STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS STATISTICS IN SOUTH AFRICAN UNIVERSITY: AN EXPLORATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS APPROACH

Journal of Governance and Regulation

关键词: Attitudes;    Perceptions;    Self-efficacy;    Self-concept;    Achievement;    Anxiety;    Exploratory Factor Analysis;   

DOI  :  10.22495/jgr_v4_i3_c2_p5

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Virtus Interpress

【 摘 要 】

The major part of students at institutions of higher learning has shown an aversion for statistics. These attitudes impede on students’ performance. Among factors affecting students’ achievement in the subject is self-efficacy, self-concept, anxiety and low self-perception. In the main, this study sought to explore students’ perceptions and attitudes towards statistics. Data used was collected through SATS-36 and MPSP questionnaires from students who availed themselves for lectures of first year statistics and statistics related courses at a university in South Africa. The findings proved that students’ perceived academic and professional relevance of statistics relates to their statistics proficiency. Students with low statistics self-perception are bound to develop negative attitudes towards the subject. Interest, mathematics and statistics self-efficacy, enjoyment, worth, relevance and effort were identified as precursors of statistics course achievement.

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC