EFFECTIVENESS OF INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES ON

DYSGRAPHIA AMONG SCHOOL CHILDREN

Mrs. S. Bens Jenifer 1, Dr. Reeta Jebakumari Solomon2
1
Asst professor, Mental Health Nursing Department, 2Principal , Thasiah college of Nursing,
Vellivillagam, Marthandam.
*Corresponding Author E- mail: bensjenifersudhan@gmail.com
ABSTRACT

Background of the study: Children are the blessing from the Lord. Children have many responsibilities too. In the
modern society mastery of basic academic skills- reading, writing and arithmetic are necessary for success in both school
and employment setting and in society at large. Aim: The aim of the study is to assess the effectiveness of Instructional
activities on dysgraphia among school children in St. Antony’s school, Chemparuthivilai and K.J.Mcilroy Matriculation
School, Neyyoor, Tamilnadu. Materials and method: The design adopted was quasi experimental control group pre-test
post-test design. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the samples. The tool used for data collection procedure is
Dysgraphia Disability scale. (DDS). Children with dysgraphia in experimental group receive Instructional activities for 30
minutes every day for one month. Children with dysgraphia in control group not received intervention. Post- test level of
dysgraphia is measured by Dysgraphia Disability scale. (DDS) after one month. Results: The study findings revealed that
the mean post- test level of dysgraphia among Children with dysgraphia in experimental group is 12.92, MD= 6, t= 2.78, P˂
0.05. After one month of practicing Instructional activities. The mean post- test level of dysgraphia among school children
with dysgraphia in control group is 11.37 for one month without practicing Instructional activities. There is significant
reduction of level of dysgraphia in experimental group compared to children with dysgraphia in control group.
Conclusion : Instructional activities has found to be an effective in reduction of dysgraphia among school children.

Key words: Evaluate, effectiveness, dysgraphia, instructional activities, school children.

INTRODUCTION instructional activities that will raise their writing ability

to grade level.
Children are the blessing from the Lord. In the
modern society mastery of basic academic skills-reading, STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
writing, and arithmetic are necessary pre-requisite for
A quasi-experimental study to evaluate the
success in both school and employment setting and in
effectiveness of instructional activities on dysgraphia
society at large. A large percentage of children suffer
among school children in selected schools, Kanya kumari
from writing disabilities or writing difficulties and
district.
therefore, do not master or partially master these required
academic skills. Parents are responsible for helping
OBJECTIVES
children to grow physically, intellectually, emotionally
and spiritually.  To assess and compare the pre test and post test
level of dysgraphia among school children in
NEED FOR THE STUDY
study group and control group.

Majority of the school children have writing  To evaluate the effectiveness of instructional

difficulty. Roughly 65% of children diagnosed with activities on dysgraphia among school children

learning difficulties have a primary problem with reading in study group.

and writing related language skills.Most children with  To determine the association between post test

these difficulties can be taught writing and reading skills level of dysgraphia among school children with

for success in school life. When these problems are their selected demographic variables in study

identified early, they are more likely to learn group and Control group.
 HYPOTHESIS
 H1- There is a significant difference between
the pretest and posttest level of dysgraphia
among school children in study group and
control group.
 H2- There is a significant association between
posttest level of dysgraphia among school
children with the selected demographic
variables in study group and control group.
CONCEPTUAL FRAME WORK
The conceptual framework based on Imogene king’s
Goal attainment theory was used.
METHODS AND MATERIALS
The study was conducted at selected schools at
kanya kumari district. The population of this study is
primary school children with dysgraphia and who met the
inclusive criteria. Quantitative research approach with
quasi-experimental control group pretest- posttest design
was adopted. Samples were selected by using purposive
sampling technique in study group and control group.
The data collection tool used in this study consisted of
two sections. Section one was Demographic data,
section two was Dysgraphia disability scale . The content
validity of the tool was ascertained by the expert opinion
from guide and five experts, reliability was tested using
test re-test method . The pilot study was conducted
among six students 3 students in study group and 3
students in control group to find out the fesibiloity of
conducting the study .The main study was conducted in
K.J. Mcilroy Matriculation School, Neyyoor, and
St.Antony’s primary school, Chemparuthivilai,
kanyakumari district. The tool used for data collection
procedure is dysgraphia disability scale. After the pre test
,instructional activity taught and practiced
experimental group . post test assessment for both
groups. The data was collected and analyzed using
descriptive and inferential statistics. To test the
hypothesis paired’t’ test, unpaired‘t’ test and chi-square
were used. The level of significance was assessed by
p<0.05 to test the hypothesis.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Section-A: Distribution of school children according to
the prevalence
Section-B: Distribution of school children according to
the demographic variables in study group and control
group.
Section-C: I. Distribution of school children in study
group and control group according to the level of
dysgraphia before intervention.
II. Distribution of school children in study group and
control group according to the level of dysgraphia after
intervention.
Section-D: Testing Hypothesis.
I. Comparison of the pretest and posttest level of
dysgraphia among School children in study group and
control group.
II. Comparison of the posttest level of dysgraphia among
school Children in study group and control group.
III. Association of post- test level of dysgraphia among
school children with their selected demographic variables
in study group
Distribution of school children according to the
demographic variables in study group and control
group.
The demographic profile in study group,
12(40%) of them were 8-9 years of age, 22 (73.33%) of
them were males and 8(26.67%) of them were females.
According to the religion 5(16.67%) of them belonged to
Hindu ,About the classes, 12(40%) of them studying in
third standard, 11(36.67%) of them studying in fourth
in
standard ,About father’s education, 3(10%) of them have
completed middle school, About mother’s education,
4(13.33%) of them have completed high school, Primary
care giver of the children was their mother 30(100%).
Considering the type of the family 16(53.33%) belonged
to nuclear family, According to their residence
25(83.33%) of them belonged to rural, According to the
family’s monthly income 10(33.33%) of them earned Rs.
100 STUDY GROUP
5000-1000 and none of them earned below Rs.5000. 83.33 %
CONTROL GROUP
80
In control group, 11(36.67%) of them were 8-9 53.33 %

PERCENTAGE
60
years of age, 20 (66.67%) of them were males and
10(33.33%) of them were females. According to the 40 30 %

religion 6(20.04%) of them belonged to Hindu ,About

16.67 16.67
% %
20
0% 0% 0%0 % 0%
the classes, 11(36.67%) of them studying in third
0
standard, 10(33.33%) of them studying in fourth standard
and 9(30.00%) of them studying in fifth standard.
Related to the birth order 8 (26.67%) were only child,
About father’s education, 5(16.67%) of them have
DYSGRAPHIA
completed middle school, About mother’s education,
6(20.00%) of them have completed high school, Primary
care giver of the children was their mother30 (100%).
Fig 2 : Percentage distribution of school children
Considering the type of the family 18(60.00%) belonged
according to the level of dysgraphia after
to nuclear family,According to their residence
intervention.
24(80.00%) of them belonged to rural, According to the
family’s monthly income 8(26.67%) of them earned Rs. The first objective of the study was to assess the
5000-1000, and none of them earned below Rs.5000. prevalence of dysgraphia

The prevalence of dysgraphia among study group

shows that out of 70 students, between the age group of
86.67 % 8-11 years, there were 45 students had writing difficulty,
100 STUDY GROUP
90 83.33 %
PERCENTAGE

and in the control group 65 students between the age

80 CONTROL GROUP
70 group of 8-11 years, among them 42 students had writing
60
50 difficulty.
40 16.67 %
30 0% 0%
20 13.330 %
%
The second objective of the study was to assess and
10 0% 0% 0%
0 compare the pretest and posttest level of dysgraphia
among school children in study group and control
group.

The analysis of pre-test, in study group, among

30 children with dysgraphia 25(83.33%) had mild to
DYSGRAPHIA moderate disability,5(16.67%) had minimal disability
and no one had normal where as in control group, among
30 children with dysgraphia 26(86.67%) had mild to
Fig 1: Percentage distribution of school children
moderate disability,4(13.33%) had minimal disability.
according to the level of dysgraphia before
intervention. During posttest, in study group, among 30
children with dysgraphia 16(53.33%) had mild to
moderate disability, 9(30.00%) had minimal disability
and 5(16.67%) had normal where as in control group,
among 30 children with dysgraphia 25(83.33%) had
mild to moderate disability, 5(16.67%) had minimal
disability and no one had normal level.
 The mean score on level of dysgraphia among
school children in study group were 11.26 in pretest and
12.9 in posttest respectively. The unpaired‘t’ values were
9.113* which is significant at p<0.05. In control group
were 11.49 in pretest and 11.37 in posttest respectively.
The paired‘t’ values were 0.05* which is significant at
p<0.05. Hence the instructional activities was effective in
reducing the dysgraphia among school children. There is
significant difference between pretest and posttest level
of dysgraphia.so hypothesis (H1) was accepted.
RECOMMENDATIONS
 A study can be conducted for the school
children with other conditions like dyslexia and
other learning problems.
 A study can be conducted for school children
to reduce dyscalculia
 A study can be conducted among school
children with low academic performance due to
learning difficulties.

The third objective of the study was to evaluate the REFERENCES

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