Helping Students
Avoid Errors
First, technique; then, speed; and finally, accuracy. All major studies of skill
learning support this order of skill development. Further, studies of keyboard
learning suggest that the kind of copy a student uses in learning has little or no
effect on the degree of accuracy developed. Accuracy seems to be primarily a
matter of finding the “right speed”—a speed that is comfortable and that permits
giving attention to the control of motions.
Thus, errors made when learning new keys, practicing technique, and building
speed should be ignored. Most of these errors are random, inconsistent, and not
persistent. They are a natural outgrowth of experimenting with improved ways
to develop technique and speed.
Many instructors make the mistake of emphasizing accuracy too soon and of
directing students to go for higher speed and fewer errors in the same practice.
Again and again, experience has shown that when accuracy is emphasized,
speed drops; when speed is emphasized, errors increase. So when speed of
keystroking is the emphasis, do not mention errors; when accuracy is the goal of
practice, tell students to key at a comfortable rate—below their highest speed.
Further, when speed is the emphasis, discourage students from backspacing and
correcting their errors as they key. If speed is the goal, you want to know how
rapidly they can strike keys, and the time lost in correcting errors reduces that
speed. When accuracy is the goal, you want to know how many errors students
make in the time designated for the writing. If you permit them to backspace and
correct errors, a distorted picture of their accuracy results. Use errors as
symptoms of the real problem—faulty technique, poor concentration, and
possibly lack of key-location mastery. Then work on the problems, not on the
symptoms (the specific errors made).
Cautioning students to “key more accurately” is easier than teaching them how
to do so, but effective error avoidance must come from an understanding of why
errors are made—not that they are made. The following discussion of some
major groups of errors may aid in understanding something of their causes and
lead to the effective use of suggested procedures to reduce them.
Extra Letters in the Copy Produced
Extra letters in the copy produced are often caused by a hesitant, pressing
motion that strikes two letters at once or sends more than one electronic impulse
to the same key.
Have students curve the fingers deeply; lift the finger slightly above the key and
make a light, quick stroke to the key; strike the key downward and snap the
fingertip toward the palm of the hand as the stroke is completed. Use the tip of
the finger for the keystroke, not the cushion or “pad” of the finger. Emphasize
the quick “getaway” to complete the motion.
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Adjacent-Key Errors
Adjacent-key errors are caused by glancing strokes, resulting in striking between
the keys, hitting the edge of the key, or depressing two keys at once. A buffered
keyboard will print both characters—the correct one and an extra one.
Be sure the front frame of the keyboard is even with the front edge of the desk
or table and is centered in relation to the body. Check to be sure that the fingers
are properly aligned with the keyboard (straight up and down over the keys—not
leaning over onto the little fingers). Permit students to move closer to or away
from the keyboard or to move their elbows in or out a bit to align their fingers
with the keyboard. If such errors persist, have students slow down and key by
letter response until control of the adjacent keys is regained.
This type of error is an important one to help students avoid because adjacent-
key errors account for about 25 percent of all keystroking errors made.
Fortunately, it is a type of error that you can help students avoid because it has a
technique flaw as its cause.
Transposition of Letters
Transposition of letters is caused by imperfect timing of the keystrokes or by
reading too far in advance of what is being keyed. Have students key at a slower
rate, with attention to the timing of each keystroke. Keying on the stroke-by-
stroke level for a time will reduce the tendency to make errors of transposition.
Same-Finger, Opposite-Hand Errors
Same-finger, opposite-hand errors are caused by the letter-making movement
not being positively and forcefully identified with the right or left hand—only
with the finger (i for e or e for i, for example).
Have students give attention to the exact direction of each letter-making
movement and mentally spell the words until rhythmic control of the movement
sequence is regained. Some have found helpful the technique of saying silently
each i or e in the copy being keyed (or other opposite-hand letter pairs).
Spacing Errors
Failure to space between words is caused by loss of rhythm in keystroking and
failure to strike the Space Bar in the center and release it quickly. Extra spacing
between words is caused by dragging the thumb on the Space Bar and failing to
release the bar quickly.
Have students strike the Space Bar firmly with a down-and-in motion of the
thumb and release the pressure on the bar quickly. Another cause of spacing
errors is failure to keep the hand aligned with the keyboard. If the elbow swings
out when the finger reaches to certain keys—such as m, p, and the period key—
the thumb will be in the wrong position for the Space Bar and the letter b or n
may be keyed instead. The remedy is obvious—hold the hands in the same
correct position while keying. To do otherwise is to invite trouble.
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Overreaching Errors
Errors such as striking 6 for y and 5 for t result from moving the hands forward
for third-row reaches or from overextending the reaching finger.
Have students keep all fingers except the reaching one over their home keys.
Have them curve the fingers more deeply and retain as much of the curve as
possible when reaching to the third row. Not only does this technique avoid
overreaching, but it also results in a better quick-snap stroke of the reaching
finger.
Errors in Reading Copy
Faulty habits in reading the copy to be keyed cause errors such as (1) omitted
words, (2) wrong word ending, (3) omitted line or lines, (4) vowel confusion, (5)
transposition of letters and words, and (6) wasteful pauses in keying.
Some of the faulty reading habits are (1) raising the eyes from the copy, (2)
reading too far in advance of keying, and (3) inattention to letter and word
sequences. Have students hold the eyes on the copy; control the machine parts
by touch; attend vigorously to the sentences’ elements—letters, words,
punctuation, paragraphing, and the use of capitals; and read (let the eyes “take
in”) no more than a word or two in advance of the word being keyed. Have them
reduce their keying rate enough to permit continuous keying—smooth, even, but
rapid keystroking with the time lapse between strokes carefully controlled.
Too much concern about errors too early will inevitably lead to poor practice. If
the student runs into trouble, he or she must be taught to stop, relax, analyze
what is being done incorrectly, and then try again the pattern of motion that
makes performance easy. Students should practice for the “flowing movement”
that characterizes proper keyboarding. Errors will diminish as the movement
pattern is improved.
Incidental Errors
Except for the kinds of errors mentioned above that often result from improper
technique, most of the errors learners make have no known cause and no known
cure. Efforts to record them, analyze them, and prescribe specific kinds of copy
to correct them have not been productive. Research has found that having
students practice drills loaded with words containing the misstruck letters,
keying foreign language lines, or keying copy backwards has little or no effect
on subsequent practice. Any reduction in errors from such exercises seems to
apply only to the specific copy at the specific time. For such errors, keying at the
“right speed” seems to be the only way to reduce them.
Finding the Right Speed
If, as research suggests, finding the “right speed” is the best way to help students
avoid errors, a way is needed to help them find it. One widely tested method is
Guided (Paced) Writing.
To use Guided (Paced) Writing to help students avoid or reduce errors, the
following procedure has been found to be helpful:
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1. Key a 1' unguided speed writing on a paragraph and find gwam to
determine a base rate; count errors.
2. Subtract 2 gwam from the base rate to set a control (accuracy) goal rate
or speed limit.
3. Divide the speed limit by 4 to determine the maximum number of
words to be keyed in each 1/4' to stay within the speed limit.
4. Using the superior dots and figures in the copy to be keyed, mentally
note the last word in the copy you can reach each 1/4' while staying
within your speed limit. If the limit is 16 gwam, for example, only 4
words may be keyed each 1/4'; therefore, the 1/4' checkpoints are 4, 8,
12, and 16.
5. As the instructor calls the 1/4' guides (“1/4, 1/2, 3/4, Time”) for each
1/4', try to reach the checkpoint just as the guide is called.
6. If in the guided writing you did not key with fewer errors than in your
unguided writing, reduce your speed limit another 2 gwam, note new
1/4' checkpoints, and key another 1' writing at your reduced rate.
7. Repeat Step 6 until the desired reduction in errors is attained. The speed
at which you key when you reach an acceptable level of accuracy is
called the “right speed.”
Keep in mind that all students will not reach the “right speed” at the same time.
Therefore, some students will need to work for more speed at the same time
others need to work for fewer errors. The use of paragraphs counted with
superior dots and figures with guides called every 1/4' permits different students
to work for individually selected goals (speed or accuracy) on the same copy as
the instructor uses a single set of 1/4' guide calls for everyone.
In the early weeks, try to place most of the accuracy emphasis on the
improvement of the technique elements that help to avoid error. Place little, if
any, emphasis on the errors themselves.
The periodic and continuing use of the Guided (Paced) Writing procedure helps
students identify the progressively higher speeds at which they can key
comfortably and with a lower error rate. One or two uses of the procedure won’t
do it, but repeated uses of it will. Remember that “Rome wasn’t built in a day”;
neither is speed nor accuracy.
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Reprinted from Century 21 Computer Applications & Keyboarding, 7th Edition – Instructor’s
Manual