Homework for students: Yay or Nay?

[Shadow Wolf]

I think some homework is indeed a very good thing. It can help students to reflect on lessons, and give them a chance to apply what they learned in a more relative setting.
I also think homework should be more personalized, as in a student struggling with math is given more math homework, while a student struggling with grammar is given more language based homework.
It should also be the goal and intention that it helps to get the parents involved. Unfortunately that one doesn't really do much here, as many parents think a quick review to see what answers are right and wrong constitutes as parental involvement.
And since it is elementary school we are talking about, it should be limited. Enough to gradually prepare them for the pending wave a home work in high school, which further prepares them for the tsunami of home work in college. But not so much that they can't be kids. It's important to stimulate them mentally, but no child should be glued to the books more than they are playing with friends.

 

[jarofthoughts]

I had a pretty intense amount of graded weekly homework in university too. Probably 20 hours at least per week in addition to everything else. Some individual weekly homeworks took 12+ hours.

But without it, it would have been basically impossible to learn any of it.

I guess it varies from country to country then.
In Norway you may have some mandatory assignments during the semester that are required at the university level but the wast majority of studying you do (outside of actual lectures) is something you do on your own.
No-one is going to 'check your homework'. Instead you get to show what you've learned on the final exam.

 

[jarofthoughts]

I also think homework should be more personalized, as in a student struggling with math is given more math homework, while a student struggling with grammar is given more language based homework.

Homework should indeed be personalized as far as is practically possible, but more isn't always better.
Instead it is important that the pupils get the right homework based on what they are struggling with and in what areas they need more challenge.
For instance, again talking about elementary school, if I have a pupil that is having problems learning multiplication, I will assign additional homework that is designed to help him or her 'get it', but I will also reduce the amount of homework in other areas so as to balance things out. Often those pupils who are struggling with one subject are also struggling with other subjects, and their workload must be adapted to what they can manage without loosing their motivation.

 

[Revoltingest]

I guess it varies from country to country then.
In Norway you may have some mandatory assignments during the semester that are required at the university level but the wast majority of studying you do (outside of actual lectures) is something you do on your own.
No-one is going to 'check your homework'. Instead you get to show what you've learned on the final exam.

The best system I ever ran across was at U of M ("M" as in Michigan) Engineering - all tests were open book. And homework was often graded,
with the solutions sometimes posted in advance. If it sounds easy, it was for some (no memorization), but not for others. For some courses
(eg, thermodynamics), I didn't even go to class, since doing the homework made the lectures unnecessary. (Yes, Alceste, I was lazy then too.)

 

[Penumbra]

I guess it varies from country to country then.
In Norway you may have some mandatory assignments during the semester that are required at the university level but the wast majority of studying you do (outside of actual lectures) is something you do on your own.
No-one is going to 'check your homework'. Instead you get to show what you've learned on the final exam.

It might depend on the course of study more than the country, but I'm not sure.

I did engineering. In non-engineering classes, there wasn't much homework. But in engineering classes, we had enormous weekly homeworks.

 

[jarofthoughts]

It might depend on the course of study more than the country, but I'm not sure.

I did engineering. In non-engineering classes, there wasn't much homework. But in engineering classes, we had enormous weekly homeworks.

You could very well be right. ^_^
What education I have at the university level is mostly related to Teaching Psychology and Pedagogics.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

when I was a child I went to boarding school at 10. We had prep. (preparation) every evening.
Prior to that I did not do prep till I was Eight. At boarding school no one helped us with prep. it was a solo activity, that followed on from class work.

The problem in this country is that less than half the parents give their children any help or even encouragement.

 

[Noaidi]

The problem in this country is that less than half the parents give their children any help or even encouragement.

This may be partly due to the content of the homework. I've had parents tell me they don't understand some of the scientific concepts their children are dealing with these days!

 

[Mathematician]

Homework that is simply meant to be busy work or a grade installment is a no-go. Homework that has a purpose is valuable in small doses. Students planning to go to college should expect homework (especially for STEM majors where not doing homework is just unfathomable - you can't BS math and science like you can an essay) and even students entering the job market might expect that corporate America will (unfortunately) "shove" work outside of their contract hours.

 

[Mathematician]

This may be partly due to the content of the homework. I've had parents tell me they don't understand some of the scientific concepts their children are dealing with these days!

Most parents can't even add fractions properly, heh.

 

[Panda]

I had a pretty intense amount of graded weekly homework in university too. Probably 20 hours at least per week in addition to everything else. Some individual weekly homeworks took 12+ hours.

But without it, it would have been basically impossible to learn any of it.

That is a lot. We have roughly the same amount of work a week (and probably more this year with projects) but it isn't graded. It is a sort of do it or don't but if don't then when you struggle they won't help.

I think homework is important and at uni level no way can cover everything in lecture or tutorial slots.

 

[The Sum of Awe]

Nay, I like going home without worry about getting an assignment done.

Schoolwork, fine. Assigning homework? Nope.