Thus, simply assigning homework may not produce the desired effect—in fact, ill-structured homework might even have a negative effect on student achievement. Teachers must carefully plan and assign homework in a way that maximizes the potential for student success see Research-Based Homework Guidelines. Another question regarding homework is the extent to which schools should involve parents.
Some studies have reported minimal positive effects or even negative effects for parental involvement. Parents receive clear guidelines spelling out their role. Teachers do not expect parents to act as experts regarding content or to attempt to teach the content. Parents ask questions that help students clarify and summarize what they have learned. Such assignments cause students and their parents or other family members to become engaged in conversations that relate to the academic curriculum and thus extend the students' learning.
Although research has established the overall viability of homework as a tool to enhance student achievement, for the most part the research does not provide recommendations that are specific enough to help busy practitioners.
This is the nature of research—it errs on the side of assuming that something does not work until substantial evidence establishes that it does. The research community takes a long time to formulate firm conclusions on the basis of research.
Homework is a perfect example: Figure 1 includes synthesis studies that go back as far as 60 years, yet all that research translates to a handful of recommendations articulated at a very general level. In addition, research in a specific area, such as homework, sometimes contradicts research in related areas. For example, Cooper recommended on the basis of plus years of homework research that teachers should not comment on or grade every homework assignment.
Riehl pointed out the similarity between education research and medical research. She commented, When reported in the popular media, medical research often appears as a blunt instrument, able to obliterate skeptics or opponents by the force of its evidence and arguments. Yet repeated visits to the medical journals themselves can leave a much different impression.
The serious medical journals convey the sense that medical research is an ongoing conversation and quest, punctuated occasionally by important findings that can and should alter practice, but more often characterized by continuing investigations. These investigations, taken cumulatively, can inform the work of practitioners who are building their own local knowledge bases on medical care.
If relying solely on research is problematic, what are busy practitioners to do? Instead, educators should combine research-based generalizations, research from related areas, and their own professional judgment based on firsthand experience to develop specific practices and make adjustments as necessary.
Educators can develop the most effective practices by observing changes in the achievement of the students with whom they work every day. Research-Based Homework Guidelines Assign purposeful homework. Legitimate purposes for homework include introducing new content, practicing a skill or process that students can do independently but not fluently, elaborating on information that has been addressed in class to deepen students' knowledge, and providing opportunities for students to explore topics of their own interest.
Design homework to maximize the chances that students will complete it. For example, ensure that homework is at the appropriate level of difficulty. Students should be able to complete homework assignments independently with relatively high success rates, but they should still find the assignments challenging enough to be interesting.
Involve parents in appropriate ways for example, as a sounding board to help students summarize what they learned from the homework without requiring parents to act as teachers or to police students' homework completion. Carefully monitor the amount of homework assigned so that it is appropriate to students' age levels and does not take too much time away from other home activities.
Balli, S. When mom and dad help: Student reflections on parent involvement with homework. Journal of Research and Development in Education, 31 3 , — Bangert-Drowns, R. The instructional effects of feedback in test-like events. Review of Educational Research, 61 2 , — Bennett, S. The case against homework: How homework is hurting our children and what we can do about it. New York: Crown. Bloom, B. The search for methods of group instruction as effective as one-to one tutoring.
Educational Leadership, 41 8 , 4— Cooper, H. White Plains, NY: Longman. Synthesis of research on homework. Educational Leadership, 47 3 , 85— The battle over homework 3rd ed. Does homework improve academic achievement? A synthesis of research, — Review of Educational Research, 76 1 , 1— Corno, L. Homework is a complicated thing.
Educational Researcher, 25 8 , 27— Epstein, J. But maybe teachers just need to assign a different kind of homework. In , a second-grade teacher in Texas delighted her students—and at least some of their parents—by announcing she would no longer assign homework. Many other elementary schools seem to have quietly adopted similar policies.
And psychologists have identified a range of strategies that help students learn, many of which seem ideally suited for homework assignments. A homework assignment could require students to answer questions about what was covered in class that day without consulting their notes.
Research has found that retrieval practice and similar learning strategies are far more powerful than simply rereading or reviewing material. One possible explanation for the general lack of a boost from homework is that few teachers know about this research. And most have gotten little training in how and why to assign homework. Even if teachers do manage to assign effective homework, it may not show up on the measures of achievement used by researchers—for example, standardized reading test scores.
We know that we are pushed for time and that each lesson is valuable contact time. Too much homework can be a bad thing.
Research indicates there is a weak link between achievement and homework, particularly in young learners. Japan is one country that has taken the opposite route, having instituted no homework policies at younger levels to allow family time and personal interests.
Finland, one of the most successful nations in terms of international tests, limits high school homework to half an hour per night. While a small amount of well thought out homework can be beneficial, assigning excessive amounts of homework is at best counterproductive. The case for 4: Homework can allow learners to use materials and other sources of information that are not always available in the class room. Some of us have the luxury of computers and projectors in class, others do not.
Some exercises that are on the net work best as self study materials anyway. Think about the resource you want learners to use and in particular whether it is more suited to classroom use or for personal study. Furthermore, assigning research tasks that require learners to go out into the wider world and independently find resources that link to what you did in class can be a useful and motivating activity.
People are constantly learning in the 21st Century and traditional homework should become obsolete within the next decade. Commenters on the piece, both parents and students, tended to agree. The efficacy of the homework identified by Kalish has been studied by policy researchers as well.
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