Does Representing Pen Pressure Improve Handwritten Calculation Accuracy?

With the digitization of education, opportunities for handwritten input using tablets and other digital devices have increased. However, the impact of digital handwriting on problem-solving performance and its contributing factors remains unclear. This study focuses on pen pressure, a fundamental element of handwriting, and investigates how pressure sensitivity affects arithmetic problem-solving. We hypothesized that allowing users to vary stroke darkness through pen pressure would enhance accuracy. To test this, we conducted an experiment comparing a pressure-sensitive condition, where pen pressure affected stroke darkness, and a non-pressure-sensitive condition, where stroke darkness was uniform. University students solved arithmetic problems involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The results showed no significant difference in accuracy for addition, subtraction, or multiplication, but significantly higher accuracy in division problems under the pressure-sensitive condition. Pen pressure analysis also revealed differences in value distribution between conditions. Furthermore, error analysis suggested that the inability to modulate stroke darkness might lead to misinterpretation of auxiliary digits or other handwritten calculation marks during complex tasks. These findings indicate that pen pressure sensitivity may support more effective problem-solving in arithmetic tasks that involve complex, multi-step reasoning, by improving the visual clarity of handwritten information.