Mangen and Velay's [2010 report, "Digitizing Literacy"] delved into the implications of switching from writing by hand — a unimanual activity, in which our focus is on the very spot on a page where we're shaping letters we've practiced and memorized — to typing, a bimanual activity, which involves splitting our attention between keyboard and page, and in which "readymade" characters appear on the page with a percussive thrust of a finger.
The transition comes at a cost.
May 8, 2014
Haptics...
"... is a field of study that explores the relationship between visual perception and sensorimotor activity."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
14 comments:
There's also the cost of starting an article as if you're paid by the word.
The reader is not.
I took notes by hand for the first year or so of law school, then switched to using my laptop, for a while, and then switched back (I went part-time, so it took 4 years). I know for certain that I retained more when I took notes by hand. That's why I switched back. Of course, without the laptop in front of me, I had nothing else to do but listen to the professor.
But is it really splitting attention for a touch typist?
This is why some writers persist in writing their stories and novels by hand, transferring the manuscript to typescript only at a later step in the process, usually where mere transcription is the task, and not composition.
"Research has demonstrated that people who take notes by hand have far greater retention and ability to describe and relate information they've learned than those who type their notes."
I can believe that.
Back when I was taking exams, I memorized formulas by writing them over and over again. Just looking at the formula was quite insufficient.
I don't know about "haptics," but I have been trying to improve my golf swing and one suggestion from a book I am reading is to look in front of the ball, not at it, and keep your consciousness "in your hands". This is a way to keep your hands and eyes from trying to "fix" your swing for you at a subconscious level that you are only aware of after you have made a lousy swing.
It seems to be working, though I haven't been able to get in as much practice as I would like.
Haptics is all about tactile/touch feedback, no visual perception required.
Fascinating subject. A related issue is to study an object or site via sketching vs. photography. This was the subject of much debate when I was attending a landscape architecture program: should one merely take a bunch of photos of the site we will be designing for, or does sketching do a better job of immersing one in the environment? Does sketching speak to the experience one has in a space better than a photo?
Further, when I was required to memorize plants for identification, I found sketching plants that I had trouble remembering, or distinguishing from those that looked similar, incredibly helpful. Drawing forces you to study form in a much deeper way than merely snapping a photo.
Oh, now I understand why I frequently face a "percussive thrust of a finger".
I've always been more comfortable doing my first draft by hand. Major edits are also usually done by printing out the piece and making notes in the margins.
It's not just the feel of the words, there's also the visual advantage of shuffling through pages and easy comparison of different passages.
What Art said. Awehali's definition is wrong, and should not be propagated without emendation.
I took all my notes in medical school by hand (There were of course no laptops then) and I think the laptop method isa similar to underlining or highlighting which is the old system for those too lazy to write the notes. My theory at the time, and now, is that the more senses involved, the better you remember. One of my classmates in 1962 took his notes in Chinese characters because he said it was faster. Same idea.
Cornell note taking system. High school, University and MD, PhD and JD. Recommended highly.
Math is different. I took notes by hand in grad school (early 80's.) It was (and still is) impossible to input mathematical symbols in real time. But my sense is that we did and still copy from the board verbatim. The notation is too compact to synthesize. (IMHO) The basic problem with math is the you can "present" a huge quantity of material in compact form. No one can absorb it that fast.
There is a common way of lecturing to undergrads where they use a "fill in the blank" template. Instructors usually use a tablet. Give an outline to the students in advance. The instructor fills in the out line by hand on the table while the student follows along. This keeps the pace pretty slow - about right. I (and a lot of other old fogies) are a little skeptical, but the younger professors are using it. We will see.
Post a Comment