Probably, one of the biggest challenges faced by students in the post-pandemic world is effective learning. Just imagine, their study consists almost entirely of homework. Because of that, educators are deeply concerned about the value of home assignments in the context of distance learning.
The environment and accessible supplies in the individual settings make it difficult for all students to get equally satisfying learning outcomes. Perhaps, because of major study difficulties and inequality issues, some schools have adopted no-homework policies. However, the question is whether it’s a meaningful solution to meet students’ needs. Let’s try to find it out!
The questionable value of homework
Professionals in the education sector are actively debating about the value of homework as they want to find out whether it’s rather helpful than harmful. On the one hand, multiple studies have revealed that homework improves school achievements in terms of higher grades, better test results, and the likelihood to get enrolled in college. According to some research, individuals who spent 31-90 minutes a day doing homework scored approximately 40 points higher on the SAT-Mathematics subtest than those who studied less. Also, students in classes that were assigned home tasks outperformed nearly 69% of those who weren’t given homework.
On the other hand, too much homework can be harmful to students’ mental health. A poll conducted in California has demonstrated that 59% of high-school students had too many home assignments and 82% of them were constantly stressed out. What’s more, high-achieving individuals experienced sleep deprivation, fatigue, headaches, and other health problems. Additionally, excessive homework often results in cheating. As reported by some researchers, 67-90% of school students copy someone else’s homework, and 43% of college students are engaged in “unauthorized collaboration” on home assignments.
Additionally, even though homework helps learners develop good study habits and necessary skills, it disadvantages those students who have less access to learning resources. So as you see, the discussion about the value of homework is very controversial.
Different ways to deal with homework
Pupils treat home assignments differently. Those of them who are extremely diligent complete each task given by their teachers on their own even if it requires much time and effort, while others tend to seek outside help. In situations when it’s almost impossible to deal with difficult assignments, students often choose to copy them from their peers, which is not really a good decision because they may not be 100% correct. Another alternative could be to order a homework assistance at popular online writing services. In this case, students can be absolutely sure that they will receive high-quality help and understand the subject better. Professionals working at such services always do their best to explain the confusing parts of the assignment and eliminate all the mistakes.
How to make home assignments work for remote learning?
Although it’s not easy to make the most out of homework in current circumstances, it’s still possible to improve learning outcomes. Educators recommend teachers considering the quality and purpose of the assignments before giving them to students. It can be done by answering the five questions listed below.
1. Do students realize the value of the assignment?
When pupils view homework as something meaningless or of little value, they are less likely to complete it successfully because they are simply not interested in it. Hence, in order to increase their engagement in learning, it’s essential to clarify the purpose of the task. What’s more, it would be great to allow them to choose which problems to solve or which concepts to research.
2. Is this possible for all students to complete the task on their own?
It’s a big challenge to design homework assignments that can meet every pupil’s developmental needs, but at least it’s worth trying. Experts say that students are more likely to disengage when a task is either too complicated or too easy for them, so it’s important to find a middle ground.
3. Is this assignment a good fit for homework?
Some tasks can’t be done effectively in class or during online learning, so it makes sense to assign them as homework. However, others are better done in a group guided by a teacher as he/she can clarify misunderstandings and provide feedback. Hence, it’s essential to distinguish between these two to reach better academic results.
4. How long will it take to complete this assignment?
Before assigning any task, a teacher should assess how much time the assignment can take and coordinate it with other teachers, so students’ workload will not be too heavy and they won’t get discouraged by the amount of homework.
5. What kind of feedback would be helpful?
It’s very difficult to grade homework fairly, especially when pupils study remotely. Some of them may face problems beyond their control while others may have relied on outside help to complete their paper. Therefore, teachers need to think carefully about what type of feedback is appropriate for each task they give.
Author’s BIO
Robert Everett is a study coach and academic writer. Robert works with students helping them to get better learning outcomes and reach high academic results. As a writer, he assists young people in creating essays, research papers, and dissertations.
The content in this post belongs to the respective owners. If you find anything otherwise — please feel free to write to us on dk18@dkoding.in and we shall immediately take it up with the owners.
