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What Role Does Writing Play in Learning?
Sep 4, 2014 2:41 PM
By Cindy McGehee - FF/S
Do the Cleveland Browns have a secret weapon? Coach Mike Pettine may have found one. Even though his team like other teams in the league, received tablet computers, he requires his players to write and draw the plays on a pad of paper. He believes that “to write is to learn.” His players say the plays are “instilled in our heads.” Does the physical act of writing and drawing help us learn?
New research from Princeton and UCLA indicates that writing does play a role in learning. In a research paper published in April, 2014, Pam A. Mueller, and Daniel M. Oppenheimer found in three separate studies that handwriting notes, as opposed to note taking on a laptop, resulted in better processing of the information presented, and a deeper comprehension of the material. The benefits of longhand note taking were evident when the students were tested over, comprehension of the material in immediate and delayed testing.
Twenty-first century learning relies on the ability to synthesize and connect information in new ways. Facts and information are now readily and easily available. It is the connecting of the information that is important to our future. Educators believe that there is and will continue to be an even greater need to assimilate and synthesize facts and information and to connect information from various sources in new and different ways to solve complex problems and issues. If handwriting notes is a way to further the depth of subject knowledge, by permitting synthesizing and summarizing of content, it is a tool that students will need to hone to be better 21st century learners.
There is a balance between technology and handwriting and students need to be proficient in both. At Darlington, students do learn to use the latest technology, but also learn handwriting and note-taking skills. The note-taking skills are continually honed throughout their educational journey, preparing them to be 21st century leaders.
Interested in learning more about the handwriting study?
Click here to read an article in The Wall Street Journal.
Click here to read an article on www.edutopia.org.
Click here to read an article in Psychological Science: A Journal of the Association of Psychological Science.
New research from Princeton and UCLA indicates that writing does play a role in learning. In a research paper published in April, 2014, Pam A. Mueller, and Daniel M. Oppenheimer found in three separate studies that handwriting notes, as opposed to note taking on a laptop, resulted in better processing of the information presented, and a deeper comprehension of the material. The benefits of longhand note taking were evident when the students were tested over, comprehension of the material in immediate and delayed testing.
Twenty-first century learning relies on the ability to synthesize and connect information in new ways. Facts and information are now readily and easily available. It is the connecting of the information that is important to our future. Educators believe that there is and will continue to be an even greater need to assimilate and synthesize facts and information and to connect information from various sources in new and different ways to solve complex problems and issues. If handwriting notes is a way to further the depth of subject knowledge, by permitting synthesizing and summarizing of content, it is a tool that students will need to hone to be better 21st century learners.
There is a balance between technology and handwriting and students need to be proficient in both. At Darlington, students do learn to use the latest technology, but also learn handwriting and note-taking skills. The note-taking skills are continually honed throughout their educational journey, preparing them to be 21st century leaders.
Interested in learning more about the handwriting study?
Click here to read an article in The Wall Street Journal.
Click here to read an article on www.edutopia.org.
Click here to read an article in Psychological Science: A Journal of the Association of Psychological Science.
