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posted by cmn32480 on Thursday July 09 2015, @10:02AM   Printer-friendly
from the where's-my-pencil dept.

From a recent issue of Wired:

Study after study shows we remember things better when we write them—our brain stores the letter-writing motion, which is much more memorable than just the mashing of a key that feels like every other key. We think in fragments, too, in shapes and colors and ideas that just don't come through on a keyboard. "Think about how many things that are built start as a drawing," Bathiche says. "Most things, right? Everything you're wearing probably started as a drawing."

You can't type out the folds of a dress, or the gentle curves of a skyscraper. Drawing with your stubby finger on a touchscreen isn't much better. Humans are tool-based creatures: Our fingers can do amazingly intricate things with a pen, a brush, or a scalpel, that we can't replicate with a mouse or the pads of our fingers. Our computers are giving back that kind of detailed control. In turn, the pen is opening up new ways of digital expression, new tools for communication, new ways to interact with our tech.

My wife's cousin's husband is a cartoonist for the New Yorker. He uses a high-end Wacom digitizer. Hasn't the problem of the high tech pen been solved?


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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Thursday July 09 2015, @05:35PM

    by DeathMonkey (1380) on Thursday July 09 2015, @05:35PM (#207042) Journal

    Here is a write-up with references to a couple studies. It really is well established at this point so I only spent a couple seconds googling. There is a lot more out there...
     
      Reference [medicaldaily.com]

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  • (Score: 2, Disagree) by frojack on Thursday July 09 2015, @06:02PM

    by frojack (1554) on Thursday July 09 2015, @06:02PM (#207055) Journal

    My rule: Never research and provide citations when people demand them.

    They will refuse to Google, insisting you do it for them.
    They will post as AC so that they never have to come back and read your citations,
    They will never lean anything from a citation that they didn't dig up by themselves.
    They will reject any citation you find, and substitute one from some quack junk science site.
    They will post back changing the goal posts, if they post back at all, and insist they are the same AC as the first post.
    They will insist on using THEIR definitions of words, require amendments to the constitution, the abolition of corporations, and a return to agrarian society.

    --
    No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 09 2015, @06:26PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 09 2015, @06:26PM (#207070)

      My rule is to try to provide citations when I make claims so people know that it isn't just my opinion. The burden of proof lies on the one making the claim. Telling someone to go to Google often means take my word for it. If you provide anything that contradicts their position, then they often move the goalposts or say that you didn't find the right study.
      I'd rather the quacks not get away with making claims without evidence at the cost of quacks asking disingenuous questions.

      • (Score: 2) by frojack on Thursday July 09 2015, @07:29PM

        by frojack (1554) on Thursday July 09 2015, @07:29PM (#207093) Journal

        My rule is to try to provide citations when I make claims so people know that it isn't just my opinion.

        Exactly. If a citation is needed, its should be provided up front. Any you provide later as a result of a CHALLENGE are already set up for failure.

        --
        No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
    • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Thursday July 09 2015, @06:35PM

      by aristarchus (2645) on Thursday July 09 2015, @06:35PM (#207072) Journal

      They will insist on using THEIR definitions of words, require amendments to the constitution, the abolition of corporations, and a return to agrarian society.

      (citation needed!) ;)

    • (Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 10 2015, @05:19AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 10 2015, @05:19AM (#207279)

      My rule: Never research and provide citations when people demand them.

      They will refuse to Google, insisting you do it for them. [citation needed]
      They will post as AC so that they never have to come back and read your citations, [citation needed]
      They will never lean anything from a citation that they didn't dig up by themselves. [citation needed]
      They will reject any citation you find, and substitute one from some quack junk science site. [citation needed]
      They will post back changing the goal posts, if they post back at all, and insist they are the same AC as the first post. [citation needed]
      They will insist on using THEIR definitions of words, require amendments to the constitution, the abolition of corporations, and a return to agrarian society. [citation needed]

  • (Score: 1) by termigator on Thursday July 09 2015, @11:42PM

    by termigator (4271) on Thursday July 09 2015, @11:42PM (#207190)

    The study focuses on laptops vs paper, but the real difference is the type of notes taken, which the article does touch upon.

    I think the key thing is what to note. I think many do verbatim style note taking, which the use of laptops emphasizing this method. When doing hand written notes, most cannot keep up with the instructor, so the mind must engage in attempting to denote key items, but I think this is still a mental struggle in keeping up with the instructor and writing down notes.

    If I know the text book or course material contains all the basic facts, I do not take notes. At most, may jot down key concepts that may not be covered in preexisting written material, but this is rare. I think courses that require heavy note taking because there is no preexisting written material (text books, course materials, instructor notes, etc) will result in students struggling more on the concepts being taught.

    I am still not convinced that the act of writing itself improves learning, or better stated, the act of writing better imprints information into the brain to facilitate improved recall.

    The following article indicates writing does matter:

    http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/writing-and-remembering-why-we-remember-what-we-write.html [lifehack.org]

    but it does not provide links to the studies themselves so one can determine the methods of the study. For example, in the study citing 40% recall of note takers an non-note takers, it does not mention if the note takers were allowed to view their notes before testing (a reading function). Or, while taking notes, a method was employed that after a note is taken, it disappears, preventing indirect followup reading, so one can get a better indication if the act of writing itself improves learning and recall. Note, the disappearing behavior could be a distraction that can affect results, so a method would need to be devised that allowed the act of writing, limit the effect of rereading by the note taker, and did not create a distraction.

    You can also have a group where the instructor notes are handed out beforehand, which highlights the key concepts and facts that is to be discussed. I hypothesize it is the act of reading that helps in recall and not the act of writing.