Education Commons^™

Utilizing Mixed Methods In Teaching Environments To Reduce Statistics Anxiety, Anthony J. Onwuegbuzie, Nancy L. Leech, Mari Murtonen, Juhani Tähtinen

Nancy Leech

Many students deem statistics courses to be the most difficult in their programs of study, providing mostly negative experiences characterized by high levels of anxiety. Recent research on statistics anxiety has identified several teacher characteristics that help reduce students’ statistics anxiety levels. However, little attention has been placed on the role that the research-based curriculum plays in reducing anxiety levels. Thus, the present paper introduces a curricular framework for alleviating students’ negative feelings towards statistics. Building on the works of Onwuegbuzie and Leech (2004, 2005a), we contend that the best way to accomplish this is by eliminating statistics courses from …