STUDENT ATTITUDES TOWARD STATISTICS IN TOURISM STUDIES

Attitudes are crucial for learning, because they lead and direct the cognitive process. Attitudes towards different subjects of study have thus been extensively researched, with authors involved concluding that negative attitudes can often become an obstacle to effective learning [1]. In the case of students' perception of Statistics, there is a common belief that their attitude toward this field is negative [2], although a review of the literature shows different results that cast doubt on that assertion. This paper focuses on evaluating the attitudes of university students enrolled in Tourism management studies, using a survey administered to students of the Degree in Tourism in the University of the Balearic Islands. To our knowledge, there are no other studies of this type related to this university major, although the acquisition of statistical skills for tourism professionals is particularly important. However, the majority of tourism students do not have strong mathematical training, and they do not show an inclination for quantitative methods. The survey instrument includes the Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics (SATS (c)) [3], widely used and applied in Statistics education studies, along with some questions regarding demographic and academic characteristics of the respondents. The SATS (c) is made up of six components (Affect, Cognitive Competence, Value, Difficulty, Interest and Effort), and consists of a total of 36 items. Results show that students' assessments of the attitudinal components are positive, except for Difficulty and Affect. The relationship between the six attitudinal factors and the demographic and academic characteristics of students has also been investigated. From the results there emerge recommendations for teaching and learning, as well as for the improvement of attitudes toward Statistics in Tourism studies in particular, and in Social Sciences degrees in general.