{"id":256,"date":"2013-11-15T09:42:15","date_gmt":"2013-11-15T14:42:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/?p=256"},"modified":"2015-11-10T08:24:10","modified_gmt":"2015-11-10T14:24:10","slug":"homework-purpose-value-and-the-teachers-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/2013\/11\/15\/homework-purpose-value-and-the-teachers-role\/","title":{"rendered":"Homework: Purpose, Value and the Teacher\u2019s Role"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Written by Drew Kock<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Why do students do homework?<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a question that can have a few different angles.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What\u2019s the motivation to do assignments?<\/li>\n<li>What\u2019s the point of the assignment?<\/li>\n<li>Why do some students <i>not <\/i>do homework?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The motivation for doing homework is not the same for students, and that\u2019s not surprising. A survey of 8th graders gave these different motivating factors: \u201cI have to know it to get a job.\u201d \u201cMy mom yells at me if I don\u2019t do it.\u201d \u201cI can play games after doing homework.\u201d \u201cI reward myself with food after doing homework.\u201d \u201cTo get good grades.\u201d \u201cI\u2019ll get my phone taken away if I don\u2019t do it.\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t want a lecture.\u201d \u201cSo at the end of the year I can be introduced as having an A average in front of the school.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Homework has little\/no current value for many students. Instead, they see current value in sports, music, dance lessons, TV, playing with friends, and so on. Is that so bad? No, I don\u2019t think so. However, if the motivation for doing homework is to have the time and ability to do the things they actually want to do, are we using homework correctly? If there are so many false motivators for doing homework, are the assignments meaningful? Granted, most students will choose fun with friends over even a meaningful assignment, but I think it\u2019s important for teachers to think about the purpose of assignments and the real value they have for students.<\/p>\n<p>So what\u2019s the point of homework? What type of assignments work best? Many of us teachers have given assignments for the purpose of getting something in the grade book. Have you ever found that the number of assignments you give goes up right before parent-teacher conferences? I must confess, it\u2019s happened to me. During a study in the Elmbrook, Wisconsin, school district, researchers Danielson, Strom, and Kramer (2011) found that over 90% of homework was practice oriented. The remaining 10% was split between preparation assignments and integration\/critical thinking assignments. When the student asks, \u201cWhen are we ever going to use this in real life?\u201d, are we simply answering with \u201cTrust me, you\u2019ll use it\u201d? Or are we giving our students opportunities to put what they\u2019ve practiced into action?<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m a coach. I love running practices, even during lean years at the grade school level. I love planning practices too. When deciding which drill or team activity to do, I try to ask myself how this will be useful come game time. And if it is useful, how much time should be dedicated to it? Is there something else that deserves time as well? Yes, practice is essential, but the things we practice and the opportunities to put those skills into real action must be greater. I think the same is true with the homework we assign.<\/p>\n<p>Why do some students choose to not do homework? Do they want to fail? Research shows that socioeconomic status plays a large role for students who regularly don\u2019t do their homework. (Marzano &amp; Pickering, 2007) The same research found that a student\u2019s access to resources, a positive learning environment, and parental support play key roles as well. Aside from these factors, there\u2019s also a disconnect between the value teachers see in homework and the value students see. (Jianzhou, 2005)<\/p>\n<p>Homework definitely has benefits. Marzano and Pickering (2007) have documented the relationship between homework and improved test scores. Homework can help to form good study habits. It can provide some practice away from school. It can spark some interests. It can help to foster intrinsic motivation for doing well in school and life. We must be sure to use homework for such purposes and clearly communicate the value not only to students and parents, but also to ourselves as the ones giving the assignments.<\/p>\n<p><em>Drew Kock is the 8th grade teacher, athletic director, and coach at Emanuel, New London WI. Previously he served one year as World History instructor and coach at St. Croix Lutheran High School in W. St. Paul MN. He earned his BS Ed in 2006 from Martin Luther College.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>References:<\/p>\n<p>Danielson, M., Strom, B., &amp; Kramer, K. (2011). Real homework tasks: A pilot study of types, values, and resource requirements. <i>Educational research quarterly, 35<\/i>(1), 17-32.<\/p>\n<p>Jianzhou, X. (2005). Purposes for doing homework reported by middle and high school students. <i>Journal of educational research, 99<\/i>(1), 46-55.<\/p>\n<p>Marzano, R., Pickering, D. (2007). The case for and against homework. <i>Educational leadership, 64<\/i>(6), 74-79.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share this:<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-facebook-256\" class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/2013\/11\/15\/homework-purpose-value-and-the-teachers-role\/?share=facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-twitter\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-twitter-256\" class=\"share-twitter sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/2013\/11\/15\/homework-purpose-value-and-the-teachers-role\/?share=twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-print\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-print sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/2013\/11\/15\/homework-purpose-value-and-the-teachers-role\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to print\"><span>Print<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Written by Drew Kock Why do students do homework? It\u2019s a question that can have a few different angles. What\u2019s the motivation to do assignments? What\u2019s the point of the assignment? Why do some students not do homework?<\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share this:<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-facebook-256\" class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/2013\/11\/15\/homework-purpose-value-and-the-teachers-role\/?share=facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-twitter\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-twitter-256\" class=\"share-twitter sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/2013\/11\/15\/homework-purpose-value-and-the-teachers-role\/?share=twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-print\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-print sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/2013\/11\/15\/homework-purpose-value-and-the-teachers-role\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to print\"><span>Print<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[13,18],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2MA5F-48","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":790,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256\/revisions\/790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}