Mindset, Attitudes, and Success in Statistics

Students in many disciplines are required to take an introductory statistics course while pursuing a college education. Despite the utility of statistical methods in future research and career pursuits, many students have negative views of statistics. We are interested in how students\u27 mindsets and attitudes towards statistics impact their performance in an undergraduate statistics course. We administered a survey to students in several undergraduate statistics courses at Utah State University. This survey included questions addressing mathematics experience, attitudes towards statistics, mindset, and course performance. We observed that the majority of students indicated the presence of a growth mindset and positive attitudes towards statistics. Mindset was not strongly associated with course performance. Students with positive attitudes tended to have a higher final course score. Negative attitudes were associated with fixed mindsets