‘I See Numbers and Then All Goes Blank’: Student’s Statistics Anxiety, Challenges, Strategies

Seeing blank and confused looks are probably one of the initial observations of anyone who is new to teaching quantitative research methods to non-statistically-oriented students. This article is a reflective piece on my own experiences and challenges of teaching quantitative methods over the last t...

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Main Author: Sara Bamdad
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: De Montfort University 2025-06-01
Series:Studies in Empowering Education
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Online Access:https://account.see.demontfortuniversitypress.org/index.php/dmu-j-gpajepr/article/view/66
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author Sara Bamdad
author_facet Sara Bamdad
author_sort Sara Bamdad
collection DOAJ
description Seeing blank and confused looks are probably one of the initial observations of anyone who is new to teaching quantitative research methods to non-statistically-oriented students. This article is a reflective piece on my own experiences and challenges of teaching quantitative methods over the last two years in the UK Higher Education to students with social sciences and medical backgrounds. Whilst there are multiple strategies suggested in the literature in reducing student’s statistics anxiety, it seems that these strategies do not take student’s variability into consideration. Drawing on the studies that examine the environmental antecedents of statistics anxiety (e.g., age, gender, student’s status etc), I have adopted, adapted and tailored anxiety reduction strategies to tackle the barriers students face in their learning statistics and quantitative research methods. Interventions discussed in reducing student’s anxiety cannot be a ‘one-size-fits-all’. They will be more effective if they are specifically designed based on barriers students face in teaching and learning statistics.
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spelling doaj-art-805600ea29694d65af74ee2e0ab3c0622025-08-21T12:47:40ZengDe Montfort UniversityStudies in Empowering Education2977-47482025-06-01613310.3943/siee.6643‘I See Numbers and Then All Goes Blank’: Student’s Statistics Anxiety, Challenges, StrategiesSara Bamdad0Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, DMUSeeing blank and confused looks are probably one of the initial observations of anyone who is new to teaching quantitative research methods to non-statistically-oriented students. This article is a reflective piece on my own experiences and challenges of teaching quantitative methods over the last two years in the UK Higher Education to students with social sciences and medical backgrounds. Whilst there are multiple strategies suggested in the literature in reducing student’s statistics anxiety, it seems that these strategies do not take student’s variability into consideration. Drawing on the studies that examine the environmental antecedents of statistics anxiety (e.g., age, gender, student’s status etc), I have adopted, adapted and tailored anxiety reduction strategies to tackle the barriers students face in their learning statistics and quantitative research methods. Interventions discussed in reducing student’s anxiety cannot be a ‘one-size-fits-all’. They will be more effective if they are specifically designed based on barriers students face in teaching and learning statistics.https://account.see.demontfortuniversitypress.org/index.php/dmu-j-gpajepr/article/view/66teaching and learning statisticsanxiety reduction strategieshigher educationnon-statistically-oriented students
spellingShingle Sara Bamdad
‘I See Numbers and Then All Goes Blank’: Student’s Statistics Anxiety, Challenges, Strategies
Studies in Empowering Education
teaching and learning statistics
anxiety reduction strategies
higher education
non-statistically-oriented students
title ‘I See Numbers and Then All Goes Blank’: Student’s Statistics Anxiety, Challenges, Strategies
title_full ‘I See Numbers and Then All Goes Blank’: Student’s Statistics Anxiety, Challenges, Strategies
title_fullStr ‘I See Numbers and Then All Goes Blank’: Student’s Statistics Anxiety, Challenges, Strategies
title_full_unstemmed ‘I See Numbers and Then All Goes Blank’: Student’s Statistics Anxiety, Challenges, Strategies
title_short ‘I See Numbers and Then All Goes Blank’: Student’s Statistics Anxiety, Challenges, Strategies
title_sort i see numbers and then all goes blank student s statistics anxiety challenges strategies
topic teaching and learning statistics
anxiety reduction strategies
higher education
non-statistically-oriented students
url https://account.see.demontfortuniversitypress.org/index.php/dmu-j-gpajepr/article/view/66
work_keys_str_mv AT sarabamdad iseenumbersandthenallgoesblankstudentsstatisticsanxietychallengesstrategies