| This thesis research uses the dynamic systems approach to intensively observe students' performances in learning SAS, a widely used statistical software program, and systematically analyze how these students developed their skills of using SAS over time.;Thirty graduate students-voluntarily participated in the study. They were asked to complete four SAS homework projects with help from an experienced SAS user over one semester. The focus of observation and analysis was on how each student proceeded with the basic operational procedure of using SAS. A specially designed eight-level microdevelopmental scale was used to measure the complexity level of student's performances. Individual trajectory analysis was used to address the research question, What are the trajectories of microdevelopment in learning to use SAS for each learner? Dynamic growth modeling was used to address the research question, What are mechanisms that underlie the microdevelopmental trajectories? And individual growth modeling was used to address the research question, What factors contribute to the microdevelopmental trajectories?;The central finding of the study is that learning SAS in a tutorial context is a dynamic process in which unfolds in a form of complex pattern change rather than of simple linear progress. The major findings include: (1) There are three basic types of microdevelopmental trajectories (chaos, oscillatory, and equilibrium), and four major types of macrodevelopmental trends (chaos, driven oscillatory, damped oscillatory, and equilibrium). Fourteen students showed substantial improvement over one semester, especially in Project 4. (2) The two-grower connected model simulates the basic types of the microdevelopmental trajectories, indicating co-construction through learner-helper asymmetrical interactions with a short-time feedback delay might be the basic mechanism underlying various trajectories. The quantitative change in growth rate produces the qualitative change in growth trajectory, suggesting importance of determining growth rates to produce desirable dynamics in learning and development. (3) Good knowledge about the network systems, rather than length of using computers, types of computers used at home, and previous experience of using statistical programs, is crucial in learning to use SAS as a network system program. |
