Written By Joseph Deem Ed.D.
Recent studies point to the positive learning effects of handwriting over word processing . In the paper titled The Neuroscience Behind Writing: Handwriting vs. Typing Giuseppe Marano et al (2025) discovered that typing engages fewer neural circuits than handwriting, and shifts thought to muscle memory as opposed to handwriting’s direct engagement of areas associated with memory and language. Marano states that from a neuroscientific perspective handwriting and typing engage different cognitive and neural mechanisms. For example:
- Handwriting engages the sensorimotor cortex, visual areas, and language centers more extensively than typing.
- The neural mechanisms underlying handwriting are intricately linked to perceptual, motor, and cognitive functions
- Handwriting provides a rich substrate for the expression of thoughts and emotions.
Pamela B. Rutledge (Psychology Today, 2024) reported that neuroimaging indicates that the cognitive activity generated by handwriting appears to enhance brain structure, function and cognitive reserves. Furthermore, researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) found that writing by hand stimulates higher levels of electrical brain activity than typing, and that the movement from handwriting engages vision, sensory processing, and memory. Charlotte Hu (Scientific American, 2024) wrote that by forming letters and words by hand, students are “Taking this perceptual understanding of something and using their motor system to create it.” Concurrently, the letters and words are reprocessed into the visual system. Engaging the tactile and visual processes strengthens the connection between words and letters and concepts they represent. According to the Norwegian researchers, these factors create “important foundations for literacy.”
Writing by hand also impacts math learning. Studies show that students using paper and pencil to show their work when solving math problems outperform those using technology. In the article The Benefits of Using Pencil and Paper in Math William Hinkley, Neil Heffernan, and Helen Lee Bouygues describe results from a randomized study of student outcomes comparing students who “showed their work” as opposed to those using computer programs to help solve problems. They discovered that using computers inhibits math learning, and that students using paper and pencils significantly outperformed their peers.
Every Standards Plus Program was originally developed in “paper and pencil” format. During the 20 years of multiple implementations in numerous schools and school districts, this tactile design has proven immensely productive for student learning and subsequently improved test scores. As credible research emerges showing the positive neural impact from tactile interaction with learning content it reveals yet another explanation of the positive outcomes generated through implementing Standards Plus materials.