The Value Of Homework: Previous Researches Discounting Its Value May Have Been Inaccurate

One contested thing about school that scholars can't agree upon is the value of homeworks. Do homeworks help students understand their lessons more or does it overwork them and they lose their enthusiasm all together?

The Washington Post sought the expert help of cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham, wherein he tackled the efficacy of homework on student performance and learning. He starts his The Washington Post guest entry with curiosity over a famous research in 2006 that claims homeworks have little effects on older students and no effects at all on younger students.

Willingham is curious why the aforementioned study found that homeworks do not help when in theory, they're supposed to challenge the understanding of students and practice them to apply the lessons they learned. He points three reasons that the academe has talked about: one, homeworks are not of good quality; two, homeworks are done at home when there is no immediate feedback; three, maybe participants in researches did not compute the time they spend doing their homework accurately which is an important variable in most studies.

A recent study, according to Willingham, was able to record the amount of time participating students used to finish a specific homework. Engineering students were tasked to do a homework using a Smartpen that would measure the amount of time they spent to finish it.

Aside from the measurements the Smartpen declared, the students were also to report how long they spent doing the homework. It turns out that 88 percent wrongly reported the length of time they used, more than what their Smartpen said they consumed. Because of this loophole, it becomes hard to reliably link homework with any outcome, agreeable or disagreeable with the merits of homework.

According to another The Washington Post article, all previous studies about homeworks given to elementary students have not found any benefit of homework in any form. There is no positive correlation on the amount of homework given and the learning achievement gained by the students.

Nonetheless, the study about the homework and Smartpen made Willingham suggest that previous researches might have been wrong in its calculation of the value of homework. Measurements of variables may have not been accurately given, and should be reviewed again before judging the importance of giving homework. Instead of dismissing homeworks entirely, another way to prove its doubters wrong is to improve its quality.

As per Inquiries Journal, there are guidelines for successful assessment of homework according to Education consultant Ken O'Connor. Not every homework should be graded and should solely be given to see student's efforts and how much they've learned. There should be a standards based approach in grading homeworks, and that the students formative growth should be assesed together with the information they were able to understand. 

In your opinion, do you think giving homeworks to students from all levels is important? Sound off your thoughts in the Comments section below and follow Parent Herald for more news and updates.