Katharina Buczek
“We have shown that the differences in brain activity are related to the careful forming of the letters when writing by hand while making more use of the senses. Since it is the movement of the fingers carried out when forming letters that promote brain connectivity, writing in print is also expected to have similar benefits for learning as cursive writing,” Professor van der Meer explained.
“This also explains why children who have learned to write and read on a tablet can have difficulty differentiating between letters that are mirror images of each other, such as ‘b’ and ‘d.’ They literally haven’t felt with their bodies what it feels like to produce those letters.”
So, while typing may be quicker and easier, the study indicates a decline in the use of handwritten note-taking in educational environments, and the researchers are arguing for increased opportunities to engage in handwriting at school.
According to the study’s results, taking handwritten notes can boost learning and memory retention more effectively than notes taken by typing.
“There is some evidence that students learn more and remember better when taking handwritten lecture notes, while using a computer with a keyboard may be more practical when writing a long text or essay,” Professor van der Meer concluded.
To read the study’s complete findings, which have since been published in Frontiers in Psychology, visit the link here.
