Computer-Assisted Statistical Analysis: A Teaching Innovation?

Abstract

Our study assessed college students' skills and attitudes associated with different approaches to teaching statistics, including classes in which students conducted arithmetic computations with and without computer-assisted statistical analysis. A comparison group consisted of students who had not taken statistics. Students were also subdivided by gender, grade point average (GPA), and math competency. Pre- and postcourse measures consisted of statistical interpretation and selection skills and attitudes toward statistics and computers. Analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) indicated inferior selection and interpretation skills among those who had not taken statistics. Students in the computer-assisted statistical analysis group had significantly more favorable attitudes toward statistics than did those who did not use the computer and those who had not taken statistics. Men had higher interpretation scores than women, and students with higher GPAs had higher interpretation scores than did those with lower GPAs. We provide suggestions for additional research.