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The debate about the amount of homework to assign to students is not new. Since the 1980s, researchers have tried to decipher whether homework results in improving scholarly performance. There’s even a meta-analysis of research conducted between 1987 and 2003, which concludes that homework has no positive impact on young children and only a moderate impact on adolescents.
In addition to this study, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in its report entitled Does Homework Perpetuate Inequities in Education? Stablishes that a total of four hours of homework per week is ideal. More than four hours a week doing homework has a negligible impact on academic performance while significantly affecting the time children have for recreation and leisure activities.
Still, the amount of homework that students are assigned has been on the increase since 1990. Nowadays, students spend more time doing homework and sleeping than socializing or practicing a sport or hobby after school.
Benefits of homework
According to a meta-analysis done by Harris Cooper during the period from 1987 to 2003, homework can benefit students’ grades and attitudes, especially in older students. However, research from the University of Tubingen published in 2009 determined that, for homework to be beneficial, one has to consider the courses and the performance of students in them. Do students manage to finish their class activities on time? How many reviews do they need to do at home?
Homework also teaches students crucial skills such as responsibility, time management, perseverance, and self-esteem. Also, it helps to reinforce independent learning because students learn and enhance their knowledge on their own. It is a way for teachers to see how well the students master the subjects taken in class without undergoing the same level of stress, like an exam. Homework allows parents to know what their children are studying and to become involved in their education.
The problems of homework
Although homework has its benefits, these depend on the age of the students. In grade school, homework is nothing more than extra work. In high school, homework produces better results, but only if it is moderate. Some studies show that excessive homework results in lower grades. According to the authors, the ideal is not to allocate more than 100 minutes of homework per day for it to be beneficial.
Research finds that homework is a major cause of stress. In a study published in the Journal of Experimental Education, 56% of participants named homework as what caused them the most stress, as compared to exams, where 43% of the respondents rated those as the most stressful factor in school. The stress caused by homework can give students physical or mental health problems and even isolate them due to having to spend more than three hours per day doing the work they were assigned. Parents also resent this isolation; they feel that their children don’t have time to enjoy their childhood and youth or even enough time to spend with family.
One of the biggest arguments in favor of banning homework is the negative impact that it has on students because it makes them less receptive to school. This is especially obvious in the youngest, such as kindergarten students who still have more than ten years of school (and homework) ahead.
How can teachers better assign homework?
There is a lot of debate about how much homework students should do and how much time students should spend doing it. Some teachers follow “The 10-minute rule“: spend ten minutes a day per grade. That is, a first-grade student would spend ten minutes on his or her homework, while a high school senior might spend up to 120 minutes per day.
The problem is that there is a lack of communication among teachers on the amount of homework they assign by subject. This ends up being problematic for students because it can result in an excessive amount of homework per class, even in times of final exams or projects.
To maximize the benefits of homework, teachers should start by asking themselves:
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Is it necessary to assign homework, or can it be done in class?
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Does the homework complement and contribute to what was done in the classroom?
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Does the student have enough information to do the homework alone?
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What is the purpose of the homework? Do I have an objective in mind?
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How much time will students spend on this assignment?
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How can I control whether or not students are being overloaded?
Although assigning homework has its benefits, it is time to look at whether this academic resource does more bad than good. Mainly because of the increase in homework, which has occurred over the past 30 years. Teachers should analyze the impact it has on the quality of life of their students, especially the younger ones who have more than ten years of school ahead.
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This article from Observatory of the Institute for the Future of Education may be shared under the terms of the license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 
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