Using a spreadsheet programme to teach introductory statistics: reducing anxiety and building conceptual understanding

Pace, Larry A.; Barchard, Kimberly A.

doi:10.1504/ijil.2006.009222

Cited by 5 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Furthermore, students who are apprehensive about learning statistics and those who have trouble doing computations tend to have a higher level of anxiety [4]. While not just limited to learning statistics, Vandergrift noted, "Anxiety is a common reaction to a listening task, which springs from student fears that they will not gain control.…”

Section: Figure 1 Traditional Teaching Practices (Ttp)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Anchored Asynchronous Online Discussions: Facilitating Participation and Engagement in a Blended Environment

Alrushiedat

Olfman

2012

2012 45th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences

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This research was conducted as a field experiment that explored the potential benefits of anchoring in asynchronous online discussions for business statistics classes. Many students tend to perform poorly in these classes, which are usually taught using traditional methods with emphasis on lecturing, knowledge reproduction, and treatment of students as dependent learners. Course activities are typically centered on the teacher as the source of all knowledge and understanding. Moreover, student interactions are often limited to face-to-face meetings in the classroom, where students have exerted little effort towards engaging themselves. Online discussions show promise for improving students' learning in business statistics classes. We examined and compared the impact of anchored asynchronous online discussions (AAODs) and standard asynchronous online discussions (AODs) on students' participation and engagement in a blended learning environment. The findings show that AAODs facilitated more and better quality participation and engagement for undergraduate students.

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Section: Figure 1 Traditional Teaching Practices (Ttp)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Anchored Asynchronous Online Discussions: Facilitating Participation and Engagement in a Blended Environment

Alrushiedat

Olfman

2012

2012 45th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences

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“…Students who are apprehensive about learning statistics and those who have trouble doing computations tend to have a high level of anxiety [10,28]. This fear comes from a tacit assumption that students have to understand every word, which is due to their unsatisfactory experiences with classroom activities [31].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anchoring for Self-Efficacy and Success

Alrushiedat

Olfman

2014

2014 47th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences

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In recent years, we have observed a rising interest in studying the effects of Web 2.0 technologies on student learning. We learned that human behavior can be influenced by personal and environmental factors as in Bandura's concept of "reciprocal causation." For business statistics students, we implemented online discussions to extend student involvement beyond the walls of the classroom to help students succeed. We chose business statistics primarily because many students have struggled in it. Students also had difficulty navigating through the standard online discussions. Moreover, their participation was mainly made out of compliance. We implemented anchored discussions to help with the navigation issue. We decided to examine the effects of the two forms of online discussions. We were not sure of the impact on students' self-efficacy and success. Our results from conducting the two studies show that anchored asynchronous online discussions are more likely to help increase students' self-efficacy. Moreover, students using the anchored discussions obtained statistically significant higher exam scores than students using standard discussions.

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“…One possible approach is to use spreadsheet software, such as Microsoft Excel, to teach beginning statistics classes. Over the past 20 years, the burden of hand computation in the math and science classrooms has shifted to technology, and in that same period the use of spreadsheets has grown tremendously (Pace and Barchard 2006). Teaching with spreadsheets, a tool that students already recognize as marketable, allows instructors to teach both the subject and the tool itself.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are a plethora of texts and research articles (e.g., Warner and Meehan 2001) that extol teaching statistics using spreadsheets, but only recently has research been reported in the literature that recognizes the benefits of teaching with spreadsheets beyond the cognitive realm. Pace and Barchard (2006) documented the effectiveness of using spreadsheets to improve students' learning and comprehension of the underlying principles in statistics. More importantly, these researchers recognized, among other advantages, another major effect of spreadsheet usage in the teaching of statistics, namely, reducing anxiety in students who have difficulties with computation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More importantly, these researchers recognized, among other advantages, another major effect of spreadsheet usage in the teaching of statistics, namely, reducing anxiety in students who have difficulties with computation. Pace and Barchard (2006) argued that when, in class demonstrations, an instructor performs hand computations with ease, he or she may unwittingly fluster students who are already apprehensive about learning statistics. By using spreadsheets instead to perform these computations, the instructors will avoid contributing to the students' frustration.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Using Spreadsheets to Enhance Learning in the Affective Domain for Undergraduate Statistics Students

Clayton

Sankar²

2009

INFORMS Transactions on Education

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Please scroll down for article-it is on subsequent pagesWith 12,500 members from nearly 90 countries, INFORMS is the largest international association of operations research (O.R.) and analytics professionals and students. INFORMS provides unique networking and learning opportunities for individual professionals, and organizations of all types and sizes, to better understand and use O.R. and analytics tools and methods to transform strategic visions and achieve better outcomes. For more information on INFORMS, its publications, membership, or meetings visit

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Using a spreadsheet programme to teach introductory statistics: reducing anxiety and building conceptual understanding

Cited by 5 publications

References 24 publications

Anchored Asynchronous Online Discussions: Facilitating Participation and Engagement in a Blended Environment

Anchored Asynchronous Online Discussions: Facilitating Participation and Engagement in a Blended Environment

Anchoring for Self-Efficacy and Success

Using Spreadsheets to Enhance Learning in the Affective Domain for Undergraduate Statistics Students

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