title: Nursing students' attitudes toward statistics: Effect of a biostatistics course and association with examination performance.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although 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.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To 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.
  
  
  METHODS
  One-group quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test design.
  
  
  METHODS
  Undergraduate nursing students of the fifth or higher semester of studies, who attended a biostatistics course.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants 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.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among 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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Students' 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.
authors.affiliation: Nursing Department, Technological Educational Institute of Western Greece, Patras, Greece. Electronic address: kiekkpan@otenet.gr.
authors.forename: Panagiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kiekkas
authors.affiliation: Nursing Department, Technological Educational Institute of Western Greece, Patras, Greece.
authors.forename: Aliki
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Panagiotarou
authors.affiliation: Nursing Department, Technological Educational Institute of Western Greece, Patras, Greece.
authors.forename: Alvaro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Malja
authors.affiliation: Nursing Department, Technological Educational Institute of Western Greece, Patras, Greece.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tahirai
authors.affiliation: Nursing Department, Technological Educational Institute of Western Greece, Patras, Greece.
authors.forename: Rountina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zykai
authors.affiliation: Nursing Department, Technological Educational Institute of Western Greece, Patras, Greece.
authors.forename: Nick
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bakalis
authors.affiliation: Nursing Department, Technological Educational Institute of Western Greece, Patras, Greece.
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Stefanopoulos
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D056808:Biostatistics; D003479:Curriculum; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Attitudes toward statistics; Biostatistics; Course; Examination performance; Nursing students