Biomedical subjects

Ragnheidur Karlsdottir

Publications and source records attributed to Ragnheidur Karlsdottir.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2003

Predicting performance in primary school subjects.

Correlations among letter naming, word reading, letter writing, and visual-motor integration scores at school start in Grade 1 and reading, spelling, and handwriting scores at the end of Grades 2 and 5 obtained in a longitudinal design for 217 boys and 190 girls entering Grade 1 at the age of 7 years are reported. The correlations between letter naming, word reading, and letter writing and reading and spelling in Grades 2 and 5 fall in the ranges .51 < or = r < or = .62 and .43 < or = r < or = .50, respectively (alpha = .01). For all other correlations (r < .40) alpha = .01.

Child↗

PubMed2003

Formative evaluation of handwriting quality.

A test developed for formative evaluation of handwriting quality is described and validated. The test is based on a domain of content for the handwriting skill defined in terms of the deviation of the writing in a handwriting specimen from the handwriting standard. A corresponding domain of elementary test items is defined in terms of the means and the variances of the deviations from the handwriting standard in shape, size, and position of each individual letter. The elementary items are scored on a dichotomous scale and cumulated into scores for letter items and a domain-referenced final score that can be interpreted as the fraction of the domain of content of the construct of handwriting quality that is mastered. Validation of the test was based on handwriting specimens from a school class of 23 children, tested in a longitudinal design from Grades 1 through 5. Coefficients of concurrent validity for final scores equal to .91, .86, .88, and .86 were obtained for Grades 1, 2, 3, and 5, respectively, using traits of the handwriting scored on an ordinal norm-referenced scale as criteria. Coefficients of intertest, intertask, intrascorer, and interscorer reliability for final scores equal to .87, .86, .94, and .80 were found, respectively, for the handwriting specimens from Grade 2. A survey of previously published handwriting quality tests indicates that most of them are not well suited for formative purposes although most of them were adequate for summative purposes.

Child↗

PubMed2002

Problems in developing functional handwriting.

The development of handwriting quality and speed of 407 primary school children was followed from Grade 1 to Grade 5 in a longitudinal experiment. Performance was analyzed to enquire into the extent and bases for handwriting dysfunction. 27% of the children were classified as dysfunctional at the end of Grade 1. At the end of Grade 5 only 13% were so classified. Most children have adequate perception and motor abilities to develop functional handwriting. Dysfunction of handwriting speed can usually be traced to dysfunction of its quality. Dysfunction of quality can be traced to insufficient individualization in the primary instruction in handwriting which leads to a mismatch between the time allocated to teach certain letters to certain children and the time required for these children to learn the form of these letters.

Aptitude↗