Opinion

Does homework improve learning?

by Talon Andreasen

Homework; What is good about it? Many students hate it. Some parents wonder why their student doesn't have more of it. Other parents complain about their student having too much homework.

Homework has always been a part of schooling . There are teachers and researchers that question homework to this day. Some students just copy from their phone or from classmates. Some students go home and don't know how to do it. Which will make the student frustrated or have anxiety.

Many parents believe homework is good. They think that it's a cost free way to learn. Some parents know the importance of it but don't know how to handle it. Some of the positives about homework is that homework teaches time management. It also helps with independent thinking.

The cons to homework are also prevalent. Researchers have found that being bored or having burnout towards learning can be caused by too much homework. Less time for family or activities, lack of sleep, or more stress are some of the side effects of too much homework.

A Gallup Poll found that about half of parents expect more homework as one way to improve student education. A study in 2014 found that kindergarteners to fifth graders averaged 2.9 hours of homework per week. That increased a little bit for sixth to eighth graders who averaged 3.2 hours of homework per week. High school students, freshmen to seniors, averaged the most with 3.5 hours of homework per night.

A 2014-2019 study found that teens spend about an hour a day on homework. The reason that happens is because younger children have a harder time tuning out distractions. Studies also suggest that young students who are struggling in school take more time to complete homework assignments that are more difficult for them.

Whether homework helps students or not and how much homework is appropriate has been a debate for many years. Homework has been in the headlines again recently and continues to be a topic of controversy, with claims that students and families are suffering under the burden of huge amounts of homework. School board members educators and parents and parents may wish to turn the research for answers to their questions about the drawbacks and the benefits of homework. Unfortunately the research has produced mixed results so far, and more research is needed.

Nonetheless, some research has shown that students who spend more time on homework score higher scores on achievements and attitude. Studies who dove deeper into this topic suggest that the amount of homework assigned by teachers is unrelated to student achievement, while the amount of homework actually completed by students is associated with higher achievement.

With all of that, I suppose it is different for each student and we’ll have to continue to research to find out which answer is the best.