Effectiveness of Homework per grade level

Reading from educational psychologist volume 36 Number 3 2001

In education the effectiveness of homework has been widely debated. How effective is it? This article uses science to track the effectiveness of homework by grade level. The results? elementary students to lower middle school students show little upward movement in effectiveness at lower grades and slowly getting more effective as the child gets older. Why? The article states that ... "time spent on homework and achievement is weaker for students in elementary school than in secondary school..." (the plausible reasons for this are) "First research indicates... that age differences exist in children's ability to selectively attend to stimuli." (secondly) "Younger children are less able than older children to ignore irrelevant information or stimuli"
My take on the article is that teacher directed study with an emphasis on sorting and pointing out important and irrelevant information is important. With an overall goal of independence as they enter high school, giving students tools to succeed and critically think in a college setting

iPods, iPhones, texting, emailing, instant messages, Facebook, Skype- These are just a few of the technological forms of communication that students of this generation use on an everyday basis. Students today do not want to miss anything at the risk of missing many things. “They do homework while listening to iPods, sending instant messages, or watching movies on the computer” (Sprenger, 2009, p.34). As a result, the students have become experts at skimming and scanning, yet they are losing their ability to affectively concentrate to their fullest potential. Why do students do this? “The main goal behind multitasking is not so much to be productive as to be connected to someone” (Sprenger, 2009, p.36). A healthy balance is needed between technology and connecting with real people. Sprenger suggests seven different strategies to help students stay connected with real people using technology. Those strategies are, one: provide reflection time. Reflection allows different areas of the brain to be used allowing the parts that have been overworked time to rest. Two: Disarm them. Force students to set aside their gadgets and make them actively listen to their peers. This can be done as a classroom activity. Three: Let them teach. Allow students to use their technological skills in the classroom to teach mini lessons to a live audience. Four: Use interactive white boards. The interactive white boards allow the students to view the large screen; then they can physically move as necessary to utilize the board and the information shown. Five: Build emotional literacy. Students need to be able to recognize other’s emotions. This helps the students make decisions needed to cooperate and understand others, as well as themselves, better. Six: Teach mindfulness. Sprenger (2009) defines mindfulness as “a deliberate inner awareness of what one is thinking, feeling and experiencing” (p. 38). Allow the student to have a personal time of reflection. According to Sprenger, after this reflective time, students claim they feel more energized and attentive. Seven: Encourage storytelling. When a story is told, students can connect to it emotionally and have a better understanding of concepts. Students must learn to create a healthy balance between technology and connecting with real people.

Sprenger, M. (2009). Focusing the digital brain. Educational Leadership, 67(1), 34-39.

Synopsis of "Even Geniuses Work Hard" by Carol S. Dweck

Synopsis of "Even Geniuses Work Hard" by Carol S. Dweck

Do we want our students to enjoy effort, or avoid it?  Do we want our students to give up quickly, or to be persistent when faced with an obstacle?   How our students respond when faced with challenging situations is largely related to how they perceive ability.  Dweck (2010) identifies two opposing views of ability that effect how students approach learning.  Students with a fixed-mindset avoid challenging learning opportunities, feel dumb when work is hard and believe there is nothing they can do to succeed when a subject or task is difficult for them.  Students with a growth-mindset seek out challenging learning opportunities and embrace hard work because they view challenges as an opportunity to grow.

As teachers, we can help our students develop a growth-mindset.  Dweck reminds us that every student needs challenging learning tasks.  She writes, “It is crucial that no student coast to success time after time; this experience can create the fixed-mindset belief that you are smart only if you can succeed without effort” (p. 19).  In fact, we need to praise effort rather than praising good results achieved without effort.  We can also encourage a growth mindset by portray challenging work as fun and easy work as boring, adding the word “yet” when a student says they are not good at something, and showing students their growth through pre and post test scores.

Reference: Dweck, C. (2010). Even geniuses work hard. Educational Leadership, 68(1), 16 – 20.

Christie McCulloch, Ph.D.

Assistant Director of Academic Advancement

Calvary Christian Academy

(954) 905-5206