Unit 1 Project Post
TOPIC: What is the most effective writing tool to use when you're studying?
#1: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/21/fashion/a-pencil-shop-for-texting-the-old-fashioned-way.html
The New York Times article, “A Pencil Shop, for Texting the Old-Fashioned Way” by Molly Young captures a quick snap-shot of a humble pencil store located in Lower Manhattan. The purpose of this short article is to recognize the success of this pencil shop - she explains its unexpected success. Individuals are buying these pencils because they have unique features to them, such as different shapes, colors, or a low tech highlighter feature - all for very low prices as well. Additionally, the author cold be incouraging others to buy from this pencil shop, too, because of how she highlights all of the postive aspects about it. Moving on to the genre of this piece of writing, it is an article on the New York Times website. This means that their audience consists of everyone who has access to the Internet; there isn’t a specific group they attain to, like researchers or specific professions, which results in a more casual tone. As a result, Young’s tone and language is kept very simple, which makes this an easy read for just about anyone, and using smaller, less complex paragraphs only emphasizes this effect.
This article succeeds in recognizing the success of the pencil shop, because she provides many different reasons as to why people buy from it. Young states that “Because pencils have a credible use, this single-minded store is able to transcend its novelty status,” meaning that while pencils are very useful, the store owner is able to take the simple concept of selling pencils and innovate with different shapes, colors, functions, and more.
Finally, I will be able to use this article in my research by talking about the different ways using a pencil for taking notes and learning can be fun and interactive, highlighting the different aspects such as the ones mentioned in this article, like the low tech highlighter or different shapes of pencils. Then, I can talk about how these key points encourage students to be in a more positive mood, and how that pushes them to learn better during school.
#2: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8222525/
The scientific study, “Advantage of Handwriting Over Typing on Learning Words: Evidence From an N400 Event-Related Potential Index” conducted by authors Aya S. Ihara, Kae Nakajima, Akiyuki Kake, Kizuku Ishimaru, Kiyoyuki Osugi, and Yasushi Naruse, contains an experiment meant to test the effectiveness of learning based off of handwriting, using a digital pen, and typing. In this experiment, the conductors organized three different groups, where each used a different writing tool to learn a set of words in a foreign language. At the end of the experiment, the researchers found that the group using a digital pen scored higher in learning the foreign words compared to the group who was typing. However, the group who was handwriting scored significantly higher than both groups. Researchers suggested that this could have been due to the much more positive moods they maintained compared to everyone else. When they were in a more positive mood, they might have been more open to learning the foreign words. Throughout the scientific study, the authors kept a very formal and scientific tone, and this is due to the fact that they are conducting a professional study. For example, the researchers performed an “EEG experiment applying a repetition priming paradigm” on the familiar and unfamiliar groups. Language like this suggests that there is a target audience, like scientists or doctors who are interested in writing and technology, who would also comprehend this vocabulary. However, maintaining this tone is very critical to understanding this study to the fullest, because it establishes formality and professionalism. The authors of this study have succeeded in proving their thesis; they provided clear evidence that suggested handwriting is the most efficient way to learn. They did this with graphs about their data, providing test results and certain statistics. However, this test study was a very critical one for me to analyze because it directly relates to my inquiry question of what writing tool is the most effective in terms of learning. I could use the end results to back up my argument about how handwriting is the most effective tool to use to learn. Additionally, this study provides potential reasoning as to why this is the case, like having better morale, muscle memory, and more.
#3: https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2013/07/16/the-impact-of-digital-tools-on-student-writing-and-how-writing-is-taught-in-schools/
The article “The Impact of Digital Tools on Student Writing and How Writing is Taught in Schools,” written by Kristen Purcell, Judy Buchanan and Linda Friedrich, is one that acknowledges how there are so many benefits of technology for students in the classroom; how they can collaborate, “share their work with a wider and more varied audience and how digital technologies “can encourage student creativity and personal expression.” However, authors Purcell, Buchanan and Friedrich also acknowledge the negative effects of this newly found freedom with technology. They argue that negative effects like informal language, or how some are conditioned to perceive technology as a “toy” rather than a tool, might be hurting their educational experience. The audience for this article are students and educational staff. The writing style is very concise and clear, formal yet understandable for a student reading in any grade level. The genre of this source being an article was an important factor that influenced the writing style, because it was meant to target and relate to individuals who are currently in or working at an educational institution. Finally, I believe that this article did an excellent job at evaluating all aspects of technology in writing. They included the benefits, the drawbacks, and solutions for some of these problems. An example of this would be the problem with students plagiarizing, and the solution would be to incorporate lessons about it and educate them on consequences. With so many different perspectives on this topic, I will be able to incorporate this information into my research. For example, I could have a refuting paragraph and explain how an argument is weak using all of the different points of view offered in this article.
#4: https://hub.jhu.edu/2021/07/07/handwriting-more-effectively-teaches-reading-skills-brenda-rapp/
The article "Hand-writing letters shown to be best technique for learning to read" written by Jill Rosen, is one that concisely explains the experiment done by Brenda Rapp, a Johns Hopkins University professor of cognitive science. Rapp brought forty two students together to learn the Arabic alphabet. Among these students, there were three split groups: the writers, typers, and video watchers. After being introduced to each letter, the three groups would attempt to learn what they just saw and heard in different ways. The video group got an on-screen flash of a letter and had to say if it was the same letter they'd just seen. The typers would have to find the letter on the keyboard. The writers had to copy the letter with pen and paper. After several sessions, they found that everyone could recognize the letters and made few mistakes when tested. But the writing group reached this level of proficiency faster than the other groups—a few of them in just two sessions. Experimenters went into further testing, so they tested to see if the students were able to comprehend or write words with them, and they found that the writing group was “collectively scoring higher in these areas than the other groups,” which suggest that students are better able to learn and grasp new concepts when they are handwriting.
The author used a formal tone, which suggests the underlining professionalism of the experiment given. The audience is anyone who is interested in learning about the cognitive science behind what makes students learn better, depending on the writing tool that they use. I will be able to use this source in my research topic as an outline, because it correlates directly to my question. Additionally, I would be able to add that, although this experiment consisted of adults, researchers believe that there is a very similar effect for children, or the younger population, who are still pursuing their education and learning.
#1: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/21/fashion/a-pencil-shop-for-texting-the-old-fashioned-way.html
The New York Times article, “A Pencil Shop, for Texting the Old-Fashioned Way” by Molly Young captures a quick snap-shot of a humble pencil store located in Lower Manhattan. The purpose of this short article is to recognize the success of this pencil shop - she explains its unexpected success. Individuals are buying these pencils because they have unique features to them, such as different shapes, colors, or a low tech highlighter feature - all for very low prices as well. Additionally, the author cold be incouraging others to buy from this pencil shop, too, because of how she highlights all of the postive aspects about it. Moving on to the genre of this piece of writing, it is an article on the New York Times website. This means that their audience consists of everyone who has access to the Internet; there isn’t a specific group they attain to, like researchers or specific professions, which results in a more casual tone. As a result, Young’s tone and language is kept very simple, which makes this an easy read for just about anyone, and using smaller, less complex paragraphs only emphasizes this effect.
This article succeeds in recognizing the success of the pencil shop, because she provides many different reasons as to why people buy from it. Young states that “Because pencils have a credible use, this single-minded store is able to transcend its novelty status,” meaning that while pencils are very useful, the store owner is able to take the simple concept of selling pencils and innovate with different shapes, colors, functions, and more.
Finally, I will be able to use this article in my research by talking about the different ways using a pencil for taking notes and learning can be fun and interactive, highlighting the different aspects such as the ones mentioned in this article, like the low tech highlighter or different shapes of pencils. Then, I can talk about how these key points encourage students to be in a more positive mood, and how that pushes them to learn better during school.
#2: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8222525/
The scientific study, “Advantage of Handwriting Over Typing on Learning Words: Evidence From an N400 Event-Related Potential Index” conducted by authors Aya S. Ihara, Kae Nakajima, Akiyuki Kake, Kizuku Ishimaru, Kiyoyuki Osugi, and Yasushi Naruse, contains an experiment meant to test the effectiveness of learning based off of handwriting, using a digital pen, and typing. In this experiment, the conductors organized three different groups, where each used a different writing tool to learn a set of words in a foreign language. At the end of the experiment, the researchers found that the group using a digital pen scored higher in learning the foreign words compared to the group who was typing. However, the group who was handwriting scored significantly higher than both groups. Researchers suggested that this could have been due to the much more positive moods they maintained compared to everyone else. When they were in a more positive mood, they might have been more open to learning the foreign words. Throughout the scientific study, the authors kept a very formal and scientific tone, and this is due to the fact that they are conducting a professional study. For example, the researchers performed an “EEG experiment applying a repetition priming paradigm” on the familiar and unfamiliar groups. Language like this suggests that there is a target audience, like scientists or doctors who are interested in writing and technology, who would also comprehend this vocabulary. However, maintaining this tone is very critical to understanding this study to the fullest, because it establishes formality and professionalism. The authors of this study have succeeded in proving their thesis; they provided clear evidence that suggested handwriting is the most efficient way to learn. They did this with graphs about their data, providing test results and certain statistics. However, this test study was a very critical one for me to analyze because it directly relates to my inquiry question of what writing tool is the most effective in terms of learning. I could use the end results to back up my argument about how handwriting is the most effective tool to use to learn. Additionally, this study provides potential reasoning as to why this is the case, like having better morale, muscle memory, and more.
#3: https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2013/07/16/the-impact-of-digital-tools-on-student-writing-and-how-writing-is-taught-in-schools/
The article “The Impact of Digital Tools on Student Writing and How Writing is Taught in Schools,” written by Kristen Purcell, Judy Buchanan and Linda Friedrich, is one that acknowledges how there are so many benefits of technology for students in the classroom; how they can collaborate, “share their work with a wider and more varied audience and how digital technologies “can encourage student creativity and personal expression.” However, authors Purcell, Buchanan and Friedrich also acknowledge the negative effects of this newly found freedom with technology. They argue that negative effects like informal language, or how some are conditioned to perceive technology as a “toy” rather than a tool, might be hurting their educational experience. The audience for this article are students and educational staff. The writing style is very concise and clear, formal yet understandable for a student reading in any grade level. The genre of this source being an article was an important factor that influenced the writing style, because it was meant to target and relate to individuals who are currently in or working at an educational institution. Finally, I believe that this article did an excellent job at evaluating all aspects of technology in writing. They included the benefits, the drawbacks, and solutions for some of these problems. An example of this would be the problem with students plagiarizing, and the solution would be to incorporate lessons about it and educate them on consequences. With so many different perspectives on this topic, I will be able to incorporate this information into my research. For example, I could have a refuting paragraph and explain how an argument is weak using all of the different points of view offered in this article.
#4: https://hub.jhu.edu/2021/07/07/handwriting-more-effectively-teaches-reading-skills-brenda-rapp/
The article "Hand-writing letters shown to be best technique for learning to read" written by Jill Rosen, is one that concisely explains the experiment done by Brenda Rapp, a Johns Hopkins University professor of cognitive science. Rapp brought forty two students together to learn the Arabic alphabet. Among these students, there were three split groups: the writers, typers, and video watchers. After being introduced to each letter, the three groups would attempt to learn what they just saw and heard in different ways. The video group got an on-screen flash of a letter and had to say if it was the same letter they'd just seen. The typers would have to find the letter on the keyboard. The writers had to copy the letter with pen and paper. After several sessions, they found that everyone could recognize the letters and made few mistakes when tested. But the writing group reached this level of proficiency faster than the other groups—a few of them in just two sessions. Experimenters went into further testing, so they tested to see if the students were able to comprehend or write words with them, and they found that the writing group was “collectively scoring higher in these areas than the other groups,” which suggest that students are better able to learn and grasp new concepts when they are handwriting.
The author used a formal tone, which suggests the underlining professionalism of the experiment given. The audience is anyone who is interested in learning about the cognitive science behind what makes students learn better, depending on the writing tool that they use. I will be able to use this source in my research topic as an outline, because it correlates directly to my question. Additionally, I would be able to add that, although this experiment consisted of adults, researchers believe that there is a very similar effect for children, or the younger population, who are still pursuing their education and learning.
Your Blog is super informative, and really well organized. Its really long and well worded and i enjoyed reading it. Maybe next time try including some other times of media. Maybe photos or videos of the original post. Otherwise i think you did ana amazing job and its a wonderful blog.
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