Handwriting: Ergonomics, Assessment and Instruction

Abstract

Handwriting is a skill which must be taught. The aim in teaching handwriting is for each child to develop a personal style which remains legible at speed. This objective requires the systematic teaching of handwriting. Teachers need to ascertain what are the important factors to consider when teaching handwriting and how to assess pupil performance. Chris Bailey reviews research on some of the factors affecting writingpencil grip, finger pressure, writing implements and writing paper -and the literature relating to the assessment of legibility and speed. The author is headteacher of a primary school in the London Borough of Enfield.Although there are numerous handwriting manuals available to schools, in general standards of handwriting are low. There has been no consistent policy on the teaching of handwriting in the United Kingdom in recent decades. Practice has varied from authority to authority and from school to school. In some primary schools handwriting has been systematically taught from reception classes upwards, with regular sessions given to practice. In other schools the teaching of handwriting has been sporadic, with advice being given on an individual basis and with very little regular practice. Since handwriting is a motor skill, it is regular practice, at the early stages, that is so essential. However, children should be encouraged not only to practice letter forms slowly and carefully; as Clark (1974) stated, slow careful writing is not the training for speedy, legible writing.The consequences of failing to teach handwriting skills are obvious for all to see. Teachers waste time trying to read their pupils' work and pupils waste time by writing slowly, in order to improve legibility. Some pupils feel inadequate and their self-esteem suffers because their handwriting performance is always criticised and the content judged accordingly. Briggs (1980) showed that handwriting style could mean the difference between passing or failing an external examination. However, Massey (1983) has since shown that in general examiners are successful in avoiding the danger of marking on presentation rather than content. Nevertheless, all children should be given the opportunity to learn the skill of writing and to become competent at it. It is important also to teach children to write quickly and to maintain legibility.An appreciation of the problems faced by pupils with poor handwriting skills has led in the United Kingdom to an appreciation of the need to reintroduce systematic teaching of handwriting in contrast to the laissez-faire attitude of the 1960s. Handwriting special interest groups have been founded in order to improve standards in teaching handwriting, to develop teaching programmes for those children with handwriting difficulties, to disseminate ideas and to encourage research.In the last 25 years there has been an upsurge of interest in the scientific analysis of factors involved in producing writing. Research has focused also on the objective assessment of writing performance. Evidence of increased...

Comparing the handwriting behaviours of true and false writing with computerized handwriting measures

“…They found that auditory stress did indeed cause longer reaction times and higher axial pen pressure among adults (Van Gemmert & Van Galen, 1998). Similarly, Bailey, (1988) found that higher pressure indicates mental stress.…”

A computerized multidimensional measurement of mental workload via handwriting analysis

“…They found that, among adults, auditory stress did indeed cause longer reaction times and higher axial pen pressure (Van Gemmert & Van Galen, 1998). Similarly, Bailey (1988) found that higher pressure is an indication of mental stress. Our results present a systematic description of handwriting measures of a healthy population (with many measures) and support the automatic and controlled information-processing model .…”

Estimation of Subjective Difficulty and Psychological Stress by Ambient Sensing of Desk Panel Vibrations

“…Luria et al found differences in pen pressure and trajectory between the handwriting of true and false sentences [7]. It was hypothesized that strong psychological stresses fostered faster pen speed and heavier pen pressure [8], [9]. In contrast to the previous research that used pen tablets, we focus on using a vibration sensor to analyze handwriting so that people do not have to prepare any special equipment but need an ordinary pen and paper.…”