Fun_People Archive
28 Sep
Hand-written tests versus typewritten ones

Date: Wed, 28 Sep 94 11:14:32 PDT
To: Fun_People
Subject: Hand-written tests versus typewritten ones

Forwarded-by: bostic@CS.Berkeley.EDU (Keith Bostic)
Forwarded-by: Wendell Craig Baker <wbaker@splat.baker.com>
From: Today's EDUPAGE 9/28/94

TEST SCORES ARE IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
Test essays written by hand often are scored higher than those submitted
in word-processed versions, concludes a study by the Educational Testing
Service. When word-processed essays were converted to handwriting and vice
versa, researchers found the hand-written versions of word-processed
essays were scored higher than the originals, even though the content was
exactly the same.  One possible reason is that word-processed essays
appear shorter and errors are more obvious. (Chronicle of Higher Education
9/28/94 A25)

© 1994 Peter Langston