The Role of Orthographic–Motor Integration in the Production of Creative and Well‐Structured Written Text for Students in Secondary School

There is a strong relationship between orthographic–motor integration related to handwriting and students' ability to produce creative and well‐structured written text. This relationship is thought to be due to the cognitive load which results when attention is required by writers to write letters and words on the page. Lack of automaticity in orthographic–motor integration means that writers do not have sufficient cognitive resources to accomplish the more demanding aspects of text production such as ideation, text monitoring, and pragmatic awareness. A systematic handwriting program can significantly improve the quality of written text by young children experiencing problems with orthographic–motor integration. This study investigated the effectiveness of a handwriting program in remediating older students' problems in orthographic–motor integration and consequently enhancing their written language skills. Two groups of students in Grades 8 and 9 were provided with either practice in handwriting or daily completion of a written journal. There were no differences between the two groups at pre‐test. However, at post‐test, the handwriting group had significantly higher scores in orthographic–motor integration as well as for the length and quality of the text they wrote.     

Keyboarding compared with handwriting on a high-stakes writing assessment: Student choice of composing medium, raters’ perceptions, and text quality

This article examines the influence of keyboarding versus handwriting in a high-stakes writing assessment. Conclusions are based on data collected from a pilot project to move Old Dominion University's Exit Exam of Writing Proficiency from a handwritten format into a dual-option format (i.e., the students may choose to handwrite or keyboard the exam). This test case is used to demonstrate the complex implications for a writing assessment tool when universities aim to accommodate students’ various methods of physically creating a text. Discussion includes speculation about the format of the writing component on the SAT. It is argued that by analyzing the differences in high-stakes exams when students keyboard and when they handwrite, researchers can better understand how the material conditions for composing influence students and raters. It is concluded that if handwriting and keyboarding represent even slightly different composing skills and cognitive processes, then high-stakes writing assessments should aim to accommodate students by providing methods of textual production with which students are most comfortable, even as this accommodation produces new challenges for the creators and managers of large-scale writing assessments.     

Why are written picture naming latencies (not) longer than spoken naming?

The comparison between spoken and handwritten production in picture naming tasks represents an important source of information for building models of cognitive processes involved in writing. Studies using this methodology systematically reported longer latencies for handwritten than for spoken production. To uncover the origin of this difference across modalities, we compared the latencies of spoken picture naming and two written picture naming conditions: one in which the participants could see and monitor their handwriting (visible-condition), and one in which they could not monitor their production (masked-condition). Previously reported differences between spoken and handwritten naming latencies were replicated in the standard visible-condition. By contrast, production latencies were faster in the written masked-condition than in the visible-condition and did not differ from spoken production latencies. These results suggest that longer handwriting latencies, in comparison with speaking latencies, are due to the delayed onset in handwriting in conditions where the sheet is visible. The implications of these results on both written production models and experimental methods are discussed.     

Handwriting in signing deaf middle-school students and relationship with text composition and spelling

We set out to (i) assess the handwriting skills of signing deaf students, and (ii) examine the extent to which their text composition and spelling performances are linked to their handwriting efficiency. We asked 15 prelingually and profoundly deaf middle-school students (M = 15.18 years), all sign-language users, and a group of hearing students matched on chronological age (M = 15.32 years) to write the letters of the alphabet and their firstname and surname from memory as a handwriting assessment, and to compose a text describing their bedroom. Results showed that even though the deaf students formed legible letters in both handwriting tasks, they spent more time producing the alphabet letters, and composed shorter texts that were less fluent and contained more phonologically inaccurate spelling errors. Analysis of correlations between handwriting and text production (including spelling) measures revealed strong and significant relationships for the deaf students. This study showed that handwriting difficulties, in terms of executing the letters of their firstname and surname, as well as retrieving the letters of the alphabet from memory, persist in 15-year-old signing deaf students, and represent a constraint during text production, impairing spelling as well as text content richness and word fluency.     

Teaching handwriting skills to children with intellectual disabilities using an adapted handwriting programme

Children with intellectual disabilities often struggle with handwriting, but there is very little research to inform intervention approaches. In this study, we developed a teaching manual based on Handwriting Without Tears®, a comprehensive handwriting programme designed for typically developing children. Three children with intellectual disabilities participated in the study and received handwriting instruction based on the manual three times a week over a 32‐week period. Our aims were to explore whether Handwriting Without Tears® can be used as a comprehensive handwriting curriculum for children with intellectual disabilities and to evaluate improvement in handwriting skills. We found that the intervention was successfully incorporated into small group teaching sessions within the child's regular classroom, and that all three children made improvements. Our data show promising results and support the need for larger evaluation studies.     

Handwriting: what do we know and what do we need to know?

Handwriting has a low status and profile in literacy education in England and in recent years has attracted little attention from teachers, policy‐makers or researchers into mainstream educational processes. This article identifies a substantial programme of research into handwriting, including studies located in the domains of special needs education and psychology, suggesting that it is time to re‐evaluate the importance of handwriting in the teaching of literacy. Explorations of the way handwriting affects composing have opened up new avenues for research, screening and intervention, which have the potential to make a significant contribution to children's progress in learning to write. In particular, the role of orthographic motor integration and automaticity in handwriting is now seen as of key importance in composing. Evidence from existing studies suggests that handwriting intervention programmes may have a real impact on the composing skills of young writers. In particular, they could positively affect the progress of the many boys who struggle with writing throughout the primary school years.     

Learning to Love the Micro: The discursive construction of 'educational' computing in the UK, 1979-89

The notion of the computer as an inherently 'educational' machine has been a powerful influence on both the conceptualisation and consumption of information technology in the UK over the past 20 years. Most recently, a belief in the teaching and learning capabilities of the computer underpinned much of New Labour's policy agenda during their first term of office, most notably in the form of the 1.6 billion 'National Grid for Learning' initiative. Yet all too often, the high-profile social shaping of computing as 'educational' has been more grounded in rhetoric than in reality, with the 'hype' of the educational computer noticeably at odds with the actual impact of computing technologies in schools and at home. From this background, the present paper explores how the computer became to be so strongly 'configured' as educational during its integration into mainstream British society and culture. In so doing, the paper examines the various actors and routes of transmitting information that were involved in the construction of the computer as an educational machine and, as a result, goes on to consider the underlying motivations behind this process. In asking these questions, the paper focuses on the period 1979-89 as marking the birth of mainstream educational computing in the UK, and therefore identifies and discusses the prevailing influences of the incumbent Conservative government, the burgeoning home computer industry as well as the print and broadcast media as powerful actors in the formative discursive shaping of 'educational' computing. Having mapped out these shaping forces, the paper concludes by considering the implications of the on-going trend towards the educational mythologising of information technology in British society.     

Computerized Presentation of Text: Effects on Children’s Reading of Informational Material

This study examined whether children’s reading rate, comprehension, and recall are affected by computer presentation of text. Participants were 60 grade five students, who each read two expository texts, one in a traditional print format and the other from a computer monitor, which used a common scrolling text interface. After reading each text, participants were asked to recall as much as they could from what they had read and then answered questions that measured text recall and comprehension. Children took more time to read the passage and recalled more of the text material that they had read from the computer monitor. The benefit of computer presentation disappeared when efficiency variables, which take time into account, were examined. Children were, however, more efficient at comprehending text when reading from paper. The results suggest that children may take more time to read text on computer screens and that they are more efficient when reading text on paper.     

Word processing as an assistive technology tool for enhancing academic outcomes of students with writing disabilities in the general classroom

This study investigated the use of a word processor for enhancing the academic outcomes of three students with writing disabilities in a junior high school. A single-subject ABAB design was used to compare academic output produced during class time with and without a computer equipped with a word processor. The number of spelling errors, the number of reading errors, and the number of words used per text were counted, and the overall structure and organization of text were examined across all in-class materials. The data demonstrated a clear difference between handwritten and computer phases. In traditional paper-and-pencil phases, students produced outcomes that had more spelling mistakes, more reading errors, and lower overall quality of organization and structure in comparison with the phases in which a computer equipped with a word processor was used. The results did not indicate any noticeable difference in the number of words per text. Implications and future research directions are discussed.     

Children's cognitive effort and fluency in writing: Effects of genre and of handwriting automatisation

This study investigated the cognitive effort of 5th and 9th graders while writing a text. We manipulated genre (narrative text vs. argumentative text) and tested how level of handwriting automatisation contributes to cognitive effort and fluency in writing. The participants were 23 students from Grade 5 and 21 from Grade 9, who wrote two texts differing in genre while performing a secondary reaction time task. The results showed that cognitive effort interacted with genre. Cognitive effort decreased between Grades 5 and 9 only for writing argumentative text. Handwriting did not contribute to fluency in writing, but contributed to cognitive effort only in 5th-graders' writing of narrative text. The findings are discussed in light of the factors contributing to cognitive effort and fluency in writing.     

基于支持向量机的手写数字串识别

手写数字识别是手写字符识别的一个重要分支,单个数字识别技术已经比较成熟,而手写数字串的切分与识别则成为了该领域的一个难点。本文针对手写数字串的切分和识别设计了一种实验模型,该实验模型针对手写数字串的过度切分以及不足切分的特殊情况设置基于支持向量机的检测器进行再次识别确认,实验证明,使用基于支持向量机的检测器大大的减少了因为错误切分而带来的识别率的下降。     

What We are Failing to Measure in Education

Abstract

This study compared the effectiveness of computer-based handwriting exercises (Lally &; Macleod, 1982) with traditional instruction in the remediation of handwriting difficulties. Thirty-six students in Grades 4 to 6 with poor handwriting received one of three different instructional methods. In Method 1, students performed computer-based handwriting exercises using the Apple Graphics Tablet, an electronic pen, and the computer monitor to track visible and invisible letters. In Method 2, conventional instruction was provided using pencil, paper, plastic overlays, and felt pens to copy and trace letter forms. In Method 3, conventional instruction using tracing and copying was provided through the computer using the Touch Window and a stylus pen. Several measures were used to assess improvement in performance. The results indicated that the traditional group using pen and paper demonstrated significant improvements from pretest to posttest on five measures, and the computer groups on two measures. The findings suggest that traditional instruction using pen and paper is the more effective treatment method.     

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF BASIC ATTAINMENTS

The purpose of the experiment described in this paper was to see if teachers, in their assessment of children's essays, were influenced by the quality of the handwriting style. Ten essays were chosen from a large number written by 11‐year‐old children on the theme ‘The day of the big fog’. A range of 10 contrasting handwriting styles was chosen from those of other children, and the 10 handwriters reproduced each of the 10 essays, thus giving 100 combinations of content and handwriting styles.

Groups of teachers to assess the essays were chosen as follows: there were ten judging groups of five teachers each, each group representing one school; five of the schools were primary and five secondary. The teachers’ instructions were to ‘impression mark’ and to rank the essays. There was no indication of the fundamental purpose of the experiment.

Analysis of variance was used to determine the results. These indicated, firstly, that the handwriting did have a significant influence on the teachers’ marking (p=0.001), and secondly, that there may be a primary/secondary difference of attitude towards handwriting.     

Does Poor Handwriting Conceal Literacy Potential in Primary School Children?

Handwriting is a complex skill that, despite increasing use of computers, still plays a vital role in education. It is assumed that children will master letter formation at a relatively early stage in their school life, with handwriting fluency developing steadily until automaticity is attained. The capacity theory of writing suggests that as automaticity develops, the proportion of working memory dedicated to the mechanics of handwriting is reduced, releasing capacity for the planning, composing and editing of content. This study examined the handwriting ability of 284 mainstream primary school children and explored possible associated factors. Correlations were found between poor handwriting, lower cognitive and literacy scores, and a longer duration for handwriting tasks. Giving children the opportunity to practise their handwriting sufficiently to increase the level of automaticity may release working memory to be applied to the cognitive demands of the task and may potentially raise their level of attainment.     

Promoting handwriting fluency in fifth graders with slow handwriting: a single-subject design study

This study used a multiple-probe design across three participants to test the effectiveness of a handwriting intervention for fifth graders (age 10–11) displaying less handwriting fluency than their peers, but without spelling disorders. The 5-h handwriting intervention provided students with explicit instruction and intensive practice in writing cursive letters, words, and sentences, through fast-paced alphabet and copying activities. Intervention effects were examined on handwriting fluency, written composition (i.e., text length, clause extension, and story elements), and self-efficacy beliefs. Results showed that the handwriting intervention was highly effective in increasing students’ handwriting fluency. There were also improvements in written composition in terms of clause extension and number of story elements. After the intervention, students also reported strengthened self-efficacy beliefs for grammar and usage skills. Overall, this study showed that handwriting interventions can effectively help students with limited handwriting skills to become fluent handwriters. Critically, findings are in line with the proposition that achieving handwriting fluency is important to support the development of writing.