A Legibility Scale for Early Primary Handwriting: Authentic Task and Cognitive Load Influences

Autor/inn/en	Staats, Cornelia; Oakley, Grace; Marais, Ida
Titel	A Legibility Scale for Early Primary Handwriting: Authentic Task and Cognitive Load Influences
Quelle	In: Issues in Educational Research, 29 (2019) 2, S.537-561 (25 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1837-6290
Schlagwörter	Handwriting; Cognitive Ability; Elementary School Students; Task Analysis; Case Studies; Grade 1; Grade 2; Grade 3; Scoring Rubrics; Alphabets; Correlation; Foreign Countries; Australia + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Handschrift; Denkfähigkeit; Aufgabenanalyse; Case study; Fallstudie; Case Study; School year 01; 1. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 01; School year 02; 2. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 02; School year 03; 3. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 03; Scoring formulas; Auswertungsbogen; Buchstabenschrift; Korrelation; Ausland; Australien
Abstract	This study set out to examine the range of legibility demonstrated by Western Australian students required to handwrite tasks of increasing intrinsic cognitive load. A representative sample of students in Years 1, 2 and 3 (N=437) was recruited for a cross sectional study and teachers administered handwriting tasks. Year 1 students were administered easier tasks (copying from the board and dictation), and Year 3 students were administered more difficult tasks (dictation and composition), whilst students in Year 2 were administered all three tasks. A rubric was then constructed for six aspects of legibility from selected participant exemplars: letter formation, size, space in word, space between words, line placement, and slant, providing 18 items for analysis (3 tasks x 6 aspects). The rubric demonstrated acceptable inter- and intra-reliability. Scores were assigned following pairwise comparisons; a Rasch model (RM) analysis was applied to scores. Fit to the RM was confirmed to permit a more accurate assessment of legibility. The study substantiates many assumptions about handwriting in the extant literature, and more specifically reveals how cognitive load governs legibility when students are learning to handwrite. Implications for practice are discussed. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Western Australian Institute for Educational Research Inc. 5/202 Coode Street, Como, Western Australia 6152, Australia. e-mail: editor@iier.org.au; Web site: http://www.waier.org.au
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01