Could the use of a pencil with a non-ergonomic design be a potential source of students' writing anxiety and diminished writing motivation?

Handwriting as a fundamental life skill has been extensively acknowledged, and it constitutes a substantial portion of a primary school student's academic day and significantly impacts their educational development. However, research indicates that students often encounter challenges with handwriting due to pain and physical discomfort, which may lead to anxiety and diminished motivation. This research suggests that these undesirable outcomes may be associated with the pencil's physical attributes that affect proper grip, such as its shape, texture, diameter, and pencil tip. This experimental inquiry delves into the influence of a pencil with ergonomic design features in terms of shape, texture, diameter, and pencil tip features and a traditional wooden pencil on the writing anxiety and motivation of first-grade primary school students. A mixed-method approach was employed in this study. A sequential transformational design was adopted; wherein quantitative data collection and analysis were followed by qualitative data collection and analysis. The quasi-experimental model was utilized in this study, because the students were studying in intact classrooms. Thus, two classes involving students received pre-school education, were randomly designated as the experimental group (EG) and control group (CG). The quantitative segment utilized Repeated Measures ANOVA, while the qualitative component involved content analysis of semi-structured interviews. The study revealed notable disparities between the experimental and control groups regarding writing anxiety and motivation scores, as evidenced by qualitative analyses. The experimental group, which used the pencil with ergonomic features, exhibited significantly lower writing anxiety and significantly higher writing motivation scores compared to the control group. These trends underscore the pivotal role of the pencil's physical attributes on students' writing motivation and writing anxiety. Pencils that facilitate comfortable grip and enhance writing ease notably augment pleasurable aspects of writing for students, subsequently fostering increased writing motivation. Conversely, pencils presenting gripping challenges and writing constraints tended to induce anxiety linked to pain and contributed to an overall escalation in writing anxiety.