the homework assignments

the homework assignments

Enhancing Student Learning Through Effective Homework Assignments

1. Introduction to Homework Assignments

Homework has historically played a central role in students’ learning experiences in the United States. This article begins by providing both broad background information—such as the history of homework and views of both its proponents and opponents—as well as regional and demographic differences. The consensus over the effectiveness of homework assignments, particularly at the secondary level, is far from unanimous. Yet there is some agreement about certain characteristics of good assignments. Finally, in considering how students learn, the essential role that thoughtful homework assignments can play in increasing students’ learning efficiency is illuminated. Alfie Kohn questions the value of using any class time for homework and expresses disappointment over the lack of availability of research on the value of homework. Concerns about the effects of large amounts of homework on the time spent with children and freedom to relax are also discussed. The views of some psychology, sociology, and educational experts are conveyed.

2. Theoretical Frameworks and Research on Homework Effectiveness

First, the decline of the US public education system is alarming. Despite massive increases in education spending, our public education system is failing its students. High-school students today perform little or no better at reading or math than regular junior high students in the 1950s. It appears that much of the money allocated to education is wasted, and it would be useful to improve the productivity of our spent research, leading to better policy decisions about the allocation of resources toward the enhancement and support of effective instruction. This paper addresses student learning through reinforced homework practices as a means of boosting achievement through both the analysis of the requirements for student learning and the reinforcement of these required practices.

How students learn is important. By focusing on student learning, the role and importance of homework in the enhancement of math and science education can be critically evaluated. Effective homework practices may also lead to lower test and homework scores, but at the same time overall student learning will increase. I do not propose that these changes be tested a priori, as proactive moves achieve long-lasting gains. If students improve their low-level and high-level thinking, homework performance will improve. Consequently, if homework performance is graded, then lower math and test scores will result.

3. Designing and Implementing Engaging Homework Assignments

Homework problems should present a specific challenge to the student, but do not need to be deeply open-ended nor do they need to be particularly long. It is important, however, that the homework problem be internally interesting. That is, it should be interesting for them to think about the problem and to discuss it in a forthcoming classroom session. As the faculty member walks around the classroom working with the students, all engaged in developing a deep understanding of the solution concepts, she loves to hear comments like “I found the statement of the problem very confusing”, “I had no idea where to start”, “I worked with three different people, but none of us could get our answers to match”, etc.

Bryan Arnold at Yale described how he has revised some of the traditional end-of-chapter problems in the textbook he is teaching from to present more significant challenges to the students. His initial experiences with these modified problems suggest that students are confused by their apparent simplicity. While it is unremarkable that class material might surpass that in a textbook, he is finding that some students are expressing concerns that there are no samples of problems like those in the textbook for them to practice on. They are less comfortable hearing a solution to a problem about which the faculty member had only offered a verbal exercise. Also noteworthy is an important lesson about student experience that he noted in the evaluation: One student said “It gives immediate feedback without waiting for a solution posted on a bulletin board or in the library,” while another added “It’s often frustrating and time-consuming.”

4. Assessment and Feedback for Homework Assignments

Successful completion of an assignment given as homework is developed as a student responsibility in the same manner that an instructor provides feedback on material presented in class. It is the instructor’s responsibility to assign work and provide feedback that is meaningful to learning effectiveness. For example, homework is assigned, collected, and graded, and solutions are provided by the session’s instructor. Students do not learn if work is not reviewed for correctness and instructor comments minimized. Homework should be reviewed by the grader for correctness and by the instructor for inconsistency with the full paper completion, to provide a collective class view of how the homework should have been done.

It is the grader’s goal to provide a collective class view by reviewing homework for correctness, consistency with the completed full paper, and the student’s required research. The necessity of required research might be summarized – revealing the student’s research by reading questions asked in a complete chapter of the text and discussion of implied or required additional source documents. Particular homework questions might demonstrate specific student responsibility by requiring an answer based upon required computations of synthesized data, computations of data from source documents identified in the text or during the homework review, computations of data from various source documents and the method’s reconciliation, and/or a discussion based upon a research search for, and citation of, an article on a specific topic in the announced area of the text. Misinterpretations of the question are frequent and must be addressed in all solutions of incorrectly completed problems. An incorrect answer is next discussed showing the student’s research is required. Once the student’s research is revealed, the correction is presented. The corrective answer is summarized by grading a solution providing the research is complete.

5. Strategies for Supporting Diverse Learners in Completing Homework

Of course, it is not only students who have diverse needs. A central source of support for students who have problems with their study activities is their teacher. In school, the teacher does have the opportunity to personalize homework by helping students break problems into manageable parts or providing just-in-time extra examples on not quite understood aspects of the math topic. The current trend towards in-school teacher homework assistance, also known as “homework help,” denotes after-school programs in which teachers are available to help students select and complete their homework tasks. WebSocket, a homework help computer intervention model at the middle school level, designs homework activities supported by online curriculum and assessment into a sequence of learning lessons; cognitively supported discussions, appropriate after-school homework, and feedback into future classroom work. WesSmart, a homework help program at the high school senior level, is designed to provide students with individual assistance as they complete half of their schoolwork. Tutors give guidance and help students implement specific tasks that have an impact on their academic progress. However, to preserve an equal learning and homework assistance, activities are spread over the five-week two daily schedule.

Regardless of the minimum time which the student needs to meet to gain a final result for the homework, full day and half-day programs must ensure continuing support services for students who have a hard time completing their homework. Moreover, minority ELLs, given their practices in information technology, need equal opportunities to access and benefit from these homework help resources and assistance. Other teacher strategies which demonstrate support to students as they study fall into the category of facilitating a good start on homework, building supportive classroom conditions, fidgeting, encouraging students to expand on the problem-solving activities often embedded in homework, and specifically giving attention to students’ needs, style, and responses to homework. In particular, encouraging students to complete their assignments must involve a respect for student diversity and learning needs.