Utilizing mixed methods in teaching environments to reduce statistics anxiety
Anthony J Onwuegbuzie
Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville TX, United States of America
Nancy L Leech
School of Education and Human Development, University of Colorado; Health Sciences Center, Denver CO, United States of America
Mari Murtonen
University of Turku, Finland
Juhani Tähtinen
University of Turku, Finland
Abstract
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) and Collins, Onwuegbuzie, and Sutton (2006), we contend that the best way to accomplish this is by eliminating statistics courses from curricula and replacing these with research methodology courses at different levels that simultaneously teach students both quantitative and qualitative techniques within a mixed methodological framework. We illustrate how quantitative and qualitative research courses can be re-designed as courses in exploratory and confirmatory techniques that teach quantitative and qualitative methodologies within each course, either simultaneously or sequentially.
Keywords
Mixed methods, statistics, statistics anxiety, qualitative research
Article Text
An important goal of many graduate-level programs, including teacher education programs, is to graduate students who have the necessary skills to be both consumers and producers of educational research (Carnine, 1995). Being a consumer includes the ability to read, to understand, to interpret, to synthesize, and to utilize published research (Ravid & Leon, 1995). Being a producer includes the ability to design and to implement or replicate research studies. The ability to be both a consumer and producer of educational research is an essential part of graduate students' skill sets (Ravid & Leon, 1995). In addition to these, it is important for a teacher to model a research attitude for pupils and thus help them to develop a critical attitude toward knowledge. Consequently, many education programs worldwide, including teacher education programs, require their students to enroll in at least one quantitative-based research methodology course (Mundfrom, Shaw, Thomas, Young, & Moore, 2003). Unfortunately, many students find these courses to be the most difficult in their programs of study, and thus typically have negative experiences in these courses (Murtonen & Lehtinen, 2003). Moreover, the vast majority of students report experiencing high levels of anxiety (Onwuegbuzie & Wilson, 2003). This form of anxiety is commonly referred to as statistics anxiety. Onwuegbuzie, DaRos, and Ryan (1997) defined statistics anxiety as an anxiety that comes to the fore when a student encounters statistics in any form and at any level.
Statistics anxiety has been found to be the best predictor of achievement in both research methodology courses (Onwuegbuzie, Slate, Paterson, Watson, & Schwartz, 2000) and statistics courses (Fitzgerald, Jurs, & Hudson 1996). Even more notably, a causal link between statistics anxiety and course achievement has been established (Onwuegbuzie, 2003a; Onwuegbuzie & Seaman, 1995).
Because statistics anxiety plays a central role in quantitative-based courses, several researchers have examined factors that alleviate or reduce students' levels of anxiety (Dilevko, 2000; Dillon, 1982; Schacht & Stewart, 1990, 1991; Sgoutas-Emch & Johnson, 1998; Watson, Kromrey, Ferron, Dedrick, Hogarty, Lang, Hess, & Onwuegbuzie, 2004; Wilson, 1996, 1999a, 1999b, 2000; Wilson & Onwuegbuzie, 2003). Indeed, a growing body of evidence supports the possibility that a professor of educational research may have some power to at least reduce levels of anxiety inherent in the study of educational research methodology and statistics (Onwuegbuzie, Slate, Paterson, Watson, & Schwartz, 2000).
Strategies that students report help reduce their statistics anxiety levels are listed in Table 1. This list of strategies for reducing statistics anxiety levels primarily involves behaviors and teaching styles that statistics instructors might consider adopting. (For a detailed discussion of some of these strategies, see, for example, Onwuegbuzie & Wilson, 2003.) 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. This framework is based on the premise that de-emphasizing statistics reduces anxiety levels. Building on the works of Onwuegbuzie and Leech (2004), Collins, Onwuegbuzie and Sutton's (2006), and Onwuegbuzie and Leech (2005a), we contend that the best way to accomplish this is by eliminating statistics courses from curricula and replacing these with research methodology courses at different levels that simultaneously teach students both quantitative and qualitative techniques within a mixed methodological framework. We illustrate how quantitative and qualitative research courses can be re-designed as courses in exploratory and confirmatory techniques that teach quantitative and qualitative methodologies within each course, either simultaneously or sequentially.
Redesigning Quantitative-based Research Methodology Courses:
Implementing a Mixed Methods Curriculum
Current State of Affairs in Quantitative-based Research Methodology Courses
... continues ...
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