By Beth A. Perkins, S. Jeanne Horst, Brian C. Leventhal, and Nicole M. Zapparrata, James Madison University
Information
In preparation for an intermediate inferential statistics course, entering graduate students (from a mid-sized public university) participated in a three-day statistics boot camp, a fast-paced short bridge course. The purpose was to review foundational statistics concepts. In the current IRB-approved study, students completed measures of statistics knowledge, statistics self-efficacy (Finney & Schraw, 2003), and statistics anxiety (Cruise, Cash, & Bolton, 1985) at three time points: pre-boot camp (n = 12), pre-statistics course (n = 5 participants, n = 4 comparison), and post-statistics course (n = 5 participants, n = 4 comparison). Because of small sample size and attrition at the second time point, findings are presented descriptively and graphically, rather than inferentially. On average, boot camp participants’ statistics knowledge and self-efficacy increased, and interpretation anxiety decreased to a greater extent than comparison students. The overall goals of the poster are to present a summary of the boot camp materials and share the results of the study with the hope that the audience learns the potential benefits of attending a short-term statistics refresher course.