The aim of this thesis was to study the use of concept mapping in an
undergraduate statistics course in order to examine the effects on statistics anxiety and
academic performance by means of a two-group quasi-experimental design. Two
undergraduate statistics classes were recruited for this study with one serving as the
treatment (concept map) group and one serving as the control (standard instruction)
group. It was hypothesized that the use of concept mapping would decrease the statistics
anxiety and improve the academic performance of students in the concept map group
when compared with the control group. The statistics anxiety of the concept map group
decreased more than that of the control group over the course of the semester, but the
group differences in anxiety were not found to be statistically significant. The academic
performance of both the concept map and control groups remained relatively stable
throughout the course of the semester, and the groups did not significantly differ on
academic performance measures. Significant differences were found between the
concept map and control group on the interpretation anxiety subscale of the statistical
anxiety measure used in this study and between the proficient and non-proficient concept
map user scores on the computational section of the third academic performance
measure. The study hypotheses were not supported. It is suggested that future research
include less concept map training, more specific instruction for concept map creation, and
investigation of particular student groups
