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anonymous

Research/Practice - Summer 1994 - Homework Research and Policy (CAREI) - 2 views

www.cehd.umn.edu/...homework.html

shared by anonymous on 17 Sep 09 - Cached
  • Researchers do not agree, however, on the advantages and disadvantages of homework as an instructional tool.
  • defined homework as "tasks
  • the most obvious is that it will increase students' retention and understanding of the material it covers. Less directly, homework can improve students' study skills and attitudes toward school and teach students that learning takes place outside as well as inside of school.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 17 Sep 09
       
      Here are the two main homework (hw) ideas - 1 - it aids learning (direct benefit) and 2 - improves study skills and attitudes (indirect)
  • ...10 more annotations...
  • Homework has numerous potential nonacademic payoffs as well; most of these involve promoting student independence and responsibility. Finally, homework can involve parents and the broader community in schooling, increasing their appreciation of education and allowing them to reinforce students' achievement.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 17 Sep 09
       
      2 other benefits
  • The possible negative effects of homework
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 17 Sep 09
       
      good info. to be aware of - there is a dark side.
  • Finally, what the teacher does with assignments when students turn them in may affect homework's utility.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 17 Sep 09
       
      Important to recognize the purpose of each assignment, and be consistent in practice between divisions in a grade
  • For elementary students, in-class study proved superior to homework. In junior high, homework was superior, and in high school, homework's advantage was greatest.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 17 Sep 09
       
      Homework cannot replace classroom work
  • Again, a strong grade-level effect was present. For elementary students, the mean correlation between time spent on homework and achievement was almost zero; for students in middle grades it was r = +.07, and for high school students it was r = +.25.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 17 Sep 09
       
      Incredibly important note! In Elem. school, homework is more about developing positive habits and responsibility. Also.. building fluency - math facts, reading. On-line applications could be high impact as well.
  • General Policy Guidelines
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 17 Sep 09
       
      Nice brief description of policy for homework, and guidelines for homework
  • Districts should offer a clear and broad rationale for assigning homework, including why it is sometimes mandatory, as well as general guidelines for the amount of how that should be assigned. Schools need to provide more specific time requirements, coordinate assignments between classes, and describe the role of teachers and principals. Teachers should outline what they expect of students and why.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 17 Sep 09
       
      nice to-do list
    • Jennifer Starcevic
      Jennifer Starcevic on 17 Sep 09
       
      Does our school district have guidelines?
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 17 Sep 09
       
      Not in Policy - only in staff handbook and/or parent handbook
  • Although I will not discuss the policies in detail, a few underlying philosophical points ought to be made explicit. First, elementary school students should be assigned homework, though it should not be expected to improve their achievement. Rather, homework should help young children develop good study habits, promote positive attitudes toward school, and communicate to students that learning takes place outside as well as inside school. Thus, assignments to elementary students should be brief, should involve materials commonly found in the home, and should not be too demanding.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 17 Sep 09
       
      foundation statement for elem school homework policy. Do we believe this for grades 4 and 5?
  • Finally, most homework assignments should not be graded. Teachers should not view homework as an opportunity to test. Almost all students should complete assignments successfully; thus, teachers should not differentiate much among performance levels. Having students do homework out of fear of negative consequences turns a situation ideal for building intrinsic motivation ("I must enjoy this; I'm doing it and the teacher isn't standing over me") into one that implies that the teacher believes students need rewards or punishment in order to complete assignments. Teachers should collect homework, check it for completeness, and give intermittent instructional feedback. This procedure shows that the teacher takes homework seriously and that it is purposeful. The major purpose should be to identify individual students' learning problems.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 17 Sep 09
       
      Practica Guidelines - esp. collect, check for completeness, with the proviso that almost all should complete successfully.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 17 Sep 09
       
      Also - using only materials readily available at home, and related to the learning outcome, not hobby / craft skills
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 17 Sep 09
       
      I would add to the list of recommended homework policy - limited to materials readily available at home, involve skills related to the task, which excludes complex craft projects
  • anonymous on 17 Sep 09
     
    Somewhat dated, but some useful info.
anonymous

McREL Blog: Homework and Practice have a Sister - 3 views

mcrel.typepad.com/...nd-practice-have-a-sister.html

shared by anonymous on 18 Sep 09 - Cached
  •    But the problem I find most egregious is when there is no opportunity for feedback on H&P activities. When you practice something you are trying to see what you are doing well and what you need to change about what you do not do well. This requires feedback, usually from someone as skilled as or more so than you in the subject. This is why master teachers pair homework and practice with its sister strategy, providing feedback.      Providing feedback can be tiered to give every opportunity to the students to receive the guidance they need to learn. For instance, teachers could lead students through checking the work and accuracy of their math homework (whole group feedback). Then the students could pair up and discuss how to solve the three practice problems that were most challenging to them (peer feedback). Then the teacher could encourage students to revise their work based on the feedback (mastery teaching). Finally, the teacher could collect a random assignment at the end of the week for in-depth feedback by the teacher (expert feedback).
    • Mirjam Jensen
      Mirjam Jensen on 21 Sep 09
       
      I quite like this approach, but it seems as though it would eat up a lot of time. Maybe I'm miscalculating, but in order to move through all three types of feedback after each assignment, wouldn't most of the math block be gone? My second question is what about those kids who have fully understood the concept and are ready to move on? Should they be used as "experts" to explain the concept to others? And at what point have enough kids mastered a concept that you move on to something else? In the area of math assessment, one thing I really liked about how my SA from last year assessed how well students mastered math concepts was by checking over the work together as a class, and depending on how many problems were assigned, telling them that if they got a certain number wrong, e.g. more than five division problems out of 25 problems total, they needed to see him. This allowed him to distinguish between careless mistakes and kids who really didn't understand the concept.
  • anonymous on 18 Sep 09
     
    Article concerned with how to provide feedback to homework given for practice.
  • Mirjam Jensen on 21 Sep 09
     
    "If the teacher, and more importantly the students, cannot readily tell you why an H&P activity is important, then it probably does not have a good purpose and should not have been assigned in the first place." I really like this idea that all homework assignments should target specific learning outcomes and focus on improving skills, such as reading or writing.
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