Preprint
The psychology of teaching statistics to psychology students: A feedback- informed redesign within a six-week immersive model (Practice Report)
SSRN, Vol.Series Paper No. 65
Southern Cross University Scholarship of Learning and Teaching, Elsevier
08/10/2026
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Abstract
Statistics is a required component of accredited psychology degrees but is often anticipated and perceived negatively by students. Statistics anxiety is well-documented in this cohort, and the challenge is sharpened in immersive block models where six-week terms leave little margin for early disengagement to be recovered. This practice report describes a feedback-informed redesign of STAT2002, a foundational statistics unit in the Bachelor of Psychological Science at Southern Cross University, delivered within the six-week Southern Cross Model. The 2023 cohort identified specific design problems: dense module content, inadequate rubrics, late introduction of APA conventions (the American Psychological Association's standards for presenting statistical results), rushed pacing, and insufficient feedback. The unit was redesigned for 2024 around four principles drawn from cognitive load theory and the affective literature on statistics learning: reducing extraneous cognitive load, increasing approachability through register and named affect, building intrinsic relevance through self-referential examples, and designing assessment so that task structure and reporting expectations accumulated over time. All eight unit feedback indicators improved, and the unit moved from below the Faculty of Health mean on seven of eight items to above on seven. The case is offered as a worked example of practice-based redesign for a cohort that arrives reluctant about statistics, in a sixweek immersive block model.
Details
- Title
- The psychology of teaching statistics to psychology students: A feedback- informed redesign within a six-week immersive model (Practice Report)
- Creators
- Royce L Willis - Southern Cross University
- Publication Details
- SSRN, Vol.Series Paper No. 65
- Series
- Southern Cross University Scholarship of Learning and Teaching
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Identifiers
- 991013406694202368
- Copyright
- Copyright © 2026 Elsevier Inc., its licensors, and contributors. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies. For all open access content, the relevant licensing terms apply.
- Academic Unit
- Psychology and Social Health; Faculty of Health
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Preprint
- Local Fields
- Original Research - SoLT