DOCUMENT RESUME ED 370 966 TM 021 512 AUTHOR Wolfe, Edward; And Others TITLE A Comparison of Word-Processed and Handwritten Essays

The two studies described here compare essays composed on word processors with those composed with pen and paper for a standardized writing assessment. The following questions guided these studies: (1) Are there differences in test administration and writing processes associated with handwritten versus word-processor writing assessments? (2) Are there differences in how raters evaluate the handwritten versus the word-processor format? Study 1, which involved 80 tenth graders writing by hand and 77 by word processor, revealed that there are some differences in the manner in which students approach writing essays when given a choice of the two formats. Students using the word processor were more likely to seek avsistance from spelling and style-checking utilities. Study 2, in which 12 female and 6 male adult scorers examined the papers from study 1, revealed that there are differences in the manner in which essays in each format are scored by raters and that transcribed papers received lower scores than originals regardless of the mode of composition. Eight tables present study findings, and an appendix presents the study coding system. (Contains 11 references.) (Author/SLD) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ********************h*************************************************