STUDENTS' ATTITUDES: THE "OTHER" IMPORTANT OUTCOME IN STATISTICS EDUCATION

The ultimate goal of statistics education is to produce adults who appropriately use statistical thinking. Most college students take only one statistics course, the introductory course. This course, then, is where we, as statistics instructors, do or do not motivate students to apply the statistics that they have learned in their jobs and in their lives. Yet, Butler (1998) entitled an AmStat Forum article “On the Failure of the Widespread Use of Statistics.” He suggested that, in spite of the increasing numbers of adults who complete introductory statistics courses, these adults often do not use statistical methods in their jobs and, when they do try, “the results are shambles” (p. 84). The appropriate use of statistical understanding requires persistence. Students, of course, first need to complete their introductory statistics course successfully, rather than drop out. In their lives outside of class, they then need to be able to recognize when they require additional statistical knowledge and skills; obtain this additional statistical understanding or better yet enlist the aid of a statistician; and accurately use the skills they possess. The accomplishment of these goals requires more from students than a good grade in a statistics course. Students who will use their statistical knowledge appropriately must:

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