Investigating the Pedagogical Approaches Related to Changes in Attitudes Toward Statistics in a Quantitative Methods Course for Psychology Undergraduate Students

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which the pedagogical approaches used in the course were related to improvements in students’ attitudes toward statistics in a Quantitative Methods course for psychology undergraduate students in a Malaysian University. The study examined whether increasing availability of the instructor and tutor, carrying out hands-on activities, using collaborative learning, and utilizing scaffolding activities would be related to the improvement of students’ attitudes toward statistics. It also hypothesized that the various pedagogical approaches used would be related to higher levels of achievement in statistics. One hundred and three psychology students from a 14-week undergraduate course on statistics volunteered to participate in this study. The study found partial support that the approaches utilized were related to positive attitude changes toward statistics as well as achievement. Limitations are discussed and future research is suggested.