Students' perceptions of statistics: An exploration of attitudes, conceptualizations, and content knowledge of statistics

Abstract

Although statistics education research has focused on students' learning and conceptual understanding of statistics, researchers have only recently begun investigating students' perceptions of statistics. The term perception describes the overlap between cognitive and noncognitive factors. In this mixed-methods study, undergraduate students provided their perceptions of statistics and completed the Survey of Students' Attitudes Toward Statistics-36 (SATS-36). The qualitative data suggest students had basic knowledge of what the word statistics meant, but with varying depths of understanding and conceptualization of statistics. Quantitative analysis also examined the relationship between students' perceptions of statistics and attitudes toward statistics. We found no significant difference in mean pre- or post-SATS scores across conceptualization and content knowledge categories. The implications of these findings for education and research are discussed. © International Association for Statistical Education (IASE/ISI), November, 2012.