This study examined the effects of conceptually based instruction on the development of students' procedural flexibility. Students from 10 2nd-grade classes (206 students) in 9 primary schools in the Netherlands participated in 1 of 2 different instruction programs: the Realistic Program Design (RPD) or the Gradual Program Design (GPD). The RPD teaches conceptual understanding along with procedural skills. The GPD emphasizes the acquisition of standard procedures. Students' use of and preference for procedures were assessed as well as their ability to solve problems in 2 different ways. The RPD led to a higher level of flexibility than did the GPD on all 3 measures, suggesting that the RPD was better in teaching the students conceptual knowledge. In both programs, conceptual understanding seemed to precede procedural skill. However, skill and understanding were closer related in the RPD than in the GPD group.
In an epidemiological study, the scripts of 121 Dutch primary-school children were evaluated annually, starting in Grade 2. The children were followed for 5 years. An evaluation scale for children's handwriting (the BHK scale) was used for rating the scripts on 13 characteristics and for measuring the speed of writing. Principal component analysis of the LONG matrix (in which the data collected on the five occasions are arranged beneath each other) yielded three clusters of items: (a) fine-motor ability, (b) structural performance, and (c) stylistic preference. It was found that the children with dysgraphic handwriting (10% scoring highest on the BHK quality items) had lower fine-motor ability and, in the higher grades, showed less preference for a personal style. Their structural performance also was poorer than that of the other writers. Children with and without dysgraphic handwriting did not differ in writing speed. Some implications of the study for handwriting instruction are discussed.
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