P2-12: Evaluating the Impact of a Statistics Refresher Course on Statistics Knowledge, Statistics Self-Efficacy, and Statistics Anxiety


By Beth A. Perkins, S. Jeanne Horst, Brian C. Leventhal, and Nicole M. Zapparrata, James Madison University


Information

In preparation for an intermediate inferential statistics course, entering graduate students (from a mid-sized public university) participated in a three-day statistics boot camp, a fast-paced short bridge course. The purpose was to review foundational statistics concepts. In the current IRB-approved study, students completed measures of statistics knowledge, statistics self-efficacy (Finney & Schraw, 2003), and statistics anxiety (Cruise, Cash, & Bolton, 1985) at three time points: pre-boot camp (n = 12), pre-statistics course (n = 5 participants, n = 4 comparison), and post-statistics course (n = 5 participants, n = 4 comparison). Because of small sample size and attrition at the second time point, findings are presented descriptively and graphically, rather than inferentially. On average, boot camp participants’ statistics knowledge and self-efficacy increased, and interpretation anxiety decreased to a greater extent than comparison students. The overall goals of the poster are to present a summary of the boot camp materials and share the results of the study with the hope that the audience learns the potential benefits of attending a short-term statistics refresher course.