Homework facilitates learner absorption of content by providing opportunities to reflect on the information, review the content and to practice applying information and skills. Educators do not know who has access to technology, the quality of the access, the daily duration of access, competing time responsibilities, and more about our learners. We do not know their mental or physical state in many cases. What we do know is that if they did not want us to waste their time before COVID-19, they really do not want us to waste their time now (with perceived busy work and trivial activity).
A Challenge Success survey of more than 50,000 high school students (October 2018 to January 2020) found that students self-reported spending 2.7 hours per weeknight and 3.0 hours on weekends completing homework. 57% of the students felt this was too much homework. Homework terms used were “assignments,” “studying,” and “workload.” Most institutions tell learners to anticipate 2-3 hours outside of class work for each class hour. For example, anticipate 6-9 hours “homework” for a 3-credit/hour course. It explains a lot that middle and high school student who take a minimum of 5 academic classes find 15-hour average homework per week too much. Taking a full college load of 5 courses, they would expect to complete at least 30 hours (4+ hours/day) coursework outside of class out of 112 hours per week (less 8 hours nightly for sleep, entertainment, etc.). However, maybe the issue is not the quantity of time, but the perceived quality or value of the work.
Another Challenge Success survey (from 2009 to 2020) showed that homework causes students the most stress (67%) and what the following is stressful regardless of the amount if work assigned is:
- homework that is boring or repetitive
- homework that is too advanced or confusing
- the quality and completion (grades) on the homework
Too much or too little homework?
Some authors refer to the positive impact of homework as analogous to the beds in the story Goldilocks and the Three Bears. What is the “just right” amount of homework to promote academic success? Other than reading for pleasure, there is little to no correlation between time spent on homework in elementary school and academic achievement. For middle and high school learners, up to 1-hour daily for the former and up to 2-hours daily for the latter is just right. The positive homework effects fade when homework time increases. In addition, a math study observed learners performing worse on standardized tests when they studied more.
Studying more may come at a cost to other factors that contribute to learner success. For example, more homework may lead to:
- inadequate sleep (affects mental & physical health & exhaustion)
- increased stress (greater than 3 hours respondents cited 80% stressed versus 67%)
- less family time
- less time for chores
- less time for reading for pleasure
- less time for child-initiated activities (play, hobbies, etc. that contribute to developing self-regulation)
Through the lens of pace, I wondered whether learners benefits from more or less time on task was dependent upon skills and knowledge prior to the course, individual time needed to process, etc. As I read more, there was a correlation between socio-economic background and the benefits of homework. Students from higher-income families benefitted more from homework. This may be due to parent assistance and access to technology.
Type, perceived value and purpose of homework impacts benefits
When students find homework interesting, relevant, and valuable, they are more likely to engage in and complete it. When students find their work purposeful, meaningful, or interesting, they may derive more benefits from completing it.
Should the homework provide students the opportunities to practice skills introduced in class? Should homework encourage students to transfer skills and content from class to new applications?
- Extension Homework (extend the concepts taught in class to real world situations)
- Practice Homework (practice or review skills taught in class)
- Preparation Homework (preparation for a subsequent class
Extension homework promotes better math outcomes
Regardless of the amount of homework assigned, math extension homework was more likely to be related to higher grades on a math test than practice or preparation homework. Drill and practice assignments corresponded with the lowest scores. Preparation homework, for example, reading a chapter facilitates rich class discussion.
Promote Autonomy, Learner Responsibility, and Set High Expectations
When teachers and parents approached homework with a more controlling style – one that advocated homework monitoring and grading – students expended less effort on their homework and experienced more negative emotions.
For students to realize benefits from homework:
- they need to see its value and purpose
- the assignments should be interesting and engaging
- should encourage students to apply their learning as opposed to practice rote skills
The 2020 Challenge Success whitepaper provides essential questions for teachers and parents to improve homework practice. Below are the essential teacher questions.
- Do students understand the purpose and value of the assignment?
- Will all students be able to do the task independently?
- Is this assignment better done in class versus at home?
- How much time should this assignment take?
- What kind of feedback should i provide on the homework?
Helping learners to understand the purpose and value of assignments
To address the 1st question, ASCD reprinted a 7-STEP form. The form prompts the teacher to provide the following information: what, who, when how, help, after, and criteria. Responding to these prompts in a homework, activity or assessment rubric will minimize barriers to learner completion of the activity. Think of smart goals – what do you want them to do, by when, and how will you measure their success/mastery? An adaptation and summary of the steps follow.
- What – is the assignment detailed description and purpose.
- Who – is assigned the activity.
- When – is the activity due (date and time).
- How – all that needs to be performed (completeness) and how /where to submit the activity.
- Help – provide avenues of help that do not require learners to wait for a response from you (FAQ, tip sheet, how-to guide).
- After – is a post-activity reflection to prepare you for the next steps or lesson.
- Criteria – is a quality measure (what they need to consider as they complete the activity).
- Feedback – since the activity is important, state by when you will grade it and provide constructive feedback (earlier feedback is both useful for improvement and keeps the learner engaged)
- Grade – opportunities to correct and resubmit practice activities (learning process) or consider complete/incomplete versus grade (value-added activities asses readiness and provide opportunities for repetition, review, and revision)
Use Questions to Prompt Thinking
References
https://www.challengesuccess.org/resources/research/white-papers/
http://www.ascd.org/ascd-express/vol15/num24/transform-homework-into-home-learning.aspx