#learningtypes

New research suggests people learn certain skills significantly better and faster when writing them by hand.

Experimenting With Learning Types

Researchers conducted an experiment in which 42 adults learned the Arabic alphabet. The participants were split into three groups of learners: writers, typists and video watchers.

Everyone learned the letters one at a time by watching videos of them being written along with hearing names and sounds.

The video group then got an onscreen flash of a letter and had to say if it was the same letter they’d just seen. Those typing found the letter on the keyboard. The writers copied the letter with pen and paper.

The Result

After six sessions, all groups could recognize the letters and made few mistakes when tested.

The writing group, however, reached this level of proficiency faster than the other groups. Some were able to repeat this skill after only two sessions.

The researchers said handwriting reinforces the visual and aural lessons. The act of writing by hand provides a perceptual-motor experience that unifies what is being learned about the letters, including their shapes, their sounds and their motor plans.

The researchers then wanted to determine to what extent if at all, the groups could generalize this knowledge and apply it more broadly. For example, could the study participants use the letters to read and spell unfamiliar words? The writing group performed better at these new tasks.

The writing group was the best at every measure and they took less time to get there. This group ended up with more of the skills needed for expert adult-level reading and spelling.

The participants in this study were all adults. Yet researchers said they would expect the same results in children.

The findings were recently published in the journal “Psychological Science.”

What IAA has to Say