of Ignatius Ajuru University Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The study adopted a survey design. The population of the study consisted of all students that study statistics-related courses. The sample of the study was 198 students. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The instrument for data collection was a researcher-structured instrument titled: Student Attitude and Perception towards Statistics Inventory (APTSI). The instrument was structured using a Likert type of response with Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A) Disagree (D) and Strongly Disagree (SD) options respectively. The instrument was validated by experts in measurement and evaluation. A reliability of 0.78 was obtained using Cronbach's alpha formula. Data were analyzed using mean and standard deviation. A mean of 2.50 and above was accepted as an indication of agreement while a mean of 2.49 and below indicated disagreement for the section on attitude. The result established among others that the student attitudes and perceptions regarding statistics were positive, both male and female and students did not differ significantly in their attitudes and perceptions towards Statistics. Creating an atmosphere that will make students pay attention in learning and developing in-depth knowledge of mathematics to understand statistics were the identified key strategies that could be adopted to develop student attitudes towards statistics. It was recommended among others that experienced teachers should be employed to teach statistics to debunk the minds of learners from the erroneous belief that statistics is boring.