Examining Undergraduate Students’ Attitudes toward Business Statistics in the United States and China

Abstract

The rapid growth of analytics is bringing more attention to quantitative core curriculum requirements in undergraduate business programs. Statistical knowledge and skills are unequivocally recognized as essential cornerstone of business analytics. Furthermore, educational research has shown that academic performance in statistics classes is related to the attitudes that students bring to the course. This article assesses the reliability and validity of the Survey of Attitudes toward Statistics (SATS) in measuring noncognitive dimensions of attitudes among undergraduate business students. Sample data from U.S. and Chinese introductory business statistics classes were collected and analyzed to learn more about this aspect of student engagement across business schools located in countries with substantially different levels of success in international mathematics achievement testing, as well as differing cultural and educational practices. Results show that the six‐factor model structure of the SATS provides a good fit in both populations, with students entering business statistics holding only slightly positive attitudes toward the subject. Significant distinctions between four of the six attitude components were identified. Implications of measuring and improving these attitudes are discussed. Business statistics instructors are encouraged to use the survey as a standardized instrument to measure effects of interventions and make evidence‐based pedagogical decisions.

Transitioning a traditional introductory information systems course to a data analytics focused course

“…Consistent with what Wang et al. (2018) found, our conversations with students suggest that our IS course is similar in difficulty and effort to business statistics; students share just marginally positive attitudes toward both courses.…”

Academic Motivation in Introductory Business Analytics Courses: A Bayesian Approach

“…At the same time, analytics instructors face unique challenges because students often lack motivation and see analytics classes as their biggest hurdle in completing their degree program (Brookshire and Palocsay 2005). In addition, students' attitudes toward statistics were described as only slightly positive in a recent study (Wang et al 2018) and are another challenge for analytics instructors. Research shows that academic motivation and achievement are highly correlated (Kusurkar et al 2013), and motivation can be autonomous (originating within an individual) or controlled (originating from the classroom environment and the instructor).…”

Initial Attitudes Toward Statistics Are Better in Traditional Compared to Online Courses, at Least Until Covid-19

“…The SATS-36 (Schau, 2003a(Schau, , 2003b, an instrument widely employed in peer-reviewed research (Bond et al, 2012;Coetzee & Merwe, 2010;Gundlach et al, 2015;Khavenson et al, 2012;Nolan et al, 2012;Sarikaya et al, 2018;Wang et al, 2018;, was utilized to assess attitudes toward statistics at the beginning and at the end of the same statistics course. Briefly, the SATS-36 consists of 36 prompt items scored on a Likert scale from 1-7 (e.g., 1= strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree), which assess six attitude components: affect (6 items), cognitive competence (6 items), value (9 items), difficulty (7 items), interest (4 items), and effort (4 items).…”