# Arab and Malay Students’ Attitudes toward Statistics and Their Learning Styles: A Rasch Measurement Approach

Authors: Aisha Fayomi; Zamalia Mahmud; Ali Algarni; Abdullah M. Almarashi
Journal: Mathematical Problems in Engineering
 (2022)

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## Abstract

Students’ learning of statistics has been studied from a variety of angles, and this study is no different. The main purpose is to compare the Malay and Arab students’ attitudes toward learning statistics and their learning styles in understanding statistics. A survey questionnaire and face-to-face interview techniques were used to elicit information from 150 students based on the cohort. They were asked about how they learn to solve statistical problems based on Kolb’s four learning cycles: feeling, reflective observation, thinking, and doing. Attitude responses were numerically recorded based on a five-point Likert scale, while preference for learning styles was recorded as 1 (Do and Feel) or 0 (Watch and Think). Both attitude and learning style data were combined and subjected to Rasch analysis. Results show that a majority of the Arab and Malay students have moderate to high positive attitude toward learning statistics. Generally, students from both cultures are classified as the “Accommodating” type with a preference for doing and feeling from the experience of doing statistical problems. Arab students are classified as the “Assimilating” type with a preference for thinking, reflecting, and learning from observation, while Malay students are classified as the “Converging” type with a preference for thinking and doing statistical exercises.


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## Body

## 1. Introduction

Statistics researchers and educators have performed several studies on students’ attitudes toward statistics and their influence on their statistical learning [1–3]. Despite the focus on the relevance of statistics, students continue to struggle with understanding them. The study in [4] said that the targeted outcomes of basic statistics courses should include students’ competence and conviction in their capacity to master statistical skills and use them in a real-world situation.But while knowing the importance of being able to statistically think, many students in the social sciences, arts, and management sciences cannot exhibit this ability. Some people are hesitant to learn statistics because they are afraid of numbers and formulae, even if they are aware of the relevance and necessity of its usage later [5]. Student awareness of their statistical thinking handicap [6] or the degree of their statistical literacy is key to ensuring that they are aware of their statistical thinking level and understanding. This knowledge would allow them to develop the necessary statistical abilities, tools, and information.In higher education, the potential instructional information regarding students’ learning styles has been highlighted. The study in [7] found that “there are obvious connections between how an individual conceptualizes learning, the methods through which the individual strives to learn, and the consequences of the individual's attempts to learn” [8]. Learning style choices have an influence on how students respond to educational programs or curricula in terms of comprehending their goals and objectives. According to [9], students may be better equipped to adapt to diverse settings if they are aware of their learning styles. The study in [10] separated learning styles into three interconnected components: information processing, instructional preferences, and learning methods. When it comes to learning approaches, the work in [11] argues that pupils who are familiar with a range of tactics are more likely to pick the right one.Your cultural background might also influence your learning style. An individual’s cultural background may also be influenced based on learning styles. According to [12], learning methods related to diverse cultural backgrounds have a role in maximizing academic success; high achievers report using more strategies than lesser achievers [13], but these strategies may vary among students [14]. The study in [15] found that persons in nations with high levels of gender equality, in-group collectivism, and institutional collectivism are likely to have a more abstract learning style. This is confirmed further by [16–18], who demonstrated that learners’ beliefs about their chances of success are influenced by the learning techniques they employ.Even considerable research has been conducted to explore cultural variations across nations [19], and cultural differences in thinking and learning statistics have received less attention. This study will look into how students from the Arab and Malay cultures understand statistical concepts. Kolb’s learning type model, which is based on four learning cycles, namely, feeling-concrete experience (CE), watching-reflective observation (RO), thinking-abstract conceptualization (AC), and doing-active experimentation (AE), will be used to assist learning style identification (AE). This study investigates students of Arab and Malay cultures’ attitudes about studying statistics and learning methods.The main purpose is to compare the Malay and Arab students’ attitudes toward learning statistics and their learning styles in understanding statistics.The following are the objectives of the study:(1)
To describe whether students of Arab and Malay cultures differ in their perceived attitude toward learning statistics(2)
To describe whether students of Arab and Malay cultures show similar or different learning styles in learning statistics(3)
To compare certain attitudes of Arab and Malay students based on item characteristic curves


## 2. Attitude toward Statistics

Egyptian instructors enrolled in an introductory statistics course utilized the Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics (SATS) to examine the relationship between attitudes toward statistics, anxiety, mathematical talent, and statistics achievement. The instructors’ statistical success was evaluated using ten open-ended questions that included descriptive and inferential statistics. According to the findings of the study, instructors in Egypt have a minor beneficial influence on attitudes toward statistics on the statistical success [20]. Another study [21] concentrated on four major components to define instructors’ views about statistics: affect, cognitive competency, value, and challenge. Based on the SATS, the study looked at 367 preservice teachers at the Faculty of Education, University of Lleida, Spain, and their attitudes about statistics, anxiety, mathematical ability, and statistics success. The SATS questionnaire, which consisted of 28 items on a five-point Likert scale (from 1 “Strongly Disagree” to 5 “Strongly Agree”), was utilized in the study. According to the findings of the survey, participants regard statistics as little challenging, with small respect for the utility and significance of the statistics. Their personal and professional lives are also heavily influenced by statistics. They also have a positive attitude toward statistics education.There were significant differences between current and future elementary school teachers’ perceptions of statistics [22]. Instructors were evaluated based on their gender, a number of prior statistics courses, specialization (the topic that the teacher teaches), and teaching experience using the EAEE scale instrument. EAEE is a mixture of the Statistics Attitude Survey (SAS) [23], the Attitudes Toward Statistics (ATS) [24], and the Spanish scale [25], with 25 items that include both positive and negative items to prevent acquiescence bias. The EAEE instrument includes a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1-“Strongly Disagree,” through 3-“Neutral,” to 5-“Strongly Agree,” on which respondents must indicate their degree of agreement or disagreement with the items.The study indicated that older instructors exclude statistical subjects from their instruction as compared to younger teachers because they find the subject difficult to teach. Furthermore, instructors who have a negative attitude toward statistics do not use statistics in their professional activities.In this study, the SATS scales were modified in the survey instrument to assess students of Arab and Malay cultures’ attitudes toward statistics learning. Many studies on how students learn statistics have been conducted in a variety of domains and cognitive elements of learning [26, 27]. Students start learning processes with varying goals and preferences, which allow them to attain satisfying learning results via several learning routes [28].Understanding statistical principles is the foundation for understanding statistics. Numerous studies on statistical reasoning (e.g., on variation and sample distributions) have shed light on how students learn to use statistical reasoning [28–31]. Statistical literacy, statistical reasoning, and statistical thinking are increasingly recognized as three separate but related cognitive processes in statistics education research today. It is possible to have a certain level of literacy, logic, and reasoning even before formal statistics schooling [32].Reference [33] used statistical reasoning assessment (SRA) to evaluate students’ reasoning ability on probability subjects. Statistics concept inventory (SCI), on the other hand, was created to test engineering students’ statistics comprehension [34]. In their Assessment Resource Tools for Improving Statistical Thinking (ARTIST) initiative, [35] designed an online test called Comprehensive Assessment of Outcomes in Statistics (CAOS). In basic statistics classes, CAOS aims to test students’ understanding of statistical concepts.This study, on the other hand, took a different approach by incorporating Kolb’s learning model into statistics to identify students’ learning styles based on four learning cycles, in which Kolb relates abstract conceptualization (thinking) to concrete experience (feeling) and reflective observation (watching) to active experimentation (doing). Figure1 depicts one such case. Individuals’ learning styles may be determined using the two-by-two matrix view. For example, a person with a dominant learning style of “doing” rather than “watching” the task and “feeling” rather than “thinking” about the experience will have a learning style that combines and represents those processes, namely, an “Accommodating” learning style.Figure 1
Kolb’s learning style model.


## 3. Methods

A survey was conducted on a total of 150 undergraduate students who enrolled in a statistics subject at a public university in Selangor, Malaysia, and a public university in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The students were from various backgrounds of studies and were taught by statistics lecturers in the respective countries. The investigation only focused on a selected cohort and measured the students’ attitude and their styles in learning statistics at their respective universities. They were interviewed after the tenth week of learning the subject.


## 4. Instruments

In this investigation, two types of equipment were used. The first tool was a questionnaire on people’s attitudes about statistics learning. It comprised of 28 items that assessed students’ perceived attitudes toward learning probability concepts on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (“Strongly Disagree”) to 5 (“Strongly Agree”). The attitude questions about statistics were modified from the Student’s Attitude Towards Learning Statistics questionnaire [36] and the Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics (SATS) scale [37]. Based on the students’ learning environment, the original conceptions of SATS and the Student’s Attitude Towards Learning Statistics questionnaire were updated. Figure 2 depicts the tool used to assess students’ attitudes about learning statistics.Figure 2
Perceived attitude toward learning statistic items.As for the second instrument, it was based on Kolb’s learning style model, which was used to evaluate students’ learning styles in statistics classes (Figure3).Figure 3
Instrument to gauge students’ learning styles in statistics.Figure3 shows Kolb’s learning model chart that was used in this study, based on the student’s responses to Kolb’s learning chart and the following questions:(i)
How do you begin a task?(ii)
How have you emotionally reacted to the experience?The replies of the students were tallied and classified based on four potential combinations, namely, watch-think, watch-feel, do-think, and do-feel [38]. As stated in Table 1, the combination would be cross-tabulated depending on each student’s response.Table 1
Characteristics of students’ learning styles based on Kolb’s learning model.
Do you prefer to think or feel?ThinkFeelDo you prefer to watch or do?Watch45 (30%)20 (13%)Do70 (47%)15 (10%)A majority of the students (47%) prefer to think through while learning a new topic in the class and then learn by doing the exercise or solving the problems later. About 30% initially prefer to watch and think through the lessons instead of doing it. Based on Kolb’s learning model, those students were categorized as having “converging” and “assimilating” characteristics, respectively.


## 5. Rasch Measurement Model

All data gathered from the instruments were subjected to Rasch measurement using Winsteps 3.90.2. Rasch rating scale and Rasch dichotomous models were used in the analysis of data gathered from the questionnaire. A person’s logit score may, therefore, be used to assess a person’s ability, and an item’s logit score can be used to evaluate the difficulty of an item. Because a person’s competence is defined by the proportion of correct answers and an item’s difficulty is determined by the proportion of incorrect answers, both estimations are connected and may be mathematically expressed, i.e., the Rasch dichotomous measurement model, as follows:(1)xni=1Bn,Di=eBn−Di1+eBn−Di.A Rasch model analysis determines how well the data match the Rasch model. It considers two parameters: the complexity of the test item and the person’s aptitude. By examining the gap between the two parameters, it is believed that these parameters are interdependent. A probabilistic technique is used to achieve the separation, in which a person’s raw test result is transformed into a success-to-failure ratio and subsequently into logarithmic chances that the individual would properly answer the items. A logit scale is used to depict this, and it may be displayed on a single scale ruler.The model expresses the likelihood of getting the right response (1 rather than 0) as a function of the amount of the difference between the person’s ability (Bn) and the item’s difficulty (Di) (i). The Rasch model is used to compute a person’s skills and item difficulties and then plot the person’s abilities and item difficulties on the same scale. The model states that the likelihood of a person succeeding on a particular item is an exponential function of the gap between that person’s aptitude and the difficulty of the item [39].The Rasch model gives two sorts of indicators to assist researchers in determining whether there is sufficient item spread and sufficient spreadability among individuals. The person dependability index reflects the likelihood of replicability of the person ordering if the sample individuals were given a different set of items measuring the same construct [40]. It also necessitates a wide enough range of skills throughout the sample. People with more of the trait of interest should be given a higher score [41]. In analyzing data quality, infit and outfit mean square fit statistics are used to see whether answers deviate from what the Rasch model predicts for each item and person. A substantial number of unexpected replies are indicated by high mean square fit statistics. High person mean square scores suggest that test takers who filled in replies at random had exceptional knowledge gaps. Item infit mean square values between 1.5 and 2.0 are deemed unproductive for measurement, whereas values more than 2.0 are regarded as deteriorating [40].The Rasch measurement seeks to achieve generalizability while avoiding bias due to characteristics such as gender and race. A Rasch analysis calculates the anticipated value of an item for people of the same skill level. These projected values may then be compared to observed values for various groups of people (for example, men and women, or different groups of classes).


### 5.1. Wright Map

The Wright map displays the distribution of person measure (left side of logit ruler) and item measure (right side of logit ruler) based on the polytomous Rasch model. When a higher person logit is calibrated against a lower item logit, the probability that the person has a positive attitude toward learning statistics is at least 0.5. The probability is less than 0.5 if a lower person logit is calibrated against a higher item logit.


## 5.1. Wright Map

The Wright map displays the distribution of person measure (left side of logit ruler) and item measure (right side of logit ruler) based on the polytomous Rasch model. When a higher person logit is calibrated against a lower item logit, the probability that the person has a positive attitude toward learning statistics is at least 0.5. The probability is less than 0.5 if a lower person logit is calibrated against a higher item logit.


## 6. Data Structure in Rasch Measurement

Data structure for Rasch analysis includes data preparation in Excel format as in formatted text (space delimited). It was then transformed to Winsteps 3.90.2 __.prn file that was used to execute the necessary Rasch outputs. Extract of the Excel data structure of the questionnaire items and __.prn file are shown in Figures4 and 5, respectively. ___.prn file in Figure 5 is the base Winsteps program used to execute the necessary Winsteps outputs.Figure 4
Excel data structure as in formatted text.Figure 5
Winsteps 3.90.2 __.prn file for a data structure.


## 7. Results and Discussion

### 7.1. Objective 1 and Objective 2

The Wright map in Figure6 displays the attitude responses and learning styles of Arab students. The person mean logit at 0.1 is slightly above and very close to the item mean logit at 0.0. This indicates that Arab students display a high positive attitude toward learning statistics but at varying probability levels. In terms of their learning styles, a majority of the students (84%) prefer to learn statistics by feeling and doing the problems. In other words, the probability of the students preferring to solve statistical problems by doing and understanding is between 0.46 and 0.76, respectively. On the other hand, only about 12% of the students prefer to watch and think about how other people (lecturer and fellow students) solve the problem, with a probability of between 0.24 and 0.55, respectively. Clearly, a majority of Arab students prefer to learn statistics by doing and solving problems.Figure 6
Wright map on the distribution of attitude toward statistics and learning styles of Arab students.Figure7 shows the probability that the Arab students perceive themselves as confident (C13r), do not experience anxiety (C9R), and know the direction of the subject (C14r) is at least 0.85. A probability of at least 0.72 is observed for students who do not experience stress in learning statistics (C12r), do not find difficulties in learning statistics (C16r), and do not make lots of errors in statistical calculations (C15r). The probability that statistics is useful for solving real-life problems (C5), useful in their lives (C6), relevant to their profession (C7), and enjoyable (C11) is at least 0.65, while the probability that the students perceive learning statistics as exciting (C1) and useful for making important decisions (C8) is at least 0.65.Figure 7
Attitude probability scores for Arab students’ sample.A summary of the 20 things that were measured is shown in Table2.Table 2
Summary statistics of Arab pupils’ assessed attitude items.
Total scoreCountMeasureModel SEInfit MNSQInfitZSTDOutfitMNSQInfit ZSTDMean166.049.90.000.221.000.21.000.1SD71.20.30.600.030.130.90.130.9Max.218.050.01.030.291.281.81.271.8Min.23.049.0−0.930.200.77−1.40.76−1.4Real MSE0.23True SD0.55Separation2.41Reliability0.85Model RMSE0.22True SD0.55Separation2.47Reliability0.86Table2 shows item reliability of 0.85, which indicates that the items are replicable for measuring the same attitude traits over a suitable range of Arab students’ abilities. The mean infit and outfit for item mean square are both 1.00 logit, with z-scores of 0.2 and 0.1, respectively. The item mean logit is set to 0, and the item separation index is 2.41. This implies that things are divided into two difficulty levels.It is shown in Figure8 that the polytomous Rasch model is used to create a Wright map, where the person and item measurements are spread along the logit ruler. When a higher person logit is calibrated against a lower item logit, the probability that the person has a positive attitude toward learning statistics is at least 0.5. The probability is less than 0.5 if a lower person logit is calibrated against a higher item logit. The map shows that the person mean logit at 0.3 is slightly above the item mean logit at 0.0. This indicates that Malay students have a moderately positive attitude toward learning statistics.Figure 8
Wright map on the distribution of attitude toward statistics and learning styles of Malay students.A majority of the Malay students (89%) perceive that statistics is useful in solving real-life problems (C5) and that it is useful for making important decisions (C8). About 75% perceive that statistics is useful in their lives (C6), but at the same time they have anxiety while learning statistics; 71% are not under stress while learning statistics (C12r), and they do not find it difficult to understand statistical concepts (C16r). On the contrary, at least 75% often feel tired and not excited when learning statistics.In terms of learning styles in statistics, a majority of the Malay students prefer to feel the experience of doing the statistical problems (Feel and Do), which categorizes them under the “Accommodating” type of learners, compared to thinking and watching what other people do (Think and Watch), which would have categorized them under the “Assimilating” type of learners.A perusal of the Wright map in Figure6 shows that the Malay students’ attitude toward learning statistics is moderately distributed across the map between −0.5 and +1.5 logit. The distribution of attitude responses shows that the students are fairly spread out in terms of their attitude, depending on the items that they responded to. A majority of the students feel that learning statistics is tiring, less exciting, and sometimes boring. In spite of these feelings, a majority acknowledge that learning statistics is useful in solving real-life problems and that it is useful for making important decisions.Table3 shows item reliability of 0.91, which indicates that the items are replicable for measuring the same attitude traits over a suitable range of the students’ abilities. The mean infit for item mean square is 1.00 logit, and the mean outfit is 1.01 logit, with both infit and outfit z-scores at −0.1. The item mean logit is set at 0, and the separation index for item is 3.25. This indicates that the items are separated into three levels of the item’s difficulty.Table 3
Summary statistics of measured attitude items of Malay students.
Total scoreCountMeasureModel SEInfit MNSQInfit ZSTDOutfit MNSQInfit ZSTDMean149.645.00.000.171.00−0.11.01−0.1SD22.20.00.610.010.311.40.321.5Max.184.045.01.400.202.043.72.003.6Min.96.045.0−1.040.160.58−2.20.52−2.6Real MSE0.18True SD0.59Separation3.25Reliability0.91Model RMSE0.17True SD0.59Separation3.48Reliability0.92


### 7.2. Objective 3

To compare certain attitude of the students based on item characteristic curves, the following results are described. A summary of 20 measured items is shown in Table3.Technically, the item characteristic curve (ICC) is used to describe the distribution of the response pattern of the students toward the items based on the logit and item scores. In Figure9, the expected and empirical item characteristic curves are constructed to observe the attitude of Arab students between different attitude items. A cursory look at the ICC shows that item C9r (“I do not have anxiety while learning statistics”) is easier to endorse compared to item C3 (“I never get tired of learning statistics”) because the response distribution for item C9r is located above the response distribution for item C3. A comparison of items C3 and C9r shows that there are more students who get tired of learning statistics compared to those who experience anxiety while learning statistics.Figure 9
Attitude logit scores for Arab sample.In Figure10, a comparison of two items shows that item C12r (“I am under stress while learning statistics”) is easier to endorse compared to item C4 (“I do not feel bored when learning statistics”) because the response distribution for item C12r is located above the response distribution for item C4. This indicates that students are under stress while learning statistics; however, they do not feel bored learning about statistics.Figure 10
Wright map on the distribution of attitude toward statistics and learning styles of Malay students.


## 7.1. Objective 1 and Objective 2

The Wright map in Figure6 displays the attitude responses and learning styles of Arab students. The person mean logit at 0.1 is slightly above and very close to the item mean logit at 0.0. This indicates that Arab students display a high positive attitude toward learning statistics but at varying probability levels. In terms of their learning styles, a majority of the students (84%) prefer to learn statistics by feeling and doing the problems. In other words, the probability of the students preferring to solve statistical problems by doing and understanding is between 0.46 and 0.76, respectively. On the other hand, only about 12% of the students prefer to watch and think about how other people (lecturer and fellow students) solve the problem, with a probability of between 0.24 and 0.55, respectively. Clearly, a majority of Arab students prefer to learn statistics by doing and solving problems.Figure 6
Wright map on the distribution of attitude toward statistics and learning styles of Arab students.Figure7 shows the probability that the Arab students perceive themselves as confident (C13r), do not experience anxiety (C9R), and know the direction of the subject (C14r) is at least 0.85. A probability of at least 0.72 is observed for students who do not experience stress in learning statistics (C12r), do not find difficulties in learning statistics (C16r), and do not make lots of errors in statistical calculations (C15r). The probability that statistics is useful for solving real-life problems (C5), useful in their lives (C6), relevant to their profession (C7), and enjoyable (C11) is at least 0.65, while the probability that the students perceive learning statistics as exciting (C1) and useful for making important decisions (C8) is at least 0.65.Figure 7
Attitude probability scores for Arab students’ sample.A summary of the 20 things that were measured is shown in Table2.Table 2
Summary statistics of Arab pupils’ assessed attitude items.
Total scoreCountMeasureModel SEInfit MNSQInfitZSTDOutfitMNSQInfit ZSTDMean166.049.90.000.221.000.21.000.1SD71.20.30.600.030.130.90.130.9Max.218.050.01.030.291.281.81.271.8Min.23.049.0−0.930.200.77−1.40.76−1.4Real MSE0.23True SD0.55Separation2.41Reliability0.85Model RMSE0.22True SD0.55Separation2.47Reliability0.86Table2 shows item reliability of 0.85, which indicates that the items are replicable for measuring the same attitude traits over a suitable range of Arab students’ abilities. The mean infit and outfit for item mean square are both 1.00 logit, with z-scores of 0.2 and 0.1, respectively. The item mean logit is set to 0, and the item separation index is 2.41. This implies that things are divided into two difficulty levels.It is shown in Figure8 that the polytomous Rasch model is used to create a Wright map, where the person and item measurements are spread along the logit ruler. When a higher person logit is calibrated against a lower item logit, the probability that the person has a positive attitude toward learning statistics is at least 0.5. The probability is less than 0.5 if a lower person logit is calibrated against a higher item logit. The map shows that the person mean logit at 0.3 is slightly above the item mean logit at 0.0. This indicates that Malay students have a moderately positive attitude toward learning statistics.Figure 8
Wright map on the distribution of attitude toward statistics and learning styles of Malay students.A majority of the Malay students (89%) perceive that statistics is useful in solving real-life problems (C5) and that it is useful for making important decisions (C8). About 75% perceive that statistics is useful in their lives (C6), but at the same time they have anxiety while learning statistics; 71% are not under stress while learning statistics (C12r), and they do not find it difficult to understand statistical concepts (C16r). On the contrary, at least 75% often feel tired and not excited when learning statistics.In terms of learning styles in statistics, a majority of the Malay students prefer to feel the experience of doing the statistical problems (Feel and Do), which categorizes them under the “Accommodating” type of learners, compared to thinking and watching what other people do (Think and Watch), which would have categorized them under the “Assimilating” type of learners.A perusal of the Wright map in Figure6 shows that the Malay students’ attitude toward learning statistics is moderately distributed across the map between −0.5 and +1.5 logit. The distribution of attitude responses shows that the students are fairly spread out in terms of their attitude, depending on the items that they responded to. A majority of the students feel that learning statistics is tiring, less exciting, and sometimes boring. In spite of these feelings, a majority acknowledge that learning statistics is useful in solving real-life problems and that it is useful for making important decisions.Table3 shows item reliability of 0.91, which indicates that the items are replicable for measuring the same attitude traits over a suitable range of the students’ abilities. The mean infit for item mean square is 1.00 logit, and the mean outfit is 1.01 logit, with both infit and outfit z-scores at −0.1. The item mean logit is set at 0, and the separation index for item is 3.25. This indicates that the items are separated into three levels of the item’s difficulty.Table 3
Summary statistics of measured attitude items of Malay students.
Total scoreCountMeasureModel SEInfit MNSQInfit ZSTDOutfit MNSQInfit ZSTDMean149.645.00.000.171.00−0.11.01−0.1SD22.20.00.610.010.311.40.321.5Max.184.045.01.400.202.043.72.003.6Min.96.045.0−1.040.160.58−2.20.52−2.6Real MSE0.18True SD0.59Separation3.25Reliability0.91Model RMSE0.17True SD0.59Separation3.48Reliability0.92


## 7.2. Objective 3

To compare certain attitude of the students based on item characteristic curves, the following results are described. A summary of 20 measured items is shown in Table3.Technically, the item characteristic curve (ICC) is used to describe the distribution of the response pattern of the students toward the items based on the logit and item scores. In Figure9, the expected and empirical item characteristic curves are constructed to observe the attitude of Arab students between different attitude items. A cursory look at the ICC shows that item C9r (“I do not have anxiety while learning statistics”) is easier to endorse compared to item C3 (“I never get tired of learning statistics”) because the response distribution for item C9r is located above the response distribution for item C3. A comparison of items C3 and C9r shows that there are more students who get tired of learning statistics compared to those who experience anxiety while learning statistics.Figure 9
Attitude logit scores for Arab sample.In Figure10, a comparison of two items shows that item C12r (“I am under stress while learning statistics”) is easier to endorse compared to item C4 (“I do not feel bored when learning statistics”) because the response distribution for item C12r is located above the response distribution for item C4. This indicates that students are under stress while learning statistics; however, they do not feel bored learning about statistics.Figure 10
Wright map on the distribution of attitude toward statistics and learning styles of Malay students.


## 8. Conclusions

Research studies on students’ attitudes toward statistics and their learning styles in statistics have been investigated from various perspectives. This study used a psychometric approach based on the Rasch models to explore both Malay and Arab students’ attitudes toward statistics and their learning styles. The connections between the students’ attitudes and their learning styles and the fact that they are from different cultural backgrounds have shown some similarities and differences in the students’ attitude toward statistics and their learning patterns in statistics. A comparison of the item reliability index shows that Malay students have a slightly higher item reliability index compared to Arab students, which indicates that the attitude items are more agreeable to the Malay students compared to the Arab students, given their range of abilities. Generally, students from both the Arab and Malay cultures are classified as the “Accommodating” type with a preference for doing (active experimentation) and feeling from the experience of doing/solving statistical exercises. However, Arab students are also classified as the “Assimilating” type with a preference for thinking, reflecting, and learning from observation, while Malay students are classified as the “Converging” type with a preference for thinking (abstract conceptualization) and doing statistical exercises (active experimentation).



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