Introductory statistics, college student attitudes and knowledge – a qualitative analysis of the impact of technology-based instruction

A quantitative analysis of the relationship between an online homework system and student achievement in pre-calculus

“…That is, while students embraced the use of technology, their knowledge of the content did not seem to be affected by its use. Similar results were found by Meletiou-Mavrotheris et al [6] in a study undertaken with undergraduate students in statistics. Here, too, students spoke positively about the use of technology and the authors note an added benefit of the use of technology in that this allowed for the study of real-life data-sets as opposed to much cleaner data used in classes where technology was not introduced.…”

“…Studies including those of Dynarski et al [9] and Meletiou-Mavrotheris et al [6] show lack of effect with regard to student achievement as measured by standard variables such as test scores and course grades in well-designed studies. However, these studies are contradicted by the findings of others that support the conclusion that the use of technology improves student achievement in introductory-level college mathematics courses and that these increases in achievement are statistically significant.…”

“…However, here too, the positive student response did not come with an increase in content knowledge. The work of many researchers highlights the fact that more and more students welcome the use of technology of various types in their mathematics classes [5][6][7][8] and feel more positively towards these classes as compared to those where technology is not used at all. [5,6] Though increased positive experiences for students have been widely noted, the literature on student achievement and technology use does not present a clear, consistent and positive correlation between the two.…”

Development and use of an instrument to measure students’ perceptions of a business statistics learning environment in higher education

“…One phenomenon with regard to student learning of statistics that has received a great deal of attention in recent years is statistics anxiety (Carlson and Winquist 2011;Francis and Lipson 2010;Hsu et al 2009;Meletiou-Mavrotheris et al 2007;Nguyen and Hampson 2012;Onwuegbuzie 2000;Onwuegbuzie and Wilson 2003;Pan and Tang 2005;Williams et al 2008). The main underlying causes of statistics anxiety among students would appear to be a lack of numeracy skills, a lack of confidence in doing anything mathematical, and low self-esteem (Zeidner 1991), culminating in a feeling that they do not really understand the meaning or purpose of what they are doing (Wilensky 1997).…”

A quasi-experimental comparison of spreadsheet- and classroom-based statistics tutorials

“…Most studies are based on other types of technologies, such as those of Meletiou, Myers, and Lee (1999), and Meletiou-Mavrotheris, Lee, and Fouladis (2007). Both these studies found that students taught with technologically based activities experienced increased enjoyment and appreciation of statistics, despite negative attitudes at the beginning of the course, compared to students taught using traditional teaching methods.…”