The Homework Dilemma

180 Days Education

What's the purpose of homework? Students hate it, parents often say it's too much or interferes with home life and students' free time, and teachers - who knows what they're thinking?! Is it punishment? Is it an assessment? Is it busy work? Is it necessary? The answer - it depends.

This episode explores the origination of homework and discusses different ways to look at the purpose of homework. We ponder such questions as "should you grade homework?" and "what's your end goal for assigning homework?" Not sure we get to any definitive answers but we touch on a lot of topics related to the purposes of homework, grading, alternative ways of thinking about homework, and intersperse a lot of our own personal experiences and strategies with homework.

Below are several of the links we found while doing our own research on homework that might be helpful if you want to explore some of the research and insights behind homework and it's purpose.

1. Article from American Psychological Association summarizing homework research: http://www.apa.org/monitor/2016/03/homework.aspx
2. Article from Alfie Kohn (noted education researcher) “Does Homework Improve Learning?”: http://www.alfiekohn.org/homework-improve-learning/
3. Edutopia article on homework research trends: https://www.edutopia.org/blog/research-trends-is-homework-effective-youki-terada
4. Educational Leadership article on motivating students to do homework: http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/feb06/vol63/num05/If-They%27d-Only-Do-Their-Work!.aspx
5. Doctoral dissertation from East Tennessee State on parent/teacher perceptions regarding homework: http://dc.etsu.edu/etd/3283/
6. ASCD article on the purpose of homework http://inservice.ascd.org/whats-the-purpose-of-homework/
7. A history of homework https://www.quora.com/When-did-schools-start-implementing-homework-as-a-regular-activity-in-education
8. NEA article on homework - should we assign it? https://www.quora.com/When-did-schools-start-implementing-homework-as-a-regular-activity-in-education

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