Maybe your experiences have been similar to mine: I’ve adjusted my practices from year to year, sometimes spending a lot of time reviewing homework, but other times spending little; some years giving homework related to the lesson, other years giving homework that was basic skills practice; some years lots of problems, other years just a few. There seemed to be pros and cons to each.
Thinking about this topic yet again, I decided to look for some research to see how we can help students get the most out of the homework we assign.
So, research doesn’t necessarily agree on the benefits of having students complete math homework – that’s not all that helpful:-) Especially if your district expects (or requires) you to assign homework.
Research does seem to agree, however, that certain types of math homework can provide more benefit to students than others. This is what we’re looking for! As stated by Jo Boaler, in Mathematical Mindsets, “Research shows that the only time homework is effective is when students are given a worthwhile learning experience, not worksheets of practice problems, and when homework is seen not as a norm but as an occasional opportunity to offer a meaningful task.”
She recommends giving questions that students need to answer in a performance orientation or assigning reflection questions that encourage students to reflect on the math in the day’s lesson and focus on the big ideas, like how the ideas from the lesson could be used in life.
1) Assign homework that has a very specific purpose
That sounds logical, but have you ever been in a hurry and assigned #1-20 on page 47, without really looking at all the problems first? I will admit that I’ve been guilty of that. With an assignment like that, students may sense that the purpose was simply to assign homework.
If we’re working on decimal subtraction, it might be better for me to assign 4 problems that require students to remember to annex a zero in the minued or to regroup when there are zeros (since those are the types of problem they often have trouble with) and assign 1 problem that doesn’t require those things.
If students are unable to complete the math homework because it’s too difficult (or they believe it’s too difficult), there isn’t much chance that they’ll get any good math practice out of it. And this goes back to the inequities mentioned earlier – if they couldn’t do it, what happens to them during the review of the homework? They are likely lost and/or tuning out.
The same applies for the students who find the work too easy – if it’s simple for them, they aren’t getting good practice or deep thinking. And homework review? They probably find it boring. There are so many ways to differentiate – a great topic for another post:-)
3) Make homework aesthetically pleasing
According to ASCD, 2010, if the homework looks uncluttered and is graphically appealing, students may be more interested in completing it. I honestly hadn’t thought about this much in the past! But think about your response when you look at a page completely filled with text or too many graphics – how does it make you feel?
4) Give students the opportunity to discuss their answers
I have found great benefit to giving students time to discuss in small groups. I do this as frequently as possible. It gives me time to circulate and listen to their conversations and questions. And often, students are willing to ask a group member about something that gave them trouble, rather than asking in front of the class. This provides them the opportunity to verbalize their confusion and allow peers to verbalize their understanding of the concepts. This discussion doesn’t have to take a lot of time – especially if the homework assignment was only a few problems:-)
5) Assign homework that’s efficient
According to Five Hallmarks of Good Homework, ASCD, 2010, this means it probably shouldn’t include cutting things out, gluing them, or creating posters, for example. While I like using “foldables,” I’d agree that assigning them for homework may not be the best choice. Where is the math practice in this type of homework?
Based on this information, my action item is to work on creating differentiated math homework assignments that focus on a specific purpose, require deeper thinking, and are graphically appealing.
Do you have any tips to help students get the most of out their math homework?
