When I was in middle school, I never understood homework.
“Work is for school!” A miniature me would insist to my exasperated parents. Home is for family, for relaxing, and for having playdates — at least I felt it should be.
As it turns out, my middle school defiance might have been the right idea.
All that homework might have been a waste of time. No — not even a waste of time.
It may have been detrimental to educational progress, according to a new study from the Australian Institute of Family Studies.
The experiment followed 10,000 students around the world, and found that those burdened with homework actually achieved lower scores.
In the last two years before college, homework was found to have some benefit, but in general, it simply made students unhappy.
A 2010 study found that unhappier employees made for worse performance and lower profits.
It appears that what we are seeing in schools might not be that different.
In the schooling scenario, the unhappy employees are overburdened, unhappy students. The lower profits are lower test scores, which in the United States can get schools shut down.
It appears that reducing homework could make students happier, and possibly improve test scores, assuming the relationship is causal.
When told that homework might not have been effective, many students expressed bitterness, and even anger, mixed with a dash of “I told you so!”
Bridget Whan-Tong, University of Richmond freshman and Marley Smit, a Hampshire College sophomore agreed that, in Bridget’s words, “I would be a little upset because I had to actually do all that work for six years.”
Smit also agreed that “I can see how it makes the work kids do in school less enjoyable. It did make me resent school a lot more than I could have because of all the extra work.”
Claire Suh, also a Richmond freshman, thinks that overburdening students with homework creates a “just get it done” motivation that “could perpetuate an apathetic demeanor about education and learning.”
None of the students thought that homework was ineffective, but stopped short of suggesting it be done away with entirely.
They argued that it is the amount of homework that is the problem, not the concept.
Smit and Jason Kuster, a Case Western Reserve University sophomore, gave their proposals for homework reform:
“I think homework that served almost as a mini-quiz of what was taught in class that day might be a good exercise in memory retention.” Smit said.
“A system in which I learned some of the material outside of class, had it reinforced in class, and had any issues cleared up then would really work for me.” Kuster added.
How should homework be reformed? Should it be done away with entirely, or perhaps more personalized?
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