ERIC Number: EJ1247816
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Feb
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1570-1824
EISSN: N/A
Developing Statistical Understanding and Overcoming Anxiety via Drop-In Consultations
Intepe, Gizem; Shearman, Don
Statistics Education Research Journal, v19 n1 p149-166 Feb 2020
Students in many Australian universities start their studies mathematically underprepared as there are no prerequisites for mathematics, and assumed knowledge requirements are often overlooked. Many degrees include at least one statistics subject for which students require a reasonable level of mathematical ability to successfully complete. Students' efforts to grasp quantitative skills often lead to feelings of anxiety, stress, and lack of self-confidence. The Mathematics Education Support Hub (MESH) at WSU provides free support in mathematics and statistics to all students, both undergraduate and postgraduate, to increase their engagement, understanding, and abilities in statistics as well as to overcome their anxiety. In this paper we focus on the drop-in consultation service, which provides "just in time" help in campus libraries. Data is collected for every consultation, which enabling an investigation in relation to the mathematics background of students and the problematic topics in statistics. Text mining is used to examine students' queries to identify the topics in statistics subjects that students struggle most with. Outcomes of this analysis can be used by statistics instructors and mathematics support centres to improve students' experience in learning and to help to reduce statistics anxiety in future generations of statistics students.
Descriptors: Statistics, Academic Support Services, Mathematics Anxiety, Foreign Countries, College Mathematics, Undergraduate Students, Graduate Students, Consultation Programs, Academic Libraries, Help Seeking, Information Retrieval, Data Analysis
International Association for Statistics Education and the International Statistical Institute. PO Box 24070, 2490 AB The Hague, The Netherlands. Tel: +31-70-3375737; Fax: +31-70-3860025; e-mail: isi@cbs.nl; Web site: http://www.stat.auckland.ac.nz/~iase/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A