Background: Research shows distributed practice enhances learning and skill development, but less is known about the effect on perceptions and attitudes toward the material being learned.
Objective: This study examined whether distributed practice could improve performance and attitudes in statistics, a subject that students report finding unpleasant and anxiety-provoking.
Method: This quasi-experiment compared statistics students who received distributed practice with Excel throughout the semester to a control group without distributed practice. At the end of the semester, all students completed a major data analysis project with Excel and a self-report measure of their perceptions and attitudes toward the class and statistics.
Results: Significant results suggest students who received distributed practice: earned higher project grades; liked statistics more; and perceived the class to be more effective for knowledge and skill development, even though they found statistics to be more difficult than the control group.
Conclusion: This study suggests distributed practice helps improve students’ performance and attitudes toward statistics, even though they think it is difficult.
Teaching Implications: In addition to improving performance in challenging subjects, distributed practice may be used to help students appreciate and feel more favorably about classes they find difficult.