• Afrikaans: tuiswerk
• Bosnian: domaći rad , domaća zadaća
• Dutch: huiswerk, huistaak
• Finnish: läksyt p, kotitehtävä s / kotitehtävät p
• French: devoirs m plural
• German: Hausaufgaben p
• Italian: compito (compiti p)
• Japanese: 宿題：しゅくだい (shukudai)
• Maltese: ħomwerk, xogħol għad-dar
• Russian: домашнее задание (domášneje zadánije)
• Serbian:

  Cyrillic: домаћи рад , домаћа задаћа

  Roman: domaći rad , domaća zadaća

• Spanish: deberes m|p , tarea italbrac Latin America
• Swedish: läxa, hemläxa, hemuppgift

• Afrikaans: tuiswerk
• Dutch: huiswerk
• Finnish valmistelut p
• Spanish: tarea
• Swedish: hemläxa

See also

• busy work
• schoolwork

Homework, or homework assignment, refers to tasks assigned to students by their teachers to be completed mostly outside of class, and derives its name from the fact that most students do the majority of such work at home. Common homework assignments may include a quantity or period of reading to be performed, writing or typing to be completed, problems to be solved, a school project to be built (such as a diorama or display), or other skills to be practiced.

Main objectives and reasons for homework

The basic objectives of assigning homework to students are the same as schooling in general: To increase the knowledge and improve the abilities and skills of the students. However, opponents of homework cite homework as rote, or grind work, designed to take up children's time, without offering tangible benefit. Homework may be designed to reinforce what students have already learned, prepare them for upcoming (or complex or difficult) lessons, extend what they know by having them apply it to new situations, or to integrate their abilities by applying many different skills to a single task. Homework also provides an opportunity for parents to participate in their children's education.

Amount of homework required

A review of over 60 research studies showed that, within limits, there is a positive correlation between the amount of homework done and student achievement. The research synthesis also showed that too much homework could be extremely counterproductive. Homework overload can cause kids to "burn out". The research supports the "10-minute rule", the commonly accepted practice of assigning 10 minutes of homework per day per grade-level. For example, under this system, 1st graders would receive 10 minutes of homework per night, while 5th graders would get 50 minutes' worth, 9th graders 90 minutes of homework, etc. Some students, however, receive up to, or more than, five times that on some days. This includes those students in the IB Program. These students should expect to have at least 6-7 hours of homework per night. That relates each class to having roughly 2 hours per night.

Many schools exceed these recommendations or do not count assigned reading in the time limit.

In the United Kingdom, recommendations on homework quantities were outlined by the then Department for Education in 1998. These ranged from 10 minutes daily reading for 5-year-olds, to up to 2.5 hours per day for the pupils in Year 11 aged 15 or 16.

Homework strategies

Effective study skills can help to speed up the completion of homework, giving a student more free time.

In cases where the teacher assigns homework verbally or on the chalkboard, the student can avoid forgetting or misremembering the assignments by writing them down and keeping them well-organized in a notebook, planner, or agenda. It is also recommended that one develop a strategy that decreases the student's chances of forgetting completed homework at home.

Students with a positive attitude toward homework, who enjoy it and work on it enthusiastically, generally complete their homework faster than if they view their homework negatively. Reluctance and resistance can make homework take longer. Minimizing distractions,

One approach for minimizing the amount of homework a student has to do at home is for the student to complete as much of it as possible while still at school. Spare time between classes, during lunch, and especially during classes may be enough to get most or even all of the student's homework completed, depending on how much is assigned. This approach may have negative consequences, such as causing students to skip lunch or miss important information in other courses.

Homework resources

Internet homework resources

There are many homework-related resources available on the World Wide Web. Also, Internet resources offer students a wealth of opportunity for plagiarism.

Tutoring

With an enhanced emphasis on homework, parents and students are turning to customized solutions. Private institutions, such as Sylvan Learning Centers and Kaplan, help students through individually-tailored assignments. Other parents find help through their community where tutoring, study groups and other resources may be made available. Many libraries provide tutors for helping students with their homework, both in-person and on-line. See Homework help service.

If it is necessary to hire a tutor to assist with a child's homework, parents should also speak to the child's teacher about the amount and the appropriateness of the homework load.

Parental homework strategies

Students generally benefit when their parents become involved in the homework process. However, too much parental involvement can prevent the positive effects of homework.

Setting a regular time to do homework

Teaching and homework effectiveness

Student learning improves when homework serves a clear purpose and is matched to both the skills of each individual student and to the current topics being taught in class. Feedback improves the effectiveness of homework, especially when given in a timely manner (within 24 hours). Effective feedback improves student learning by correcting misunderstanding, validating process, and highlighting errors in thinking. Embedded comments provide much better feedback than a mere grade at the top of the paper. Homework must be concentrated to be effective: mastering takes days or weeks of practice. Fifty-percent mastery may be achieved after 4 practice sessions, but it takes 28 practice sessions to achieve approximately the eighty-percent mastery level.

Another way teachers can be more effective is by alerting parents to their students' homework, giving parents a chance to become familiar with the material and their child's progress. This also encourages parents to become involved in the homework process. Messages tend to get lost in transit or even altered when using "pupil post" (passing verbal messages or written notes back and forth using the student as courier), and therefore direct communication is much more effective and prevents frustration all around. Methods available for directly reporting homework assignments (to both students and their parents) include the phone, email, and centralized web-pages.

Criticism

There is a growing number of teachers, parents, and students that advocate the abolishment, or at least a limit to the amount, of homework. The main reason is the belief that students also learn from activities in life other than textbooks and workbooks found in classrooms. A whole day in class and most of the night reading school books that are related to the subject in school leaves a student out of touch, without free time, and unable to get exercise or pursue extracurricular activities. Talents and interest of the student often cannot be nurtured in a classroom setting with teachers focused only on a specific subject.

Moreover, there is a considerable body of research supporting the idea that homework is of little educational value, and that for young children (i.e. under 14) it actually has a negative effect on learning.

History of homework

In the United States

Historically, homework was frowned upon in American culture. With few students interested in higher education, and due to the necessity to complete daily chores, homework was discouraged not only by parents, but also by school districts. In 1901, the California legislature passed an act that effectively abolished homework for those who attended kindergarten through the eighth grade. But, in the 1950s, with increasing pressure on the United States to stay ahead in the Cold War, homework made a resurgence, and children were encouraged to keep up with their Russian counterparts. By the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s, the consensus in American education was overwhelmingly in favor of issuing homework to students of all grade levels.

In a study done at the University of Michigan in 2007, research concluded that the amount of homework given is increasing over time. In a sample taken of students between the ages of 6 and 9, it was shown that students spend more than two hours a week on homework, as opposed to 44 minutes in 1981.

See also

• Busy work
• Book report
• Essay
• Home schooling
• Homework help service
• Practice (learning method)
• School
• Schoolwork
• Study guide
• Study skills
• Teaching
• Tutoring
• Education

Further reading

• Duke Study: Homework Helps Students Succeed in School, As Long as There Isn't Too Much
• The Case Against Homework: How Homework Is Hurting Our Children and What We Can Do About It'' by Sarah Bennett & Nancy Kalish (2006) Discusses in detail assessments of studies on homework and the authors' own research and assessment of the homework situation in the United States. Has specific recommendations and sample letters to be used in negotiating a reduced homework load for your child.
• Closing the Book on Homework: Enhancing Public Education and Freeing Family Time by John Buell (2004)
• The Battle Over Homework: Common Ground for Administrators, Teachers, and Parents by Harris Cooper (2007)
• The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing by Alfie Kohn (2006)
• The End of Homework: How Homework Disrupts families, Overburdens Children, and Limits Learning by Etta Kralovec and John Buell (2000)

Notes and references

External links

• "The Myth About Homework", Claudia Wallis, Time Magazine, Aug. 29, 2006
• "Forget Homework", Emily Bazelon, Slate, Sept. 14, 2006

Parent resources

• Bridging the Great Homework Divide: A Solutions Guide for Parents of Middle School Students - from the National Education Association.

• Homework tips for parents - U.S. Department of Education.
• BBC's (U.K.) parents' school guide

Learner resources

• Study Guides and Strategies Eighteen categories of peer-reviewed strategies, translated into thirty languages

Teacher resources

• Helping Your Students With Homework: A Guide For Teachers - U.S. Department of Education.

• Homework Practices that Support Students with Disabilities
• A Teacher's Guide to Homework Tips for Parents - from the U.S. Department of Education.

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