Statistics Anxiety and Contextual Learning Needs in Statistics Education: Evidence from Community Education Students in Higher Education

Statistics education plays a critical role in developing students’ data literacy, particularly in non-mathematics disciplines such as community education. However, many students experience challenges in learning statistics, including statistics anxiety and conceptual difficulties. This study aimed to examine community education students’ experiences in learning statistics, with a focus on statistics anxiety and contextual learning needs. This study employed a descriptive qualitative design involving 105 students from the Community Education Study Program at Universitas Negeri Jakarta who had completed a Statistics course. Data were collected using open-ended questionnaires and analysed using thematic analysis. To strengthen the analysis, quantified thematic analysis was conducted to identify the frequency of themes across participants. The findings revealed five major themes: contextual learning needs (87.6%), statistics anxiety (64.8%), conceptual difficulties (56.2%), instructional support needs (50.5%), and perceptions of overly theoretical instruction (38.1%). These findings indicate that students’ learning experiences were influenced by affective, cognitive, and instructional factors. The results also showed that students strongly preferred contextual and applied learning approaches, including real-world examples and practical activities, which helped them better understand statistical concepts and reduce anxiety. This study contributes to statistics education research by providing empirical evidence from community education students, a population that has received limited attention in previous research. The findings highlight the importance of contextualized and supportive instructional approaches in improving students’ understanding and reducing statistics anxiety. These results have important implications for the design of statistics instruction in higher education, particularly in non-mathematics disciplines.