Questioning the impact of homework
by Esther Animalu, contributing reporter
A common way for teachers to assess a student’s overall knowledge of a subject is by assigning homework. However, various students are questioning the fact whether homework is beneficial or harmful towards their growth of education.
The homework debate has been raging on with no end in sight. On one hand there are the students that feel that homework is useful and efficient. Then, there are other students who would like schools to end their practices of giving out homework.
“I think homework is helpful because it helps students understand what they’ve learned in class. Homework is important because its a good way for teacher’s to spot if you’re struggling. It’s an independent approach for teachers to notice what you need help with. But if you give students too much homework, then they won’t be interested in completing it,” 8th grader Ashley Toledo said.
According to Education.com, when teachers distribute managable homework that appeals to students, its proven to increase understanding, and help students to be more productive.
Also, the more doable homework students complete, especially from grades six to twelve, the better they’ll perform in school because it builds character, promotes self-discipline, teaches good work habits and helps students plan out their time.
Experts state that when it comes to homework its about the creativity and intriguing aspects of it, otherwise students won’t seek interest. Homework is ultimately an extension of topics that were taught in class, in order to independently quiz what a student has attained from the lesson.
However, based on Independent.co.uk, studies show that when a school is under pressure, such as specialized high schools, college board schools or presitigious private schools, they tend to assign more homework to students.
This is done to push students’ academic growth to the brink in an attempt to beat out competing schools. In a recent study, when there was an increased amount of homework, 87% of students experienced negative attitudes to school. This resulted in motivation to cheat and an increase divisions between students who compete with each other academically.
“I think that homework is harmful because even though homework has helped me improve, but this year my grade has been assigned a lot more homework compared the the previous years before. So, we’re not used to completing more homework and sometimes I can’t keep up,” 8th grader Haley Davis said.
Students would often struggle or complain about homework because it’s either too overwhelming to complete or difficult to comprehend. As a result based on Parenting.com, various students may suffer from frustration and exhaustion, time lost for other activities, and possibily discouraged interest in learning.
Although homework may seem hectic or pleasurable, all students can prosper from it if it meets their individual academic level. While some students may effectively learn from lengthy and complex homework, and others may acquire knowledge from decent and fair homework, it all comes down to quality not the quantity.