A structural equation model investigating the impact of tertiary students’ attitudes toward statistics, perceived competence at mathematics and engagement on statistics performance

Research in the field of statistics teaching has gained momentum, with numerous studies reporting that attitudes towards statistics are related to student performance in a statistics course. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of students' attitudes toward statistics, students’ perceived competence at mathematics, and students’ engagement in the learning process on their overall performance in a tertiary statistics course. The Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics (SATS28) was administered to 170 tertiary Early Childhood Education students in a large university in Greece. A Structural Equation Model was generated and a confirmatory factor analysis was performed resulting in a three-component structure being accepted. Path analysis revealed direct links between perceived competence at mathematics and the three attitudes components, as well as a direct effect of perceived competence at mathematics on students’ performance in the statistics course. Engagement in the learning process also had a direct impact on students’ performance.