The usage of SAS software in teaching statistics: Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) experiences

This paper describes the use of SAS software in Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM).In this university environment, the use of SAS software is looked upon as one of the tools for teaching and research. UUM offers three courses in statistics: Statistics Introduction to Statistics and Applied Statistics. An undergraduate student is required to take at least one course of statistics. The basic of SAS software is introduced to student that enrolled in the Applied Statistics course.Students are trained to interpret SAS output and they are required to submit a data analysis project by using the SAS software.An exploratory survey was carried out to seek an understanding of the usage of SAS software in teaching statistics.The finding of the survey suggested that 78% of the lecturers still using SAS version 6.04. About 30% of the lecturers attended formal training in SAS and more than 30% of students rated SAS softnare as tidies and difficult statistical software to use.In order to improve SAS learning in UUM, it is suggested that lecturer should be given formal training in the latest SAS software version and introduction of SAS software to student should be given in Statistics and Introduction to Statistics course