TPC-Journal-V1-Issue2

The Professional Counselor \ Volume 1, Issue 2 105 Multicollinearity between statistics anxiety and attitude toward statistics suggests an interrelationship between the two variables (Gall et al., 2007). Both variables may be measuring the relatively same characteristic; thus, neither variable may have brought something completely new to the analysis. It is interesting to note that statistics anxiety and attitude toward statistics as measured by the instruments in this particular study may be focusing on the same phenomenon. Significance There were multiple benefits of this study. First, this study contributed to counselor education and student support services by increasing our knowledge of self-efficacy to learn statistics as experienced by graduate students. It also is significant because it documented students’ experiences, which may act as a spring board for (a) future research, (b) implementing support interventions to increase statistics self-efficacy or success in statistics courses, and (c) helping students prepare for intrapersonal challenges that might impact their success in statistics. Each of these improvements are beneficial because they may increase graduate student self-efficacy and success in statistics courses as well as increase the incorporation of statistics into professional work after graduation. Recommendations for Counselor Educators Decreasing anxiety among graduate students is vital to developing high levels of self-efficacy towards statistics. Implementing numerous opportunities for students to engage in research throughout their graduate studies allows for opportunities to be exposed to statistics, thus increasing students’ confidence when faced with taking a statistics course. Also, inserting research and statistics into the curriculum of every graduate course exposes graduate students to the terminology and the function statistics play in their development as professionals. Possible ways to decrease statistical anxiety are through language and experience. Allowing graduate students to learn what is being said in a statistics course through weekly vocabulary tests can be one example of decreasing their anxiety. Also, getting the students involved with their own research throughout their course of study will help in promoting statistics mastery. Improving attitudes towards statistics can help graduate students reframe their negative views towards the course. Helping graduate students to choose a positive view, explore origins or core of negative attitudes, and to appreciate the usefulness of statistics in their profession are good starting points for developing salient attitudes towards the subject. Counselor educators in a position to help graduate students confront negative attitudes, model positive attitudes and enthusiasm for statistics, and place a high value on statistics through verbal support and high expectations of research and statistics for students in graduate programs. The professor teaching statistics can play a key role in positively impacting their students’ attitude toward the subject. Injecting humor, displaying empathy, providing a safe space for students to talk about their challenges, and celebrating their small successes can be tools in combating negative attitudes. Anecdotal stories of statistics professors engaging in statistical rap songs have been reported to successfully alleviate attitudes towards the subject as well as provide a positive environment to engage in learning. Limitations of the Study There were limitations to this study. For instance, graduate students in counseling and education related programs were recruited for the study; thus, due to the general nature of the population, there were a disproportionate number of females and Caucasian students in the sample. As a result, a diverse sample was not obtained. However, a representative sample was acquired. Also, there were four scales for participants to answer in the study, therefore putting a time constraint burden on students to finish the instruments. Finally, these instruments were self-reporting, which can promote bias in how the graduate students answered (Gall et al., 2007). Suggestions for Future Research Future research should expand investigations into statistics self-efficacy predictor variables that include number of statistics courses taken, previous statistics experience, and broad demographics of graduate students to include more participants representing the various races and ethnicities, marital status, and life experiences. Longitudinal studies to monitor how statistics self-efficacy changes for graduate students over time would provide a snapshot of the development