Teaching the Relevance of Statistics through Consumer-Oriented Research

Abstract

Students in a small experimental design class obtained information about statistical and research applications concerning a variety of products advertised by different companies. The resulting data were perceived to have several advantages for the students: (a) it made collecting and interpreting data more interesting and less mysterious, (b) it helped them to understand how research design and statistics are used in real-life situations, and (c) it helped them to make more discerning judgments about advertisers' claims for their products.

Empirical Study on Student and their Attitudes toward Statistics Course and Statistical Field

“…Other studies [9,10,18,19,20,21] showed a relationship between the ATS and academic outcomes or the professional use of statistics. They have confirmed the existence of a definite correlation between students' attitudes and their performance in this area.…”

Actitudes hacia la Estadística en el alumnado del grado de Pedagogía de la Universidad de Barcelona

“…Las actitudes influyen en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje y a su vez, la educación tiene un amplio poder sobre ellas. Así, se aprende mejor aquello que produce mayor agrado, y una educación adecuada puede mejorar las actitudes de los estudiantes ante una materia determinada En este sentido hay estudios que avalan la relación entre el logro y la actitud del alumnado hacia las Matemáticas (Morris et al, 1978;Hendel, 1980;Wigfield y Meece, 1988); e igualmente los estudios demuestran el valor predictivo de las actitudes en el logro de la Estadística (Guàrdia et al, 2006;Bayot et al, 2005;Elmore y Vasu, 1986;Beins, 1985).…”

“…La actitud es un buen predictor de la asimilación de contenidos, del futuro uso de los mismos, de la motivación para el aprendizaje y del rendimiento (Beins, 1985). La actitud negativa bloquea el uso de ésta en el futuro profesional del alumno.…”

Confirmatory Factorial Analysis to Validity a Theoretical Model to Measure Attitude toward Statistic

“…Roberts y Saxe (1982); Beins (1985); Wise (1985); Katz y Tomezik (1988); Vanhoof et al (2006); Evans (2007) showed the relationship between attitude toward statistic and academic outcomes or the professional use of this tool. They have confirmed the existence of positive correlation between students' attitudes and their performance in this area.…”