Examined individual differences in procedures for learning to use a statistical computing package among 36 students who were computer novices. Ss provided think aloud protocols over sessions of learning to use the package. Success in learning depended on use of particular learning procedures. In Exp 1, 5 faster learners tackled problems in a goal-directed, structured manner, abandoning one approach when appropriate and trying alternative approaches. The 5 slower learners engaged in unsystematic trial and error search, were repetitive in their approaches to problem solving, gave up more frequently, and paid less attention to prompts and error messages. In Exp 2, instructing Ss to use the effective procedures identified in Exp 1 enhanced their performance on statistical computing problems. (PsycLIT Database Copyright 1990 American Psychological Assn, all rights reserved)
The CAUSE Research Group is supported in part by a member initiative grant from the American Statistical Association’s Section on Statistics and Data Science Education