There’s a shortlist of things students absolutely loathe, no matter what major you’re in or which Universities or High Schools you study at. There’s student loans, 7 AM morning classes, registration for classes, and dreaded homework. All of these things inconvenience students to no end, getting in the way of their finances or social time or even spending with family time. Everybody needs a little R&R every now and then, don’t they?
One thing isn’t avoidable and has been following students since grade school: homework. They have a hate/hate relationship with homework, they hate homework and homework hates them. The idea of homework makes you cringe and cry and curl up into a ball. But some research suggests that homework is only here to help you. It may seem as homework is here to torture you but if you think about it, does it actually? Should student have homework, or is it all a lie?
Homework: a Myth or a Scam?
Academic achievement is hard to measure and count, but there are several ways teachers and professors can gauge how much a student has learned; they give out assessments that show test scores, they have projects to show collaboration and knowledge of the topic, they assign reports and essays to demonstrate critical thinking skills, and they give a homework assignment as practice. Homework and Academic success usually go hand in hand, as one correlates to the other. But are all of these measurements useful? Is homework needed for practice if you go to school for 7+ hours, 5 days a week, 200 days a year? Or is it a waste of time and unhelpful in the larger scope of things.
The Good: Practice
Teachers usually preach to their students that “practice makes perfect” and that the amount of time you spend on doing homework affects your test scores and your overall grade. It makes sense, the more time you spend studying, the better you’ll be at in that subject. You are not a sponge and don’t soak up information like one, you actively learn and remember. So this idea of practicing is what some teachers stick to when assigning homework and does show signs of benefits.
Research shows that students of any grade level only retain 50% of information taught by a teacher during a lesson, and that they learn better when they apply that information. Homeworks does help in these cases and practice is one of those benefits of homework.
The Bad: Workload
Spending as little as 20 minutes of homework is proven to help your scores and your ability to remember information, but nowadays, teachers expect you to spend at least 1 hour on homework per subject or class in school. If a student has 7-8 classes a day, thats 7-8 hours of homework PER DAY! This kind of homework load can see quite ridiculous, especially the students. But some students are able to not only cope, but succeed in this kind of environment. Knowing when homework is too much depends on the student, and should be approached with that kind of mindset.
Homework-Induced Stress
Completing homework becomes more of a task than it is learning, and students are stressed and worried about completion rather than accuracy, which in fact, are detrimental to learning.
The amount of homework given not only affects how they learn, but how their childhood is shaped; without social interactions because of homework, later on in life they may suffer from social anxieties or social awkwardness. Their level of energy once they complete school will be much lower because most of it will be spent on homework and they will be permanently “burnt out.”
People have created ways to beat stress due to homework, and there have been many studies linked to the more negative sides of homework. And They believe that homework creates a culture where students will be more exhausted than ever because of their workload; they won’t have time for social activities and lack those necessary skills later in life
The Good: Homework Builds Work Ethic
People also argue that it teaches another valuable skill of time management and work ethic. For example, a daily homework assignment can help a student practice their multiplication tables in elementary school through rote memorization. Once they establish a routine of this homework assignment, they know what they must do to improve. Just like going to the gym, once you start a good habit of going, you know what you must do to continue to improve as well.
Homework for High school students can help them build time management skills, having to juggle extracurriculars, a job, and their homework. Having 5 hours of homework after a 4 hour work shift is tiring, but if you manage your time, juggling all these things may not be as bad as you think!
These habits of routine and work ethic and time management carries on into all parts of life and is an essential skill that students should learn while they’re young. Things like goal-setting and remaining focused on the task at hand are a few things they learn from doing homework, and can help them when they move on to college or university, regardless of their grade level. School students don’t understand the importance of this now, but will appreciate it much later in their lives.
The Bad: Too Much Homework Has Negative Consequences
When students are given too much homework, they tend to be more stressed than usual and can create a worse situation. The American Educational Research Association claims that too much homework does not meet the needs of children and adolescents, because they take away social time and time for sleep and rest. Some will even opt for sleep over school work, and suffer the consequences of bad grades because of it.
Motivated high school students also claim that they suffer from sleep deprivation, headaches, depression and even weight loss trying to meet deadlines and completing their homework on time. Excessive loads of homework can also lead to cheating, like plagiarising and copying answers. If you are ever in need of help with homework, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team and get the help that you need. Receiving our help in your work will never be plagiarized, we will also help you figure out the task yourself because we provide a detailed explanation so you also learn the materials.
The Verdict
As technology advances and society changes, so do our methods of teaching and learning. Homework may have once been the most efficient way to teach and learn, but nowadays, there are plenty of other avenues to consider. Homework isn’t inherently bad for students, nor is it inherently good for students. In moderation and under the right circumstances, the types of homework assigned may prove to be beneficial just as much as too much homework can cause many problems. A wise teacher once told me, “work smarter, not harder.”
