Underlying functions associated with keyboarding performance of elementary-school students

Background Keyboarding (Typing) is a major writing mode in educational settings in addition to, or as an alternative to, handwriting. Therefore, it is important that occupational therapists become experts on this activity, to support students’ performance. Yet, the knowledge of keyboarding performan...

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Main Authors: Nagham Gahshan-Haddad, Naomi Weintraub
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2023-11-01
Series:Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/11038128.2023.2188254
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author Nagham Gahshan-Haddad
Naomi Weintraub
author_facet Nagham Gahshan-Haddad
Naomi Weintraub
author_sort Nagham Gahshan-Haddad
collection DOAJ
description Background Keyboarding (Typing) is a major writing mode in educational settings in addition to, or as an alternative to, handwriting. Therefore, it is important that occupational therapists become experts on this activity, to support students’ performance. Yet, the knowledge of keyboarding performance of elementary-school students, and the underlying functions it entails, is limited.Aim To compare keyboarding performance (speed and accuracy) of 4th-grade students in copying and dictation keyboarding tasks, and to examine the role of underlying functions in predicting keyboarding performance.Material and Methods The sample consisted of 57 4th-grade students, recruited from 2 elementary schools. Students were tested for reading speed, attention shifting, fine-motor skills, kinaesthetic awareness, and keyboarding performance.Results Keyboarding performance differed in the copying and dictation tasks. Reading speed was the major underlying function predicting keyboarding performance in both tasks. Additionally, kinaesthetic awareness had a low, negative correlation with dictation accuracy.Conclusions When occupational therapists assess students’ keyboarding performance, they should use various tasks. Additionally, therapists should consider students’ reading speed and kinaesthetic awareness, as they may explain keyboarding performance. This knowledge may also support decision-making when considering keyboarding as an alternative writing mode for students with handwriting difficulties.
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spelling doaj-art-154f35499e2748c1a213978dc54534ce2025-08-20T02:36:15ZengTaylor & Francis GroupScandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy1103-81281651-20142023-11-013081415142310.1080/11038128.2023.2188254Underlying functions associated with keyboarding performance of elementary-school studentsNagham Gahshan-Haddad0Naomi Weintraub1The Neurodevelopmental Disabilities and Writing Research Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, School of Occupational Therapy, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, IsraelThe Neurodevelopmental Disabilities and Writing Research Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, School of Occupational Therapy, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, IsraelBackground Keyboarding (Typing) is a major writing mode in educational settings in addition to, or as an alternative to, handwriting. Therefore, it is important that occupational therapists become experts on this activity, to support students’ performance. Yet, the knowledge of keyboarding performance of elementary-school students, and the underlying functions it entails, is limited.Aim To compare keyboarding performance (speed and accuracy) of 4th-grade students in copying and dictation keyboarding tasks, and to examine the role of underlying functions in predicting keyboarding performance.Material and Methods The sample consisted of 57 4th-grade students, recruited from 2 elementary schools. Students were tested for reading speed, attention shifting, fine-motor skills, kinaesthetic awareness, and keyboarding performance.Results Keyboarding performance differed in the copying and dictation tasks. Reading speed was the major underlying function predicting keyboarding performance in both tasks. Additionally, kinaesthetic awareness had a low, negative correlation with dictation accuracy.Conclusions When occupational therapists assess students’ keyboarding performance, they should use various tasks. Additionally, therapists should consider students’ reading speed and kinaesthetic awareness, as they may explain keyboarding performance. This knowledge may also support decision-making when considering keyboarding as an alternative writing mode for students with handwriting difficulties.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/11038128.2023.2188254Typingreadingcognitivemotorprimary-school
spellingShingle Nagham Gahshan-Haddad
Naomi Weintraub
Underlying functions associated with keyboarding performance of elementary-school students
Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy
Typing
reading
cognitive
motor
primary-school
title Underlying functions associated with keyboarding performance of elementary-school students
title_full Underlying functions associated with keyboarding performance of elementary-school students
title_fullStr Underlying functions associated with keyboarding performance of elementary-school students
title_full_unstemmed Underlying functions associated with keyboarding performance of elementary-school students
title_short Underlying functions associated with keyboarding performance of elementary-school students
title_sort underlying functions associated with keyboarding performance of elementary school students
topic Typing
reading
cognitive
motor
primary-school
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/11038128.2023.2188254
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