Fact · Dictation for work and study
In the 1997 study, for students accustomed to writing on computer, responses written on computer scored substantially higher than responses written by hand.
Checked against its source on October 17, 2026
In the source's own words
“for students accustomed to writing on computer, responses written on computer are substantially higher than those written by hand”
Testing Writing on Computers, Michael Russell and Walt Haney, Education Policy Analysis Archives, 1997, Abstract.
Open the original (DOI 10.14507/epaa.v5n3.1997)- What it measures
- The study compared open-ended test responses written by hand with responses written on a computer, for middle school students, and recorded how much each student was used to writing on a computer.
- What it does not show
- The gain applied to students who were accustomed to writing on computer. The study does not measure law school exams, and its sample was small.