Evaluation of students' attitudes in higher education: the case of econometrics in two Spanish universities

Resumen

The attitudes of students are crucial to the learning process, as they directly influence the acquisition of knowledge and corresponding competencies. It is widely accepted that the development of positive attitudes towards every subject should be a desired outcome of the learning process. However, little attention has been paid to the attitudes of students towards econometrics, and there is a dearth of studies on how to assess the development of positive attitudes towards this subject during the learning process. The general belief is that students tend to have a negative attitude towards econometrics, but there is no empirical evidence to support this claim apart from [1]. The objective of this paper is to fill this gap by using data from a survey conducted among students of econometrics in the Economics bachelor’s program at both the University of Oviedo and the University of Balearic Islands. The survey was conducted at the beginning and end of the course, and the results provide detailed insights into the students' attitudes towards econometrics and regarding how these attitudes are related to students’ sociodemographic and academic characteristics. The findings of the study will help to identify areas for improvement and propose teaching innovations that are consistent with the results obtained.