Campus Voices: Handwritten versus typed exams

Handwritten exams can be a daunting task fraught with hand cramps and progressively less legible writing. However, electronic typed exams can also conjure fears of forgetting to hit save in the heat of the moment.

As we being to enter a more digital age of education, the University of Alberta recently conducted a literature review on whether exams should remain handwritten or become electronically typed. The question of switching mediums for exam writing was first brought forth in 2018 by the Council on Student Affairs (COSA), a committee from the Office of the Dean of Students focused on bettering the student experience at the university.  

The Gateway decided to bring this question to the people who know the struggle of writing tests all too well.  

Theo Voaklander (header)  — third-year biology and English student

“I much prefer typed exams. I’ve definitely in the past lost marks because [professors] can’t read my handwriting — I’m not very legible. I’m much faster at typing as well, so it would be much easier for me and I feel like there would be a level of accessibility in terms of typing.”

Kyle Balisnomo — third-year computer science student

“I definitely prefer typed exams because I’m in computer sciences and I don’t even bring around pen and paper anymore. I use my laptop for everything.”

Melissa Peters — program coordinator for the cardiology residency training program

“Both have their benefits. The benefit of a handwritten exam is most people tend to be slower when they are handwriting, so it gives you more time for thought and analysis. It has the pro that you are more likely to come up with a more well-rounded answer. The benefit of typed exams is that in this day and age, a lot of people are faster at typing and, therefore, you could probably get an exam done quicker than you could with handwriting. One of the drawbacks with a very electronic-based platform is that a lot of people now heavily rely on spellcheck and things like Grammarly for grammar checking, so it’s a pro for the student to have a typed exam whereas for a handwriting exam, its definitely a negative that people may not be as good at spelling in this day and age and your essay may suffer as a result.”

Casey Buchanan — second-year masters student in sciences

“In my experience, I’ve quite liked handwritten exams just because it forces you to take a bit more time to think about your answers. On the other hand, I know a lot of people have trouble writing quickly and putting their thoughts down quickly writing and I know that typing is part of special services for students taking tests. I think that students should have the choice to do either one and there should be resources set up with classes and professors to facilitate that choice.

Kasey Enokson — third-year secondary education student

“I think handwritten exams are the way to go. Typed exams give me so much anxiety and I always fear that the computer is going to breakdown and that I’m not going to save my answers. At least I know in handwritten exams that I can go hard and maybe the teacher won’t know what I’m writing.”

Tzxumara Hein-Adams — first-year English student

“I prefer typed because when you write, if you make a mistake you have to backtrack. Also, lots of the time when you’re processing information and trying to get it down, your thoughts aren’t super linear, so after the fact you’ll realize ‘oh I could’ve put this in’ or remember something, because of the way you have to write, you can’t really add that in without it messing up the format.”

Aurora Frewin — third-year English and creative writing student

“That’s a tough one because when it comes to electronic [typing], I know for some people they are much faster at electronic [typing] and if there are some grammar issues you can see it easier. I know for myself with writing, I sometimes find that I’m watching my grammar more, but sometimes I also go too fast and don’t notice my grammar. I would honestly say it’s kinda up in the air for me.”

Kartikya Gaur — first-year engineering student

“I would like a written aspect, not because it will give me better marks, but because most questions have multiple steps to them, so they’re worth more than one mark. If you go into numerical response, they are usually the hardest [questions] because they have multiple steps and you can only get one right answer. You could have all the answers recorded on the computer and have a scrap of paper where you can do the work for extra marks.”