The Value of Hand Writing

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I do my fair share of typing. As a current college student, it would take significantly more time to handwrite every assignment and scan it to turn it in. I type these posts on this blog. I type to send emails, social media messages, and write stories. That being said, there is something important about taking the time to write some things by hand. When I journal I write by hand. When I take notes I write by hand. When I do mathematics I write all my steps by hand. This is because I've noticed that I retain information better when I write by hand. It turns out, I'm not the only one. Hu, C. (2024) ascertains that writing by hand, whether with pen and paper or stylus and tablet, is still the best way to learn.

The phenomenon of boosting memory by producing something tangible has been well studied. Previous research has found that when people are asked to write, draw or act out a word that they’re reading, they have to focus more on what they’re doing with the received information. Transferring verbal information to a different form, such as a written format, also involves activating motor programs in the brain to create a specific sequence of hand motions, explains Yadurshana Sivashankar, a cognitive neuroscience graduate student at the University of Waterloo in Ontario who studies movement and memory. But handwriting requires more of the brain’s motor programs than typing.

I was around 13 years old when we got the internet at home; old enough to remember life before the digital age but young enough to adapt quickly. I'm grateful for those formative years I had to write everything by hand as research supports that "handwriting training during letter learning strengthens reading and spelling skills" (Wiley & Rapp, 2021, p.1100).

When was the last time you wrote something by hand? Do you also find that helps you learn or retain information better?

REFERENCES

Hu, C. (2024, February 21). Why Writing by Hand Is Better for Memory and Learning. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-writing-by-hand-is-better-for-memory-and-learning/

Wiley, R. W., & Rapp, B. (2021). The Effects of Handwriting Experience on Literacy Learning. Psychological science, 32(7), 1086–1103. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797621993111