Nursing students' attitudes toward statistics: Effect of a biostatistics course and association with examination performance

SummaryBackgroundAlthough statistical knowledge and skills are necessary for promoting evidence-based practice, health sciences students have expressed anxiety about statistics courses, which may hinder their learning of statistical concepts.ObjectivesTo evaluate the effects of a biostatistics course on nursing students' attitudes toward statistics and to explore the association between these attitudes and their performance in the course examination.DesignOne-group quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test design.Setting and participantsUndergraduate nursing students of the fifth or higher semester of studies, who attended a biostatistics course.MethodsParticipants were asked to complete the pre-test and post-test forms of The Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics (SATS)-36 scale at the beginning and end of the course respectively. Pre-test and post-test scale scores were compared, while correlations between post-test scores and participants' examination performance were estimated.ResultsAmong 156 participants, post-test scores of the overall SATS-36 scale and of the Affect, Cognitive Competence, Interest and Effort components were significantly higher than pre-test ones, indicating that the course was followed by more positive attitudes toward statistics. Among 104 students who participated in the examination, higher post-test scores of the overall SATS-36 scale and of the Affect, Difficulty, Interest and Effort components were significantly but weakly correlated with higher examination performance.ConclusionsStudents' attitudes toward statistics can be improved through appropriate biostatistics courses, while positive attitudes contribute to higher course achievements and possibly to improved statistical skills in later professional life.