Students and Homework
Homework refers to tasks assigned to students to be completed outside of school hours, aimed at reinforcing classroom learning. It serves multiple purposes, such as fostering independent study, discipline, and preparing students for future academic endeavors. The assignment of homework varies by school district, with decisions primarily left to individual teachers. Experts categorize homework into two main types: remedial, intended to help struggling students catch up, and advancement, designed to enhance learning and academic performance.
The historical perspective on homework has shifted over time, influenced by cultural and educational movements. While some advocates highlight its benefits, including improved test scores and development of skills like responsibility and time management, critics argue that its academic advantages are limited and can lead to unnecessary stress, especially for younger students. Recent developments, particularly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, have prompted educators to reconsider homework's role and flexibility, as well as its intersection with emerging technologies such as generative artificial intelligence. The ongoing debate reflects diverse perspectives on the effectiveness and impact of homework in education, indicating that its value may vary significantly depending on individual circumstances and educational contexts.
Students and Homework
Homework is work assigned to students that is meant to be completed outside of school. Educators give students homework for various reasons. Teachers may assign homework to teach students discipline and give them experience with independent study. These goals may be regarded as training for future academic success. Most school districts do not mandate homework but leave these decisions up to teachers.
Experts divide homework into two categories. As a remedial strategy, work is assigned to make sure students engage with information that was covered in class or to help students who are having difficulty in class catch up. Many experts refer to such assignments as busy work, indicating that it is not meant to directly promote new educational goals. As an advancement strategy, homework is meant to help students excel and can also enhance classroom lessons.
Studies of the benefits of homework have yielded contradictory results. However, educators generally agree that the quality of assignments is important.
History of Homework
In the 1800s, homework was regarded as a necessary part of education due to the emphasis on memorization, recitation, and drills. Students were expected to learn discipline by working on educational assignments on their own. But in the first half of the twentieth century, American attitudes changed as the progressive education movement became highly influential and pediatricians questioned the impact of homework on children's health. By the 1930s and 1940s, many districts abolished or limited homework, especially in primary school, and students were expected to spend free time after school with their families and play outside. Later in the twentieth century, however, the approach to homework and after-school activities was again reversed. The 1950s and 1960s brought the Cold War and the space race, putting a new focus on improving American education. Homework became viewed as a necessary tool to advance education and help the United States stay ahead of the Soviet Union.
In the later 1960s and into the 1970s, however, some educational organizations once again began to question the value of homework. A number of experts suggested that homework could negatively affect students' mental well-being. The feeling was picked up by the countercultural movement of the time and soon the predominant trend in education had reversed yet again—but not for long. Several US government studies in the 1980s blamed declining educational standards for various social problems and recommended homework as an effective method of improvement. The movement for tougher educational standards continued to grow in the 1990s, accompanied by increasing homework loads, though by the turn of the millennium prominent critiques of homework gained mainstream attention. The merits of homework continue to be debated in the twenty-first century, with studies variously supporting both sides.
Pro-Homework Camp
Advocates for homework cite a variety of benefits. These benefits include time spent with parents while doing homework and the cultivation of qualities that aid students throughout life, specifically perseverance, responsibility, self-esteem, and time management.
Many studies have found positive correlations between hours spent on homework and standardized test scores. This effect was found in older students rather than elementary-age children. In high school, spending between 90 minutes and 2.5 hours a night on homework was found to be optimal.
Diane Ravitch of New York University interpreted such results in another way. She believed these studies reveal that students who did not do better in school actually failed to complete their homework or had inadequate resources to help them in completing their homework. These students did not reap the benefits of homework assignments. Harris Cooper of Duke University agreed, noting in an analysis of studies that students who did homework had higher test scores than students who did not do homework. Cooper's analysis found these benefits only at the high school level.
Many US educators say the quality of homework is improving as teachers seek to align education with the Common Core State Standards, which emphasize problem solving and critical thinking. Some education experts also advocate the "flipped classroom" approach to homework, which has students view a lesson online at home and then uses class time to clarify the information presented in the online lesson.
Critics of Homework
Many long-term studies of homework have yielded neutral results, and some show that any academic success linked to homework diminishes over time. Author Alfie Kohn has refuted many studies of homework's benefits. He believes the reported modest correlation between homework and higher standardized test scores in older students fails to prove the relationship between scores and homework. The apparent effect could be caused by some other factors not studied, he says. Kohn notes that should the correlation be truly due to homework, the gains are limited to just a few points on standardized tests. Studies found no correlation between homework and final grades. In The Homework Myth, Kohn cites teachers who say the value of a lesson is gained in the classroom, where they can help students through the process of learning and understanding.
In Reforming Homework: Practices, Learning and Policies, Australian author and educational psychologist Richard Walker analyzes homework and test scores from many countries. Students in nations where more homework was assigned scored lower on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) test given to fifteen year olds. The author's research indicates that one to two hours a week devoted to homework usually makes no difference in test scores, though older students in grades ten through twelve do seem to perform better academically when given homework.
Experts who believe homework has little benefit for students suggest children pursue enriching after-school activities instead. Many of these experts believe music education, clubs, and sports help children develop socialization, teamwork, and other life skills. Activities should be chosen based on what's best for the individual. Kohn notes that homework, which he believes may offer little or no academic benefit, takes time away from family activities and other experiences and may exhaust and frustrate students unnecessarily. Some experts suggest that while older students should be assigned appropriate amounts of homework, younger students do better with little or no homework and may even be harmed by the heavy workloads provided by some school districts. Critics claim that forcing elementary school children to complete hours of homework is a byproduct of the increasingly competitive field for college admission and job placement, noting that the stress involved outweighs any potential educational benefits.
In 2022, EdSurge reported that the COVID-19 pandemic that began in March 2020 affected the way in which many educators viewed homework. A number of contributing factors, including the challenges of remote learning and the impact of the pandemic on stress levels and overall mental health, all led to many educators implementing flexibility into their homework assignments in an effort to both reduce stress among students and increase educational impact. Previously, in 2021, NBC News reported that more than 56 percent of high school students (out of more than 10,000 surveyed) said they experienced higher levels of stress following the onset of the pandemic.
Educators and education experts also began to view homework through the lens of emerging technology such as generative artificial intelligence (AI), which quickly began to change the education landscape in the early 2020s. Many school districts in the US and other parts of the world banned the use of ChatGPT, and similar large language models, after its release in late 2022, stating that such technology would allow students to easily cheat on their assignments. However, others felt that AI could be used to help enhance students' education, including making homework assignments more engaging.
Bibliography
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