Effects of excessive homework on student learning

¶ … pedagoglical theory has undergone a number of paradigm shifts. As the classroom changes, so does the theorietical structure behind it -- diversity, technology, globalism -- all contribute to the need to find a robust way to communicate learning activities, to help students move beyond rote understanding, and most especially a way to evaluate progress that is meaningful to not only their personal success, but to the needs of the contemporary school system in its continual justification for funding. One of the basic tenets of meaningful pedagogy, however, is in the evaluation of learning goals and targets. These assessments generally fall into two areas, formative (present at each stage of learning) and summative (evaluation designed speicfically for end of lesson/project in accordance with learning goals).

When constructing lessons, the basic paradigm that in order for effective learning to occur, the lesson must be structured in a way that allows for a reasonable chance of the learning target being met by the majority of the students within the allotted time period. Segmenting and structuring the lesson so that it is made up of a number of individual learning targets is the most effective means of ensuring understanding, as long as that learning target is adequately communicated to students and assessments are made throughout the lesson to ensure understanding.

Formative assessments are focused on the sharing of information and teacher-student communication; teachers model how they wish the lesson outcome to appear, students use questions and other learning techniques to get to that point. Formative assessments typically involve open-ended questions, asking students in groups or individually not whether they understand, but to give an example showing they understand. This puts both students and teachers on target for success within the micro and macro learning structure. Summative assessments, in turn, are based on lengthier process -- after a project, at individual points in a paper, etc. And require the type of constructive feedback that will acknowledge the work thus far, and spur on continued learning. Both types of assessment are vital depending on the stage of the project and/or expected learning outcome (Ainsworth and Viegut, 2006).

It is also vital that the learning goal, especially the individual learning target, be adequately communicated to the student so that they realize, and agree, to the shared responsibility of meeting that target within the allotted time frame. By sharing in the individual learning goals, students are not only on track to meet those goals, they have a better sense of organizing their listening, note taking, and even assignment skills to match that particular lesson. They know what is expected so they are able to mentally prepare and pay attention to salient points; better able to focus on class tasks that ensure success.

We know that it is important to assess progress and work within the curriculum. This is not simply to provide a grade, but to act as a learning tool that allows for the individual to understand their progress and have prior knowledge upon which to base future understanding. For example, for the learning experience to be effective, a learning progression, or sequenced set of skills and knowledge, needs to be charted out so that learning takes place in chunks rather than en masse. Often, this is the goal of homework, which in and of itself has a negative connotation, and should probably be labeled "home activities." There is a clear difference in types of homework, though -- is homework accentuating a lesson, preparing the students for a next lesson, to solidify skills that were started in class, or simply exercises to keep students busy? (Kralovec and Buell, 2011).

One of the difficulties is generalizing the amount of homework rather than the quality of homework. As students mature, they are often in different classrooms for different subjects, and it is difficult to find a way to adequately communicate reasonable homework levels with 6 instructors, for instance. Some parents find so much homework to be overwhelming and contributing to increased stress levels for students as well as problems at home. Kids today are overwhelmed!" A parent recently wrote in an email to GreatSchools.org "My first-grade son was required to research a significant person from history and write a paper of at least two pages about the person, with a bibliography. How can he be expected to do that by himself? He just started to learn to read and write a couple of months ago. Schools are pushing too hard and expecting too much from kids" (Wilde, 2011).

However, the homework paradigm affects more than just the student -- it affects parents, teachers, caregivers, and any secondary programs (sports, music, etc.) that children participate in. Some studies show that students are not, on average, doing significantly more homework now than in the past; while others say that there are far more "things" to learn, more avenues of learning, and with standardized testing, a greater push to complete a curriculum at a faster pace.

According to the Brown Center Report on American Education, American students have one of the lightest homework loads in the world; on average about 1 hour per day. Fully 50% of all U.S. students in Elementary and Middle School have no homework at all. This same research says that about 65% of American parents do not think there is too much homework given (Brown Center, 2003).

Why then, is there a conundrum and such disagreement about the subject of homework and assessment? Many find that the battle over homework is one of the things that differentiate a hierarchy in education -- from the privileged to the poor. At one end, we tend to see higher income parents who push their children into college preparatory, test prep, and other advanced courses; overscheduling their sporting and music events in between -- all so they will look fantastic when they apply to college. On the other hand, inner city teachers work tirelessly, often without adequate textbooks and materials, just to find any learning opportunities. We do not really have a national education system that has parity -- some students probably do have too much homework -- some not enough (Lahey, 2012).