Typing is one of those skills that people often underestimate—until they start doing real academic work. As you begin engaging in research, writing papers, preparing assignments, and communicating with mentors or professors, typing becomes a core part of your daily academic routine. Fast and accurate typing saves an incredibly huge amount of time. In doing so, having a high word per minute (WPM) rate reduces stress during deadlines and makes the writing process more fluent. For researchers, especially, typing is essential when drafting reviews, taking notes, writing code for data analysis, or documenting findings. Improving your typing speed now will serve you throughout both university and your professional life.
Many students type using only two to four fingers and rely heavily on looking down at the keyboard. This creates slow speed, more mistakes, and long-term fatigue. Touch typing, a technique where your fingers rest on the home row and move instinctively to each key, is the gold standard. It improves accuracy, speed, and overall writing comfort. While it requires practice, the learning curve is fast when using proper tools and structured exercises. Scholars who shift to touch typing often see their speed double within a few weeks of consistent practice.
TypingClub is one of the most effective platforms for building typing speed because it offers structured lessons, reflective feedback, and clear progression. It trains both speed and accuracy.
Scholars are not required to use TypingClub specifically; similar tools such as Keybr, 10FastFingers, and Typing.com are acceptable alternatives. You can also use other platforms, if you need. What matters is consistent practice and following a structured plan. Frequent repetition builds muscle memory, and tracking progress helps you see your improvement over time.
Through this assignment, we don’t require you to reach a certain speed. Rather, we want you to build such a consistent habit.
Your plan should include how many lessons you will complete each week, how long you will practice per session, and which areas you want to improve (accuracy, speed, finger positioning, etc.).
For example, a scholar may commit to ten minutes per day, five days per week, or to completing two lessons per day until reaching a speed above 40 words per minute. The plan should reflect your personal schedule and goals.
At the high school level, many students type between 20–35 words per minute (WPM), which is completely normal. With practice, reaching 40–50 WPM is very achievable within a few weeks. For academic work and university-level writing, speeds between 50–70 WPM are ideal. Your goal should be for you to reach 100–200 (because, why not?).
You need to however note that you should not pressure yourself with numbers. Improvement is the goal. Even increasing your speed by 10 WPM can dramatically change your efficiency when writing essays, summarizing readings, or typing research notes.
Students often focus only on speed instead of accuracy, which leads to sloppy habits. Others watch their keyboard while typing, slowing down the learning process. Some push themselves too fast too soon, making errors more common.
Avoid rushing. Focus on building correct technique, especially in the first days. Another common mistake is inconsistency, where typing once a week will not lead to improvement. Daily short practice is more effective than long, occasional sessions.
ARPL includes this assignment not to test you, but to set you up with a foundational skill that will make your future research and university life easier.
If you needed feedback on your plan, please feel free to reach out to any of the mentors.
Your TypingClub plan will be submitted on Canvas, and the grading will be based on whether you developed a clear, thoughtful plan, not on your actual typing speed or prior experience.