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Factors that Affect student’s Attitudes Towards Statistics and Technology and Their Interrelationships

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Information Technology and Systems (ICITS 2021)

Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 1331))

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Abstract

The current research aims to better understand the students’ attitudes towards Statistics and Technology and to identify the main factors that can affect these attitudes. This empirical study gives a special attention to the relationship among statistical competencies and technology using the Students’ Attitudes toward Statistics and Technology scale (SASTSc) that comprises five subscales (factors), which are denominated, respectively, by Affect (students’ feelings concerning Statistics and Technology), Value (usefulness that they attribute to Statistics and Technology for their future personal and professional life), Statistics Cognitive Competence, Technology Cognitive Competence, and Technology. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to assess the hypothesized model that linked all these constructs. The sample was composed of 508 undergraduate students of two Portuguese universities, who have already attended at least one discipline of Statistics during the first cycle graduate degree. The PLS-SEM analysis validated all the relationships in the hypothesized model, except in the case of the relation between Technology Cognitive Competence and Affect, at p < 0.01. The Knowledge of the interrelationships between the five subscales (factors) can help to establish the best strategies to adopt in statistics education in order to promote the development of statistical literacy, reasoning and thinking.

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Funding

This work is financed by national funds through FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., within the scope of the project «UIDB / 04647/2020» of CICS.NOVA - Centro Interdisciplinar de Ciências Sociais da Universidade Nova de Lisboa.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Sciences and Technology, CICS.UAc/CICS.NOVA.UAc, University of Azores, Ponta Delgada, Portugal

    Osvaldo Silva

  2. Faculty of Sciences and Technology, CEEAplA, University of Azores, Ponta Delgada, Portugal

    Áurea Sousa

  3. Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Azores, Ponta Delgada, Portugal

    Jerónimo Nunes

Authors
  1. Osvaldo Silva
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  2. Áurea Sousa
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  3. Jerónimo Nunes
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Osvaldo Silva .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. ISEG, University of Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

    Álvaro Rocha

  2. Geografía, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

    Carlos Ferrás

  3. Ciencia Política y Sociología, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

    Paulo Carlos López-López

  4. Santa Elena, Systems Dept, Univ Estatal Peninsula de, La Libertad, Ecuador

    Teresa Guarda

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Silva, O., Sousa, Á., Nunes, J. (2021). Factors that Affect student’s Attitudes Towards Statistics and Technology and Their Interrelationships. In: Rocha, Á., Ferrás, C., López-López, P.C., Guarda, T. (eds) Information Technology and Systems. ICITS 2021. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 1331. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68418-1_17

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