Get know about the effects of homework on student achievement.
Homework is described as chores that are assigned to pupils by their teachers and are to be completed outside of school hours. This definition eliminates directed study in the classroom (although homework is sometimes completed during class), home study courses, and extracurricular activities such as sports teams and clubs.
Effects of Homework on Student Achievement
Purpose
The most common reason for assigning homework is to have students practise information covered in class in order to reinforce learning and facilitate mastery of certain abilities. The material that will be covered in future lessons is introduced through preparation assignments. These exercises are designed to assist students in getting the most out of new content covered in class. The transfer of previously learned skills to new contexts is the focus of extension assignments. Students might, for example, learn about the circumstances that led to the French Revolution in class and then be assigned homework to apply what they learned to the American Revolution. Finally, integration homework asks students to combine previously gained skills into a single product, such as book reports, science projects, or creative writing.
Homework can also be used for purposes that are unrelated to instruction. Homework can be used for a variety of purposes.
(1) Make communication between parents and children a priority.
(2) Comply with school administration’s orders;
(3) Discipline students; and
(4) Keep parents up to date on what is going on in school. The majority of homework assignments have features that serve a variety of functions.
Public Perceptions of Homework
Since the inception of organised schooling in the United States, homework has been a part of students’ life. Educators and parents, on the other hand, have alternatively accepted and opposed the practice.
The mind was considered as a muscle that could be strengthened through mental exercise before the twentieth century began. Homework was evaluated favourably because this practice may be completed at home. The emphasis on schooling switched from drill to problem solving during the 1940s. Because it was strongly associated with the repeating of material, homework fell out of favour. The Soviet Union’s launch of the satellite Sputnik in the mid-1950s changed all of that. The public in the United States was concerned that education lacked rigour, leaving pupils unprepared for complicated technologies. It was thought that homework could help students learn faster.
Another reversal occurred in the late 1960s. Educators and parents were concerned that homework was displacing social interaction, outdoor recreation, and creative pursuits. Homework resurfaced in the 1980s when the National Commission on Excellence in Education’s report A Nation at Risk (1983) mentioned homework as a defence against the rising tide of mediocrity in American education. Increasingly stringent state-mandated academic standards spurred the desire for extra homework into the 1990s. As the century came to a close, there was a pushback against schoolwork, fueled by parents concerned about their children being overworked.
Homework’s Positive and Negative Effects
The greatest direct benefit of homework is that it can help with retention and comprehension. Indirectly, homework can help students improve their study abilities and attitudes toward school, as well as teach them that learning can happen anywhere, not just in classrooms. Homework has non-academic benefits such as encouraging independence and responsibility. Finally, homework can engage parents in the educational process, increasing their appreciation of education and allowing them to voice positive feelings about the importance of school success.
Educators and parents, on the other hand, are concerned that if pupils are obliged to spend too much time on academic content, they will become bored. Homework might prevent students from participating in recreational and community activities that teach critical life skills. Parental involvement in homework can quickly devolve into parental meddling. If parents’ instructional tactics differ from those employed by instructors, for example, children may become confused. If homework encourages cheating, whether, through assignment copying or homework assistance beyond tutoring, it can lead to the development of unfavourable character qualities. Finally, homework has the potential to exacerbate existing social imbalances. Children from low-income families may struggle more than their middle-class peers to complete tasks.
Homework Extensiveness
In contrast to public opinion fluctuations, studies show that the amount of time children spend on homework has remained largely consistent. According to data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, about one-third of nine-year-olds and one-quarter of thirteen- and seventeen-year-olds reported receiving no homework at all in 1984 and 1994, with an additional 5% to 10% admitting they did not complete homework that was assigned. Half of the nine-year-olds, a third of thirteen-year-olds, and a quarter of seventeen-year-olds stated they did less than an hour of homework per night. Around 12% of nine-year-olds, 28% of thirteen-year-olds, and 26% of seventeen-year-olds reported they did one to two hours of homework each night in 1994. All of these percentages were within one point of the results of the 1984 survey.
According to a national survey of parents conducted by the polling agency Public Agenda in October 2000, 64 per cent of parents believe their child is given “about the right amount” of homework, 25% believe their child is given “too little,” and only 10% believe their child is given “too much homework.”
Students in the United States spend less time on homework than students in other developed countries, according to international comparisons. However, due to differing definitions of homework and changes in the duration of the school day and year, direct comparisons across nations are difficult to evaluate.
Amounts of Homework That Are Appropriate
Experts believe that the amount and type of homework assigned should be determined by the student’s developmental level. According to the National PTA and the National Education Association, homework should be limited to ten to twenty minutes each day for children in grades K–2. Children in grades three through six can benefit from thirty to sixty minutes of daily physical activity. Students in junior high and high school may benefit from increased homework time, which may vary from night tonight. These recommendations are in line with the findings of research on the usefulness of homework.
Overall Effectiveness of Homework Research
The association between homework and academic achievement has been studied using three different types of studies. One type compares kids who are assigned homework against those who are not. In general, these studies show that homework has a favourable impact on student achievement. They do, however, demonstrate a relationship between homework and achievement that is rough twice as strong for high school kids as it is for junior high students. At the elementary school level, the relationship is barely a fraction of what it is at the high school level.
Another study compares homework to guided study in class. The positive association is about half as strong as it was in the first type of study. These investigations show a large grade-level influence yet again. In primary schools, when homework and in-class study were compared, the in-class study was found to be superior.
The third type of research examines the relationship between the number of homework kids claim to do and their achievement test scores. Again, these studies reveal that the association is influenced by the student’s grade level. The association between time spent on homework and achievement is nearly nonexistent for pupils in primary grades. The association reveals a favourable but weak relationship for pupils in middle and junior high school. The association implies a moderate relationship between achievement and time spent on homework for high school students.
Effective Homework Assignments: A Study
There is no consistent relationship between the topic matter and the importance of homework. Shorter, more frequent assignments appear to be more effective than longer, less frequent assignments. Review and preparation tasks are more successful than homework that just covers information covered in class on the day of the assignment. When young children are having difficulties in school, involving parents in homework might be beneficial. When homework fosters independent learning, it benefits older children and pupils who do well in school.
Homework can be an excellent teaching tool. However, the developmental stage of the pupils has a significant impact on the relationship between homework and achievement. Homework’s impacts must be expected to be limited, especially in the short term and in the early grades. Homework can sometimes have both positive and negative consequences. It is not the responsibility of educators or parents to determine which list of homework effects is correct. Instead, homework policies and practices should provide local schools and teachers the flexibility to consider their kids’ individual needs and situations in order to maximise positive effects while minimising negative ones.
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