出版社：Australian Institutes for Educational Research
摘要：This study set out to examine the range of legibility demonstrated by Western Australianstudents required to handwrite tasks of increasing intrinsic cognitive load. Arepresentative sample of students in Years 1, 2 and 3 (N=437) was recruited for a crosssectional study and teachers administered handwriting tasks. Year 1 students wereadministered easier tasks (copying from the board and dictation), and Year 3 studentswere administered more difficult tasks (dictation and composition), whilst students inYear 2 were administered all three tasks. A rubric was then constructed for six aspects oflegibility from selected participant exemplars: letter formation, size, space in word, spacebetween words, line placement, and slant, providing 18 items for analysis (3 tasks x 6aspects). The rubric demonstrated acceptable inter- and intra-reliability. Scores wereassigned following pairwise comparisons; a Rasch model (RM) analysis was applied toscores. Fit to the RM was confirmed to permit a more accurate assessment of legibility.The study substantiates many assumptions about handwriting in the extant literature, andmore specifically reveals how cognitive load governs legibility when students are learningto handwrite. Implications for practice are discussed.
