1. Reducing statistics anxiety through use of student
1
2
immediacy behaviors and peer instruction
0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
Keith Starcher
CBFA Conference
June 26, 2012
4
Indiana Wesleyan University

2. 0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
1
2
4

3. 0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
1
2
4

4. 0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
1
2
4

5. 0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
1
2
4

6. Many students fear taking a
statistics course
0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
• Statistics anxiety has been defined simply
as anxiety that occurs as a result of
1
2
encountering statistics in any form and at
any level.
4
• With fear of failing, students delay enrolling
in statistics courses as long as possible
(Onwuegbuzie, 1997).

7. Fear of Statistics as a Subject
0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
• Statistics is seen by large numbers of
students (including college students) as
1
2
being a very rigorous and anxiety-inducing
subject to study (Sgoutas-Emch & Johnson,
4
1998).

8. How to Teach Statistics
0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
• Many instructors are frustrated in regards to
finding effective methods of teaching this
1
2
subject (Garfield and Ben-Zvi, 2002).
• Garfield and Ben-Zvi (2004) wrote that
4
although there is a great deal of statistics
instruction taking place, the research to
support statistics instruction is not well
known.

9. Most students dislike taking a
statistics course
0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
• Empirical evidence and anecdotal data
suggest that statistics is one of students’
1
2
most disliked subjects (Sciutto, 1995).
• Studies have demonstrated a negative
4
relationship between statistics anxiety and
performance (Tremblay et al., 2000).

10. The Purpose of this Research
0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
• To reduce statistics anxiety through use of
“student” (instructor) immediacy behaviors
and peer instruction (in-class student tutors)
1
2
in a sample of traditional undergraduate
business statistics students in a private
4
Midwestern university.
• To extend the literature by offering practical
insights on how course design and
classroom management may reduce
statistics anxiety.

11. Methodology
0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
• Instrument: Statistical Anxiety Rating Scale
(STARS) – (Cruise et al.1985).
1
2
• STARS is a 51-item, 5-point, Likert-type
instrument composed of two parts. The first
4
part includes 23 statements that are related
to statistical anxiety while the second part
includes 28 statements that deal with
attitudes toward statistics.

12. Methodology
0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
• There are six subscales in STARS:
– Worth of Statistics (16 items)
1
2
– Interpretation Anxiety (11 items)
– Test/Class Anxiety (8 items)
4
– Computational Self-concept (7 items)
– Fear of Asking for Help (4 items)
– Fear of Statistics Teachers (5 items)

13. Methodology
0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
• This study used a pretest/posttest design
with 23 traditional undergraduate students
1
2
completing the Statistical Anxiety Rating
Scale (STARS) instrument at the beginning
4
and end of a business statistics course
taught in a traditional classroom
environment.
• Pretest (1st day of class); Posttest (last week
of class)

14. Instructor Immediacy
0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
• Williams (2010) advised that instructors
increase their use of immediacy behaviors
1
2
in order to reduce statistics anxiety.
• When the instructor practices immediacy,
4
she engages in additional positive behaviors
such as praising students’ actions and
comments, encouraging students to share
their points of view, and engaging in
student-initiated discussion (Gorham,1988).

15. Peer Instruction
0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
• Peer Instruction engages students during
class through activities that require each
1
2
student to apply the core concepts being
presented, and then to explain those
4
concepts to their fellow students.
• Peer Instruction has been shown to improve
academic performance (Crouch, 2001).

16. Student Tutor
0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
• In our class the students were presented
with a problem. They would work on the
1
2
problem individually and then discuss the
solution with their group asking clarifying
questions of their group’s student tutor (1
4
tutor in each group of 4 students).
• The instructor roamed the classroom
checking in with each group as they
wrestled with the problem solution.

17. Course Design
0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
• To increase the perception of the usefulness
of statistics, students were required early in
1
2
the semester to read and write a reflection
paper on Super Crunchers: Why Thinking-
4
By-Numbers is the New Way To Be Smart
(Ayres, 2008).

18. Student Comments regarding Super
Crunchers
0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
I learned that statistics are used in nearly every
industry and can be seen all around us. The
book really made me think of daily activities in
2
a different way and opened my eyes up to how
important statistics are to our society today.
While super crunching helps us be more
1
4
effective, it does not mean we need to eliminate
all human “gut feelings” and simply look at
numbers. Rather, statistics should be a
foundation for our decisions and the human
“expertise” factor should be able to make a
better-educated decision in the end.

19. Course Design
0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
• The Test/Class Anxiety subscale is assumed
to assess anxiety experienced while taking
1
2
statistics courses and/or exams (higher
scores indicate higher levels of anxiety).
4
• This fear was addressed through the use of
open book, open note exams (test anxiety)
and student tutors (class anxiety).

20. Course Design
0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
• The Fear of Asking for Help subscale is
designed to assess anxiety experienced
1
2
when a person asks for help in statistics-
related problems (higher scores indicate
4
higher anxiety).
• This was addressed through student tutors.

21. Course Design
0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
• The Fear of Statistics Teachers subscale is
supposed to measure students’ perceptions
1
2
of statistics teachers (higher scores indicate
higher anxiety).
4
• This was addressed via instructor
immediacy behaviors.

22. Results
0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
1
2
4

23. Results
0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
Cronbach’s Alpha
Factor Pre Post
1
2
1 .921 .907
2 .879 .793
3 .864 .913
4 .847 .874
4
5 .611 .747
6 .596 .735
All .955 .955

24. Results
0011 0010 1010 1101Did Tutor Lower Stats Anxiety? 1= not at all; 10
0001 0100 1011
= very much so
8
7
1
2
6
5
Frequency
4
4
3
2
1
0
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 More
Bin

25. Results – Tutor Responses
0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
1
2
4

26. Results – Non-Tutor Responses
0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
1
2
4

27. Tutor Comments
0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
• Now, near semester’s end, how do you
think and feel about the idea of working as a
1
2
student tutor?
– I feel good about the idea of being a tutor
4
because I honestly think that having a
student/peer explain concepts to other students
helps the other students understand those
concepts.

28. Tutor Comments
0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
– I don’t mind it, but I don’t particularly enjoy it.
– It was a good experience over all; sometimes
1
2
hard to explain everything well.
– It was fine. Our group interacted well with
each other.
4
– I feel the same way about the idea of student
tutors because I did get to interact with and lead
other students.
– It was a good experience, but very stressful.

29. Non-tutor Comments
0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
• Now, near semester’s end, how do you
think and feel about the idea of working
1
2
with student tutor?
– I don’t think it was that big of a deal because it
4
just meant that if I didn’t know how to do
something, I knew whom to ask for help and
we’d learn together.
– I liked it. It was more comfortable to ask
questions.

30. Non-tutor Comments
0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
– It was very helpful and made it easier to learn.
– It helped out a lot by providing quicker answers
1
2
to questions I had.
– I thought the student tutors were very helpful.
They gave me reassurance and someone to lean
4
on when I needed help.
– I liked it. Usually I don’t like to talk a lot, so
when I was stuck, the tutor asked me, “Do you
get it?” That helped me.

31. Non-tutor Comments
0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
– I am glad I had one. She has helped me
understand the material better and has been a
2
good leader.
1
– I still like it knowing they are easy to contact
with any questions I have.
4
– I feel great about it. Our tutor really helped our
group out.
– I think it went well and benefited me. I was
able to get help and work through any problems
I had.

32. Next time…
0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
• Obtain more individual test performance
• Obtain more individual homework
1
2
performance
• Provide them with a meaningful yet rich
4
data set for analysis
• Make the final applied statistics paper an
individual (not a group) project

33. 0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
1
2
4

34. References
0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
1
2
4

35. References
0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011
1
2
4