Chapter 5: Service-Learning Projects In College Introductory Statistics: Effects on Students’ Attitudes

The Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education College Report (Aliaga et al., 2010) encouraged the use of conceptual understanding, active learning, and the use of technology for analysis of real data in introductory statistics courses. Service-learning (SL) projects combine what students are learning in class with a project that serves their community (Hadlock, 2005). In this quasi-experimental mixed-methods study, SL and model-eliciting activity (MEA) projects were implemented in a college introductory statistics course. MEA was used as a comparison group. Data collected include preand postsurvey (Students’ Attitudes toward Statistics; Schau, 2003), demographic information, and students’ project reflections. In this chapter, we present the SL project and discuss the effects of SL on students’ attitudes toward their effort, difficulty, and cognitive competence in introductory statistics.