Reflection on teaching ‘statistics in education’ for postgraduates students

Many countries are taking efforts to review the way statistics is being taught so that it can be mastered. Malaysia is no exception and recognises that statistics is a challenging subject to teach. Generally postgraduate students perceive it to be a difficult subject. Negative perceptions of statistics involve a complex set of emotional reactions which is likely to cause considerable discomfort and results in unfavourable consequences such as apprehension. The purpose of the study is to explore students’ initial perceptions of statistics and subsequently throughout the class for one semester for the subject “Statistics in Education”. This study uses qualitative methods comprising focus group interviews and individual face-to-face interviews. 24 postgraduate students enrolled in a Masters of Education program for the subject Statistics in Education at a public university participated in this study. Focus group interviews were conducted for duration of one hour per group in two groups of 12 students each. Based on the findings, students felt that knowledge of mathematics was an important prerequisite to perform statistics and to understand statistical concepts. Initial perceptions of statistics are related to calculation, memorizing formula, mastery of additional mathematics and in-depth contents, fear and anxiety, as well as a lack of interest. However, during class, it was felt that although the subject was difficult, the appropriate teaching approach made the students more confident and less burdened because they were asked to recap what had been taught during the previous lesson. The preferred characteristics of teachers and the teaching process in “Statistics in Education” involves the teaching approach, questioning techniques, relevance to daily life, interaction, humour, monitoring, being knowledgeable and patience. The implication of this study is that although statistics is perceived to be a difficult subject, appropriate teaching methods and pedagogical practices that emphasize outcome-based education need to be observed.