William Reville
Primary and secondary schools reopened a couple of months ago after the Summer break to begin a new academic year. There is an ongoing debate in educational circles and amongst parents about the value of homework – is homework a good idea overall and does it improve academic achievement? Research in this area gives a cautious thumbs-up to the value of homework, so long as it is not overdone.
As with most things, there are pros and cons associated with homework. Commonly cited pros are: (a) homework helps students to improve their understanding of the subject; (b) homework helps students revise concepts taught in school; (c) homework is a good way to prepare for exams; and (d) homework motivates students to take initiatives.
While very few would see no value at all in homework, many list cons associated with too much homework. Commonly cited cons of too much homework are: (a) students find it hard to find time for extracurricular activities; (b) it reduces free time for learning and developing personal skills; (c) excessive homework induces anxieties and stresses associated with completing tasks on time; (d) it is a burden on parents who help the students with homework; and (e) it may make the student dislike the academic subjects themselves.
Standard
So how much homework is appropriate? For decades in America, the standard has been ‘the 10-minute rule’, i.e. a daily maximum of 10 minutes of homework per grade level. Thus, primary school first class students would be assigned a maximum of 10 minutes homework per day, sixth class primary students a maximum of one hour a day and sixth class secondary school students a maximum of two hours of homework per day.
But American schools are now starting to give the youngest students at primary level a break by eliminating the tradition of homework assignments in favour of family time. Not all parents agree with this change.
By and large, parents approve of homework for their children. Surveys show that about 60% of parents feel their children are assigned the right amount of homework and about 20% think too much homework is assigned. Almost 90% of parents think that helping their child with homework affords them an opportunity to spend time with the child and to talk to him/her. Almost 80% think that homework doesn’t interfere with family time and 70% think that homework is not a major source of stress.
But does homework improve academic achievement? The most comprehensive research to-date on homework was a 2006 meta-analysis carried out by Harris Cooper, a Duke University professor of psychology (‘In Review of Educational Research’, Spring 2006 http://upload-community.kipa.co.il/819201525856.pdf).
The study found a positive correlation between student achievement and homework – in other words, students who did homework performed better in school. However this correlation was significantly stronger for students in secondary school than for students in primary school, for whom the relationship was weak.
Cooper also noted that homework is thought to improve attitudes towards school and to develop habits of study, self-discipline, inquisitiveness and problem-solving skills. On the other hand, some studies show that homework can cause fatigue, both physical and emotional, feed negative attitudes towards learning and reduce childrens’ leisure time.
Cooper noted the weak correlation between homework and academic outcomes for younger children but cautioned against abolishing homework in these cases, arguing that a small amount of homework is nevertheless helpful.
Homework is clearly necessary for second level students and, of course, it would be disastrous for students who had no homework habits built up to go on to third level where so much depends on the student’s capacity to study independently outside of formal lectures.
Children who fall on Autistic Disorder Spectrum (ADS) tend to have marked emotional reactions against homework and often have great difficulty both starting and completing homework. This can be a source of anguish both for the children and their parents. There may be two reasons for these difficulties – (a) the stress they experience during the school day and (b) their profile of cognitive skills – as explained by Dr Tony Attwood on the website Child-Autism-Parent-Café.Com http://www.child-autism-parent-cafe.com/homework.html.
ASD children not only have to learn the academic curriculum but they also have to learn the social curriculum that comes more or less automatically to the other children. ASD children have to consciously learn the rules and decipher the social cues and codes of how to behave in the social situations of the playground, classroom etc.
They rarely have time to relax and can be drained at the end of the school day. Many ASD children feel they have done enough work in school and don’t want more schoolwork at home.
Dr Atwood explains that ASD children have an unusual profile of cognitive skills that must be accommodated when they are undertaking academic work at school and at home. Like children with Attention Deficit Disorder, they can have difficulty planning, organising and prioritising, have a tendency to be impulsive and inflexible when problem-solving and have poor working memory.
New ideas
They can have difficulty generating new ideas, have poor time perception and management and need guidance in determining what is relevant. There is also the likelihood of an unusual profile on standardised tests of intelligence. Some children are verbalisers, strong in reading, vocabulary and verbal concepts, while others are visualisers and ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’.
The ASD child’s cognitive and learning profile must be recognised by school authorities and special assistance provided in the classroom to facilitate their academic progress. However this knowledge and service are not usually available at home.
Homework for ASD children should be specially designed by the teacher. Various strategies for supervising and getting the homework done are outlined on the ASD website referenced above. If getting the ASD child to tackle/complete homework becomes too stressful for all concerned, the child should be exempted from homework.
William Reville is an Emeritus Professor of Biochemistry at UCC http://understandingscience.ucc.ie
