Student Concerns and Perceived Challenges in Introductory Statistics, How the Frequency Shifted during COVID-19, and How They Differ by Subgroups of Students

Figures & data

Fig. 1 Overview of the substudies presented within this article.

Table 1 Demographic characteristics of participants in both samples.

	Study 1a (Pre- and		Study 1b
	Mid- COVID Cohorts)		(Mid-COVID Cohort)
	N	%	n	%
Gender
Female	998	70.4	364	69.5
Male	372	26.3	144	27.5
Nonbinary	21	1.5	10	1.9
Missing	26	1.8	6	1.1
Race/ethnicity
Asian / Asian American	479	33.8	169	32.3
Black/ African American	56	4.0	25	4.8
Latinx/ Hispanic	298	21.0	103	19.7
White	380	26.8	133	25.4
Mixed	69	4.9	21	4.0
Other	83	5.9	44	8.4
Missing	52	3.7	29	5.5
URM Status
URM	482	34.0	187	35.7
Non-URM	882	62.2	308	58.8
Missing	53	3.7	29	5.5
Total	1417		524

Table 2 Frequency (in %) of reported concerns overall and broken down by pre-/mid-COVID cohorts, gender, and URM (Study 1b, n $=$ 1417).

		COVID		Gender			URM
	Overall	Pre	Mid	Male	Female	Nonbinary	Non-URM	URM
R Coding	30.2	36.0	23.7	25.2	32.0	25.0	31.5	28.1
Understanding	22.2	25.6	18.5	13.6	25.2	30.0	20.0	27.0
concepts
Workload	15.4	16.8	13.8	15.2	15.4	20.0	16.0	14.2
Lack of prior	14.7	16.6	12.4	8.8	17.0	15.0	16.0	12.1
knowledge
Time management	11.2	13.5	8.6	5.8	13.1	10.0	9.5	14.2
Performance	11.1	11.9	10.3	10.3	11.5	15.0	8.7	15.6
Virtual learning	5.1	1.3	9.4	4.8	5.2	10	4.2	6.9
Fixed Mindset	4.3	4.8	3.7	3.6	4.5	0	4.2	3.9
Memorizing	2.4	3.6	1.2	1.8	2.6	5	2.4	2.7
Motivation	2.1	2.7	1.5	0.9	2.6	0	2.6	1.4
Social comparison	2.1	3.4	0.7	0	2.8	5	2.4	1.6
Physical/mental health	2.1	2.1	2.0	1.5	2.1	5	2.1	1.6
Inaccessible resources	1.9	0.7	3.2	0.9	2.2	5.0	1.9	1.8
External obligations	1.9	2.2	1.5	1.2	2.1	5	2.2	1.4
Transfer student	1.5	2.8	0	1.2	1.7	0	1.9	0.9
Instructor	0.6	0.9	0.3	0.6	0.7	0	0.9	0.2
Personal struggles	0.4	0.3	0.5	0.3	0.4	0	0.5	0.2
unrelated to
health/finances
Group work	0.4	0.1	0.7	0.6	0.3	0	0.5	0
Pandemic related	0.2	0	0.5	0	0.3	0	0.2	0
concerns
Study environment	0.2	0.3	0	0	0.2	0	0.1	0.2
Non-belonging	0.1	0.1	0	0	0.1	0	0.1	0
& isolation
Financial burdens	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
No concerns	21.8	17.2	27.1	31.5	18.4	20.0	23.0	20.1

Table 3 Concerns (in %) by gender/URM and by pre-/mid-COVID cohort (Study 1a, n = 1417).

	By Gender				By URM Status
	Male		Female		Non-URM		URM
	Pre	Mid	Pre	Mid	Pre	Mid	Pre	Mid
R Coding	26.3	24.1	39.1	23.3	38.2	22.8	31.4	25.1
Understanding	16.0	11.5	28.3	21.4	22.9	16.4	31.4	22.9
Workload	15.4	14.9	17.6	12.8	16.7	15.0	17.6	11.0
Lack of prior knowledge	9.0	8.6	19.4	14.0	18.5	12.7	13.3	11.0
Time management	6.4	5.2	15.8	9.8	10.8	7.8	19.0	9.7
Performance	10.3	10.3	12.4	10.3	9.2	8.1	17.6	13.6
Virtual learning	0.6	8.6	1.6	9.6	1.1	8.4	1.4	11.9
Fixed Mindset	3.8	3.4	5.0	3.9	4.6	3.7	4.8	3.1
Memorizing	1.9	1.7	4.0	1.0	3.3	1.2	4.3	1.3
Motivation	13	0.6	3.2	2.0	3.1	2.0	1.9	0.9
Social comparison	0	0	4.2	1.0	3.5	0.9	2.9	0.4
Physical/mental health	2.6	0.6	1.8	2.5	2	2.3	1.9	1.3
Inaccessible resources	0.6	1.1	0.8	3.9	0.7	3.5	1.0	2.6
External obligations	1.9	0.6	2.4	1.7	2.6	1.7	1.4	1.3
Transfer student	2.6	0	3.0	0	3.3	0	1.9	0
Instructor	0	1.1	1.2	0	1.3	0.3	0	0.4
Personal struggles
unrelated to
health or finances	0.6	0	0.2	0.7	0.4	0.6	0	0.4
Group work	0	1.1	0.2	0.5	0.2	0.9	0	0
Pandemic related	0	0	0	0.7	0	0.6	0	0
concerns
Study environment	0	0	0.4	0	0.2	0	0.5	0
Non-belonging	0	0			0.2	0	0	0
& isolation
Financial burdens	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
No concerns	33.3	28.9	12.2	26.0	18.5	28.8	14.8	25.1

Table 4 Frequency (in %) of mentioned concerns and perceived challenges for the subsample of students (Study 1b, $n=524$).

	Overall subsample		Concerns by gender			Challenges by gender			Concerns by URM status		Challenges by URM status
	Concerns	Challenges	Male	Female	Nonbinary	Male	Female	Nonbinary	Non-URM	URM	Non-URM	URM
R Coding	22.4	12.3	24.5	21.2	30.0	15.5	10.7	11.1	21.5	23.6	14.5	6.6
Understanding concepts	16.3	9.9	10.1	18.7	20.0	5.8	11.7	0	15.2	19.2	11.2	7.2
Workload	12.9	35.7	12.9	12.5	30.0	34	35.5	55.6	14.6	8.8	31.7	42.1
Lack of prior knowledge	11.5	1.9	7.9	12.7	20.0	1.0	2.3	0	12.3	9.3	2.4	0.7
Time management	8.3	4.1	5.0	9.3	20.0	3.9	4.3	0	7.9	8.8	3.2	5.3
Performance	8.5	0.5	8.6	8.8	0	0	0.3	11.1	7.9	9.9	0	1.3
Virtual learning	6.7	12.8	5.0	7.4	10.0	14.6	12.0	11.1	6.3	8.2	12.9	12.5
No concerns	29.8	21.4	32.4	28.9	20.0	20.4	22.4	11.1	31.1	28.6	12.3	19.7

Table 5 Frequency (in number and %) of mentioned concerns and perceived challenges based on Consistency Indicator (Study 1b, n = 524. Note: includes only students who provided responses for both open-ended questions).

	Concern	Challenge	Not mentioned	Emergent	Eliminated	Consistent
R coding	90 (22%)	50 (11%)	272 (68%)	39 (10%)	79 (20%)	11 (3%)
					(88% of 90)	(12% of 90)
Understanding Concepts	72 (18%)	37 (9%)	302 (75%)	27 (7%)	62 (16%)	10 (3%)
					(86% of 72)	(14% of 72)
Workload	49 (12%)	144 (36%)	229 (57%)	123 (31%)	28 (7%)	21 (5%)
					(57% of 49)	(43% of 49)
Lack of prior knowledge	46 (11%)	8 (2%)	350 (87%)	5 (1%)	43 (11%)	3 (1%)
					(93% of 46)	(7% of 46)
Performance	35 (9%)	2 (1%)	364 (91%)	2 (0.5%)	35 (9%)	0 (0%)
					(100% of 35)	(0% of 35)
Time management	36 (9%)	17 (4%)	349 (87%)	16 (4%)	35 (9%)	1 (<1%)
					(97% of 36)	(3% of 36)
Virtual learning	26 (6%)	51 (13%)	335 (84%)	40 (10%)	15 (4%)	11 (3%)
					(58% of 26)	(42% of 26)

Table 6 Frequency of mentioned concerns and perceived challenges based on Consistency Indicator by Gender and URM (Study 1b, n = 524. Note: includes only students who provided responses for both open-ended questions).

		Concern	Challenge	Not mentioned	Emergent	Eliminated	Consistent
R coding	Male	28 (28%)	15 (15%)	63 (62%)	10 (10%)	23 (23%)	5 (5%)
						(82% of 28)	(18% of 28)
	Female	58 (20%)	32 (11%)	204 (70%)	27 (9%)	53 (18%)	5 (2%)
						(91% of 58)	(9% of 58)
	Non-URM	55 (23%)	36 (15%)	160 (85.6%)	29 (12%)	48 (20%)	7 (3%)
						(87% of 55)	(13% of 55)
	URM	33 (22%)	10 (7%)	108 (73%)	7 (5%)	30 (20%)	3 (2%)
						(91% of 33)	(9% of 33)
Understanding concepts	Male	10 (10%)	6 (6%)	86 (85%)	5 (5%)	9 (9%)	1 (1%)
						(90% of 10)	(10% of 10)
	Female	60 (21%)	31 (11%)	207 (72%)	22 (8%)	51 (18%)	9 (3%)
						(85% of 60)	(15% of 60)
	Non-URM	41 (17%)	27 (11%)	183 (75%)	20 (8%)	34 (14%)	7 (3%)
						(100% of 34)	(21% of 34)
	URM	31 (21%)	10 (7%)	110 (74%)	7 (5%)	28 (19%)	3 (2%)
						(90% of 31)	(10% of 31)
Workload	Male	12 (12%)	34 (34%)	58 (57%)	31 (31%)	9 (9%)	3 (3%)
						(75% of 12)	(25% of 12)
	Female	35 (12%)	104 (36%)	167 (58%)	87 (30%)	18 (6%)	17 (6%)
						(51% of 35)	(49% of 35)
	Non-URM	33 (13%)	79 (32%)	145 (59%)	66 (27%)	20 (8%)	13 (5%)
						(60% of 33)	(40% of 33)
	URM	14 (9%)	62 (42%)	78 (53%)	56 (38%)	8 (5%)	6 (4%)
						(57% of 14)	(43% of 14)
Lack prior knowledge	Male	7 (7%)	1 (1%)	93 (92)	1 (1%)	7 (7%)	0 (0%)
						(100% of 7)	(7% of 7)
	Female	37 (13%)	7 (2%)	248 (86%)	4 (1%)	34 (12%)	3 (1%)
						(92% of 37)	(8% of 37)
	Non-URM	31 (13%)	6 (3%)	209 (86%)	4 (2%)	29 (12%)	2 (1%)
						(94% of 31)	(6% of 31)
	URM	12 (8%)	1 (1%)	136 (92%)	0 (0%)	11 (7%)	1 (1%)
						(91% of 12)	(8% of 12)
Performance	Male	10 (10%)	0 (0%)	81 (80%)	0 (0%)	10 (10%)	0 (0%)
						(100% of 10)	(0% of 10)
	Female	25 (9%)	1 (<1%)	263 (91%)	1 (<1%)	25 (9%)	0 (0%)
						(100% of 25)	(0% of 25)
	Non-URM	21 (9%)	0 (0%)	223 (91%)	0 (0%)	21 (9%)	0 (0%)
						(100% of 21)	(0% of 21)
	URM	14 (10%)	2 (1%)	132 (89%)	2 (1%)	14 (10%)	0 (0%)
						(100% of 14)	(0% of 14)
Time management	Male	6 (6%)	4 (4%)	91 (90%)	4 (4%)	6 (6%)	0 (0%)
						(100% of 29)	(0% of 29)
	Female	29 (10%)	13 (4%)	248 (86%)	12 (4%)	28 (10%)	1 (<1%)
						(97% of 29)	(3% of 29)
	Non-URM	19 (7%)	8 (3%)	218 (89%)	7 (3%)	18 (7%)	1 (0.4%)
						(95% of 19)	(5% of 19)
	URM	15 (10%)	8 (5%)	125 (85%)	8 (5%)	15 (10%)	0 (0%)
						(100% of 15)	(0% of 15)
Virtual learning	Male	5 (5%)	14 (14%)	83 (82%)	13 (13%)	4 (4%)	1 (1%)
						(80% of 5)	(20% of 5)
	Female	21 (8%)	36 (13%)	242 (84%)	26 (9%)	11 (4%)	10 (4%)
						52% of 21)	(48% of 21)
	Non-URM	15 (6%)	32 (13%)	207 (85%)	22 (9%)	5 (2%)	10 (4%)
						(33% of 15)	(67% of 15)
	URM	11 (8%)	19 (13%)	119 (80%)	18 (12%)	10 (7%)	1 (1%)
						(91% of 11)	(9% of 11)