Homework

For the Daft Punk album of the same name, see Homework (album).

Homework is extra work assigned to be completed by the assignee at home. The term is generally used to refer to primary or secondary school assignments as opposed to college-level coursework.

Like most educational-related work, homework can become a bigger burden as circumstances change (see Long-term assignments below). One of the worst and most dramatic increases of student workload was during the Cold War. For a period of time, the United States government was pushing large amounts of science and mathematics on children in hopes of having greater technological skills at America's command. Today, education experts such as Alfie Kohn are critical of the new push to increase homework as part of standards based education reform to increase student learning.

Attitudes towards homework

Many students find homework to be annoying. While many schools and teachers generally insist that it is necessary to practice new skills and to better learn material. Some students see the need for homework; however, most students are opposed to "busy work". Therefore many students complain about homework.

In recent years, there has been some backlash about the amount of homework assigned. It started with the publication of the book, THE END OF HOMEWORK!!, in which Professor Etta Kralovec and John Buell launched the first book-lengthen critique of homework. Within six years, 4 other books critical of homework have been published and hundreds of articles critical of homework have appeared. When we contacted Professor Kralovec in her Bisbeen Arizona home, she said she hopes to be remembered as the educator who ended the tyranny of homework. That remains to be seen.

Some statistics show that homework has nearly doubled for children since their grandparents' time (see Too much homework? below). In some cases, several hours of work may be assigned every day, leading to incomplete or mediocre work and overstressed students. High School students usually have 45 minutes of homework per hour of class, yet may have up to 3 hours in a certain subject. The worst cases may actually cause children to develop social and mental problems. In response to such concerns, some schools have instituted policies lessening the homework load and requiring teachers to coordinate when assigning large, long-term projects.

Some public and private schools use a homework hotline which states the homework for the day. It can either be a telephone number that can be called, or it may be a website that a student can go to.

Long-term assignments

Long-term assignments, also known as projects, may be given as homework. Typical long-term assignments include book reports, essays, and science projects. Students are often given a couple of weeks to complete the assignment. Many students save most of the work for the last minute. Teachers encourage students to plan their work and not do all of it the day before it must be handed in, yet many students still procrastinate. Therefore, in some schools teachers give students class time to complete projects.

Assignments that are completed at the last minute are known as Sunday nighters.

Amount of homework

In the US, students enrolled in Advanced Placement or AP courses are generally given twice the amount of homework than students not taking these courses . These AP courses are college level courses, for credit, for high school students run by the College Board.

Too much homework?

Studies of homework levels have suggested that excessive homework may actually be detrimental to overall academic performance. [1] Less homework given by teachers would give students the opportunity to have more time to do things on their own such as visiting friends or playing sports, which are essential elements in the development of the child, as well as give students the opportunity to study what they want to learn and not just what that school district or teacher wants them to. Homework's defenders say it increases students' mental capabilities and organization skills, which are necessary to the success of the person in question later in her or his life. This may not happen if inability to cope with the homework results in the student's coping with life breaking down under the stress, in mental health episodes, or in a need to avoid education altogether after being over-pressured to develop skills irrelevant to the student's interests. In one recent study, a correlation was shown between students' performance and time spent on homework. [2] Some students notice a direct correlation between the amount of homework they do and the number of questions missed on a test.

In Australia, some teacher's groups have complained that the support for homework in the first three quarters of schooling comes mainly from parents rather than from the academic institutions. From http://www.answers.com/homework&r=67

From a 2006 USA Today editorial, education researcher Alfie Kohn wrote:

• There is no evidence that homework provides benefits in elementary school.
• In high school, any correlation effects are small, or disappear when compensating for other effects.
• Analysis of 50 countries shows no positive relationship with homework.
• No studies support claims of developing good work habits or other personal traits.
• "It is time to stop taking the value of homework for granted"

See also

• Coursework
• Education
• School
• Schoolwork
• Homework Hero

External links

• A printable daily homework log for children
• "The Myth About Homework", Claudia Wallis, Time Magazine, Aug. 29, 2006
• "Forget Homework", Emily Bazelon, Slate, Sept. 14, 2006