The Importance of Homework Essay

How does homework affect students in academic and nonacademic ways? Both educators and students ask this infamous question throughout the course of their education tracks. Teachers and administrators often believe that homework is necessary; whereas, students often question the legitimacy of homework. However, due to new studies and research about homework, it has been proven to be insignificant, oppressive and pernicious to the student's wellness and success.

Students should get homework because they learn key morals from it that they should learn. In the article “The Importance of Homework and Studying”, the author Diane Ravitch supports homework, saying that “they provide an opportunity for children to develop self-discipline, study habits, and time management skills.”. These skills will help the students further in the future, and also “Children can set homework goals and enjoy a feeling of accomplishment when the goals are met.”. This will make the student feel more responsible and confident in them.

Throughout their school years,children say that they hate homework and that it’s pointless. Others will say, that this is definitely not the case. Students who actually spend time doing homework will better understand and execute class work more efficiently. Source C had mentioned that children who do not achieve much do more homework because they’re struggling. But, that struggling never goes away. Instead, children still struggle, but at this point, they don’t believe that homework is important. Source D had actually shown that high schoolers had higher grades when they spent more time doing work. They take the time to study and learn how to work through problems on their own, which helps them when taking tests. Multiple sources have stated

Students who always do their homework are more successful in life than the ones who never do their homework. Studies show that homework has great advantages for students. Schools should not do away with homework because students excel when homework is mandatory, and they are given extra homework.

Homework. Just by the sound of that word, the aggravating feeling arises. Students of all ages ask the question, “Why do we have homework?” Whether we like it or not, homework will be assigned to students no matter what. The real question happens to be, is homework helpful or harmful? Many people state that homework takes up too much time and has effects on health, while others argue that homework benefits the student because it allows them to have extra time to study and practice their skills. Furthermore, research indicates that homework is harmful due to the fact that it causes stress and takes time from a persons’ daily life.

According to Harris Cooper in his article Does homework Improve Academic Achievement? If So, How Much is Best?, it mentions “most educators agree that for children in grades K–2, homework is more effective when it does not exceed 10–20 minutes each day; older children, in grades 3–6, can handle 30–60 minutes a day; in junior and senior high, the amount of homework will vary by subject.” Homework, classwork, and formative assessment reinforces what a student has learned. When you are putting in your greatest effort into these works, you are gaining the maximum benefits it provides you. According to Dr. Burgess of McGill in his article How important is classwork?, it claims,”effort can also influence your test grade through better performance on tests and through enhancement of test grades on test analysis day.” You can display these efforts by taking notes, talking to other students, and using external resources to help

Kids go to school everyday for 6-7 hours a day, and are stuffed with things to memorize and ‘understand’ everyday until test day comes and they throw up all the information on the test, only to forget it after a week or so, because they don’t get tested on it again. These students also take part in a lot of “extracurricular” activities, and a lot of it may come from home responsibilities and sports. Homework, in this case, takes away from that time, filling up

The term “homework” has many different connotations and definitions associated with it. According to Merriam-Webster, homework is “work that a student is given to do at home” or “research or reading done in order to prepare for something.” Going off of the first definition, homework is commonly associated with those enrolled in both public and private institutions, primarily elementary school, middle school, high school and college. In order to better understand the concept of homework, it is helpful to examine homework/education in other countries, the history of homework in the United States, homework in contemporary society and how American teachers are changing their teaching styles to help combat student stress as a result of homework.

In order for homework to be meaningful, it should have a purpose and be personalized and inviting to students doing the homework. A important thing to have with homework is students being able to freely talk and communicate with their teachers if they struggle. It should have unlimited opportunities and possibilities for different student learning. Homework should be helping encourage students about doing their homework with personal interests, their skills, and engage in something new.

According to “The Homework Debate: How Homework Benefits Students,” which is from the website Concordia University has, and it is education.cu-portland.edu, says, “Homework provides an opportunity for parents to interact with and understand the content their students are learning so they can provide another means of academic support for students. Memphis Parent writer Glenda Faye Pryor-Johnson says that, "When your child does homework, you do homework,” and notes that this is an opportunity for parents to model good behavior for their children.” Even though this was for some parents, unfortunately, it is not for all.

Homework entails assignments assigned by teacher to students to be performed outside of the classroom (Cooper, 2006). Homework accounts for a major portion of the educational process and is a key factor for success (MacDonald, 2009). It is utilized regularly in the teaching and learning process and can be seen as either beneficial or detrimental to student’s academic success. Homework and student academic success has been a very controversial and debatable topic for many decades and one that will persist for many more. It is said to be so ingrained in U.S. culture the term is part of a shared language (Vatterott, 2009). Educators, parents and students are integral members of this debate. According to Buell

Homework should be in every school. To begin, homework improves test scores and keeps your parents aware of what you're learning. Additionally, homework is a 10 to 20-minute process that is fast and efficient. Third, teachers give the right amount of homework so they still have time for their personal activities.Last, Duke University reported,that 58% of the parents in their university say that they give the right amount of homework. 19% of the parents think they give tremendous amount. Last, 23% of the parents say they give to little of homework.

Today in schools the average amount of homework a typical high school student gets a night is estimated at 3.5 hours. That is spaced out between 5-6 classes which a student has to remember each of the subjects throughout the day to understand and complete the homework. This is after a long day at school learning about what our homework will be later, when half of the class time should be set for finishing our homework in each class.

Many people believe that homework is beneficial. They believe that it teaches responsibility and helps with the over all education of students. However, the negative effects of homework are so large in number that the benefits become negligible.

While there are many negatives towards assigning homework, there are a few positives that should be mentioned. In the journal, “The Case For and Against Homework”, Robert Marzano and Debra Pickering state, “The average student in a class in which appropriate homework was assigned would score 23 percentile points higher on tests of the knowledge addressed in that class than the average student in a class in which homework was not assigned” (76). This testing success that students receive from doing homework can reinforce positive attitudes toward school and homework. Performing assignments at home can give students the extra practice to fully master a subject matter taught. Mastering skills and improving grades can provide a student with a sense of confidence in him/herself. By providing students extra practice at