A Study of Reduction of Anxiety in Graduate Students in an Introductory Educational Research Course [electronic resource] / Vicki A. Wilson.
Anxiety about statistics can result in impaired performance, mental anguish, and avoidance of statistics courses needed for professional advancement. In this study, 53 graduate students enrolled in an introductory course in educational research were administered the Statistical Anxiety Rating Scale...
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Full Text (via ERIC) |
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| Format: | Electronic eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
[S.l.] :
Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse,
1998.
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| Summary: | Anxiety about statistics can result in impaired performance, mental anguish, and avoidance of statistics courses needed for professional advancement. In this study, 53 graduate students enrolled in an introductory course in educational research were administered the Statistical Anxiety Rating Scale (STARS) (A. Onwuegbuzie, 1998). During the 7 weeks of the course, the instructor employed strategies noted in the literature as possibly helpful in alleviating anxiety in statistics classes: addressing the anxiety, using humor, applying statistics to real-world situations, reducing fear of evaluation, and encouraging students to work in cooperative groups. STARS was administered as a posttest at the final course session. A paired-samples t-test was used to compare the means of the pretest and posttest scores. Differences in the total score and five of six factors (worth of statistics, interpretation anxiety, test and class anxiety, fear of asking for help, and fear of the statistics teacher) were significant at the 0.001 level. Difference in one factor (computation self-concept) was significant at the 0.01 level. All mean scores were reduced, denoting a reduction in anxiety from the pretest to the posttest. It appears it is possible to reduce statistics anxiety in graduate education students by using specific instructional strategies. (Contains 2 tables and 19 references.) (Author/SLD) |
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| Item Description: | ERIC Document Number: ED427075. ERIC Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Mid-South Educational Research Association (New Orleans, LA, November 4-6, 1998). |
| Physical Description: | 11 p. |