Like me, Alex is an avid list maker. While I typically write
lists of things I need to do or buy, Alex makes lists of dates, facts, and
numbers he wants to remember. Over the years, his lists have taken varied
forms: individual pieces of paper scattered throughout the house with his
notes, legal pads filled with jotted assorted information, and his current
preference, classic marble cover composition books filled with his mostly illegible
scrawl. Certainly, the composition books are a neater way to store his various
lists, and I prefer them to some of the other alternatives he’s chosen at times,
including using his bedroom walls to record dates or his leg as a young boy to
record pi digits because he couldn’t find paper, as he told me. Through it all,
he has relied upon his trusty Bic ballpoint pens that will write on nearly
any surface, as we have discovered.
Although Alex has his own iPad and Chromebook, he still makes his lists the old-fashioned way, writing them by hand. Even though he can type quite rapidly and accurately, he chooses the more labor-intensive pen and paper method. Because of his poor fine motor skills and hand tremors caused by medication to ease anxiety, Alex’s handwriting is barely legible. A casual reader could make out some numbers and a few letters, but overall, Alex’s writing looks more like an earthquake seismograph than anything else. Apparently, he can read most of what he writes, though, and perhaps he likes that only he can decipher what he’s recorded in his notebooks.
As a student who learned to take notes by hand because computers were not available, I figure that my preference for writing lists by hand shows my age––someone who grew up before the technology revolution of this century. Although I’ve tried taking notes on my iPad or Chromebook or laptop, I still prefer to write my notes by hand, often edited with crossed out words or arrows not needed in computer-generated text. Besides the familiarity of doing this task in the way I was taught to do it, I’ve also suspected that I remember things better that I have written by hand.
As I always told my students, writing notes sends various inputs to the brain: hearing what was said, seeing what was written, and the feeling of the hand motion in writing. As students began using Chromebooks to take notes, I noticed that they seemed to be disconnected from what they were typing, and I questioned whether they were remembering information as well as they did when they wrote notes by hand. Recent research confirms my suspicions that writing notes by hand is more effective than typing them on a keyboard.
In an online article in Scientific American published on June 3, 2014, psychology professor Cindi May describes research regarding the impact of writing notes by hand upon memory and depth of understanding. This article, “A Learning Secret: Don’t Take Notes with a Laptop,” explains research at UCLA and Princeton University by Pam Mueller and Daniel Oppenheimer. [To read this article, please click here.] In their studies, they compared how students performed on tests, depending on whether they took notes by hand or on a computer.
Because the students could type faster than write by hand, those who used computers took more notes, often copying verbatim what was said. While this process may seem advantageous, the researchers found that this method resulted in less retention of the material because it was a mindless task. Even though writing notes by hand is slower, the students had to “listen, digest, and summarize” the material presented, leading to better retention and comprehension of the material. As Professor May notes, “While technology allows us to do more in less time, it does not always foster learning.” She goes on to state that learning is more than simply taking in and giving out data. Emphasizing the value of taking notes by hand, she concludes, “If we want students to synthesize material, draw inferences, see new connections, evaluate evidence, and apply concepts in novel situations, we need to encourage the deep, effortful cognitive processes that underlie these abilities.” In other words, to develop higher levels of thinking, the slower and lower technology of writing by hand appears to be the best way.
As I watch Alex sitting with one of his many composition notebooks, pen poised to write down things that interest him, I realize that he knows the best way to learn and remember. Perhaps his amazing ability to remember statistics, dates, and facts is related to his insistence upon jotting them in his own handwriting, making meaning of seemingly random details and building connections in his mind. Moreover, he rarely consults these notebooks as reference materials, so I suspect that just the act of writing what he wants to remember achieves precisely that purpose for him because he does have a phenomenal memory of those things he has seen and heard and written down.
Although I want to help him develop his actual handwriting skills to make them more legible not only to others but also to Alex, I don’t want to mess with success. Apparently, his hieroglyphics have meaning to him, as evidenced by his ability to remember what he has written. In his intuitive way, he has discovered that the best way to make sense of a world that overwhelms him at times is to grab a notebook and a Bic pen and jot down data that he wants to remember. Moreover, he maintains his love of learning and has discovered the best way to develop the amazing mind God has given him. As Alex’s mom and teacher, I’m quite proud of my prized pupil.
“Write down what you have seen––both the things that are now happening and the things that will happen.” Revelation 1:19
Although Alex has his own iPad and Chromebook, he still makes his lists the old-fashioned way, writing them by hand. Even though he can type quite rapidly and accurately, he chooses the more labor-intensive pen and paper method. Because of his poor fine motor skills and hand tremors caused by medication to ease anxiety, Alex’s handwriting is barely legible. A casual reader could make out some numbers and a few letters, but overall, Alex’s writing looks more like an earthquake seismograph than anything else. Apparently, he can read most of what he writes, though, and perhaps he likes that only he can decipher what he’s recorded in his notebooks.
As a student who learned to take notes by hand because computers were not available, I figure that my preference for writing lists by hand shows my age––someone who grew up before the technology revolution of this century. Although I’ve tried taking notes on my iPad or Chromebook or laptop, I still prefer to write my notes by hand, often edited with crossed out words or arrows not needed in computer-generated text. Besides the familiarity of doing this task in the way I was taught to do it, I’ve also suspected that I remember things better that I have written by hand.
As I always told my students, writing notes sends various inputs to the brain: hearing what was said, seeing what was written, and the feeling of the hand motion in writing. As students began using Chromebooks to take notes, I noticed that they seemed to be disconnected from what they were typing, and I questioned whether they were remembering information as well as they did when they wrote notes by hand. Recent research confirms my suspicions that writing notes by hand is more effective than typing them on a keyboard.
In an online article in Scientific American published on June 3, 2014, psychology professor Cindi May describes research regarding the impact of writing notes by hand upon memory and depth of understanding. This article, “A Learning Secret: Don’t Take Notes with a Laptop,” explains research at UCLA and Princeton University by Pam Mueller and Daniel Oppenheimer. [To read this article, please click here.] In their studies, they compared how students performed on tests, depending on whether they took notes by hand or on a computer.
Because the students could type faster than write by hand, those who used computers took more notes, often copying verbatim what was said. While this process may seem advantageous, the researchers found that this method resulted in less retention of the material because it was a mindless task. Even though writing notes by hand is slower, the students had to “listen, digest, and summarize” the material presented, leading to better retention and comprehension of the material. As Professor May notes, “While technology allows us to do more in less time, it does not always foster learning.” She goes on to state that learning is more than simply taking in and giving out data. Emphasizing the value of taking notes by hand, she concludes, “If we want students to synthesize material, draw inferences, see new connections, evaluate evidence, and apply concepts in novel situations, we need to encourage the deep, effortful cognitive processes that underlie these abilities.” In other words, to develop higher levels of thinking, the slower and lower technology of writing by hand appears to be the best way.
As I watch Alex sitting with one of his many composition notebooks, pen poised to write down things that interest him, I realize that he knows the best way to learn and remember. Perhaps his amazing ability to remember statistics, dates, and facts is related to his insistence upon jotting them in his own handwriting, making meaning of seemingly random details and building connections in his mind. Moreover, he rarely consults these notebooks as reference materials, so I suspect that just the act of writing what he wants to remember achieves precisely that purpose for him because he does have a phenomenal memory of those things he has seen and heard and written down.
Although I want to help him develop his actual handwriting skills to make them more legible not only to others but also to Alex, I don’t want to mess with success. Apparently, his hieroglyphics have meaning to him, as evidenced by his ability to remember what he has written. In his intuitive way, he has discovered that the best way to make sense of a world that overwhelms him at times is to grab a notebook and a Bic pen and jot down data that he wants to remember. Moreover, he maintains his love of learning and has discovered the best way to develop the amazing mind God has given him. As Alex’s mom and teacher, I’m quite proud of my prized pupil.
“Write down what you have seen––both the things that are now happening and the things that will happen.” Revelation 1:19
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