BUGGY WHIPS
Who cares if cursive is going the way of the dodo?
“In order of importance, this is way down,” she said.
But if cursive is down, it’s certainly not out.
On the essay section of the SAT, required by most colleges for admission, students writing in cursive averaged slightly higher scores than those who printed.
The College Board, which administers the SAT, said the difference wasn’t significant and couldn’t be attributed to handwriting, yet the result has intrigued researchers.
Geez! It wasn’t even statistically significant. OTOH, I think this is important:
In one study, college students who took good lecture notes got higher scores on essay tests.
The best predictor of quality notetaking was writing speed, said researcher Stephen T. Peverly, professor of psychology and education at Columbia University’s Teachers College in New York.
So, teach touch-typing, and buy them a laptop for note-taking.
An aside: Blazing fast typing may be one of the (few) benefits of MMORPG.
4 Responses to “BUGGY WHIPS”
 Comment by Lisa Giebitz July 31st, 2007 at 8:00 pm |
Legible handwriting is still important. Especially when filling out job applications (a lot of places make you do it even if you have a resume). Plus, a handwritten thank-you note is always nicer than a thank-you e-mail. 😉 |
 Comment by Daryl Cobranchi July 31st, 2007 at 8:13 pm |
Legible printing is all you need. Cursive? Bah! |
 Comment by Darren August 1st, 2007 at 9:29 am |
I stopped using cursive in grade 11, when even I couldn’t read my own writing. Since we started homeschooling that year, I wasn’t required to write in cursive anymore. By now, the only thing I use cursive for is my signature. And I heartily concur with Daryl’s idea for note-taking – I can type far faster than I write. |
 Comment by Silvia August 1st, 2007 at 10:17 pm |
John Holt wrote in one of his books that he once timed his class to see if they could beat him in a speed writing contest–he was using cursive, conviced it was faster, and they were printing. They won every time. I still use cursive, but it’s becoming more of a mix of some connected and some disconnected letters. |