By Visruth Srimath Kandali (California Polytechnic State University)
Information
Exploring the nature of how students learn Statistics and how instructors can most effectively facilitate that learning has been a focal point in statistics education research over the past few decades. Studies have focused on different teaching approaches, cognitive challenges and misconceptions, students' attitudes, and understanding the motivational aspects of learning statistics,. We aim to explore curiosity as part of intrinsic motivation, recognizing its potential to enhance students' learning.
Curiosity–the desire to acquire knowledge–is integral to learning environments that actively engage students when teachers can use specific techniques to evoke curiosity, enriching the learning atmosphere. One of the initial focuses of this cross-institutional collaboration is to see whether we can measure curiosity efficiently and meaningfully within introductory statistics courses. With this satellite poster, we hope to spark discourse on how curiosity could be measured, and develop mechanisms for further studies into this idea.
We initially surveyed approximately 300 introductory statistics students during one quarter. Students possessed very diverse backgrounds, including varying prior statistics experience (AP/other courses vs. none). Most students were enrolled in their first, dedicated introductory statistics course. Students were from a spectrum of institutions—private high schools, smaller state colleges, and large universities.