The Relationship Between Undergraduate Science Education Students Achievement In Statistics And Their Prior Secondary School Mathematics Achievement.

Abstract The purpose of this research is to examine the nature of the relationships between undergraduate education students previous experiences of maths and their achievement in statistics course. Thirty undergraduate students were conveniently sampled who were doing a course on research methods and statistics course. The study adopted the correlational research design. Data were collected through test set by specialist in statistics. Research has found that prior mathematics achievement is a critical factor in promoting student achievement in statistics courses and therefore explain a generous portion of the variance in student learning and achievement. It was also noted that achievement varies with subject area of specialisation. The relationship was much higher for those who specialize in mathematics and least on those who were specialising in chemistry. From these findings above the following recommendation was made remedial teaching of basic mathematics is required for those who do not specialize in mathematics.