Do attitudes toward statistics change during an introductory statistics course? A study on Italian Psychology students.

Mixed results have been reported about changes that might occur in students’ attitudes as a consequence of attending introductory statistics courses and about male and female students’ differences in attitudes. Thus, the aim of the current study was to shed light on attitudes changes in students attending introductory statistics courses taking gender into account. Overall, we observed changes in attitude that resulted in a more positive attitude from the beginning to the middle of the course. Nonetheless, along with a general positive trend, it was possible to highlight that some students get significantly worse attitudes and many of them do not substantially change their initial attitudes. Overall, no significant differences were found between male and female students. Finally, probabilistic competences along with statistics anxiety accounted for individual changes in attitudes toward statistics. Educational implications were discussed.