Does Homework help you learn? By: Robert Tu
Did you know that the concept of homework was originally designed as a punishment for students? The inventor of homework, Roberto Nevillous, created homework to punish students for misbehaving in class or who did not show comprehension of the lessons he taught. Homework then evolved into a key part of education systems around the world which raises the question if homework was originally supposed to be a form of punishment then why should it not stay that way and is homework help you learn?
At first, it might seem obvious that frequently reviewing subjects by doing homework as it refreshes and exercises the mind, but the quality of the homework is what is important if we are to have homework at all. Studies have shown that math homework was the only subject in which homework was beneficial. I would like to argue that homework at Uni does not fall under this kind of study because, in my experience, the homework has not been so much as busy work but more engaging than some assignments I had from my old school. Now for the assignments though that is a whole other story, but I do not want to share my opinion on them because I do not want to get canceled. Homework though is not terrible at Uni because they fall more under working on bigger assignments or readings rather than a review of a topic in class which is ok.
The average time a student spends in school is 8 am - 3 pm which is 7 hours and only 1 hour less than a full-time job. If your employer asked you to work in your free time and punish you for not doing it then that would be considered illegal. This is the problem with homework as it interferes with your free time. Free time is one of the most important things because it allows people to explore and do what they want. When you are old and look back on how during childhood your whole life was pretty much school, that is kind of sad. The education system has set, enforced subjects that you are forced to learn whereas you might not build on them in the future. Some might argue that when people are young they do not know what is best for them, but when given a diverse system of topics from say middle school society would thrive more. Some might say that it is not possible to find resources for more topics, but this changes with technological advancements. Forcing students to learn the same core classes from a young age and not building on them into more specific topics is a waste of time.
All in all, homework has its pros and cons. It definitely can help when doing it even if it is only a tiny amount, but when 99% of students say that homework is a significant source of stress then there is a problem. I am currently writing this because I forgot about this assignment because I was doing Consumer ED on my other computer so I forgot I said that I was going to get this blog done today, but homework is an important part of academic growth and I hope I left you with a new opinion about it.
I personally think that homework can be given to students, as long as the amount of homework is limited and doesn't require too much time. I liked how you really described your opinion on homework and how you used the comparison to a job to represent the "punishing" feeling of homework.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting blog! I found your points to be very convincing, especially how you compared the time commitment of school, including homework, to a full-time job. However, I think your argument would be more convincing if you found some real data to support your claims. Good job!
ReplyDeleteUsing the 40 hour work week since that is the most someone can work without being compensated by increased pay, you could hypothetically have 1 hour of homework each weekday.
ReplyDeleteInteresting topic! The point you made about comparing school to a full time job was something I hadn't heard before, but it's a good point! I think homework should only be given out if it's actually beneficial,a lot of teachers tend to give out homework just so the kids are doing homework, which is doing nothing to help the students.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you that homework can be stressful at times. Multiple times have I forgotten or didn't have time to complete homework, and end up staying up late finishing it. However, homework is a great way to review and solidify information learned. If teachers could find a good balance between useful homework and excessive homework, I feel like homework could be very beneficial.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting topic and you bring up some pretty good points. I agree with them fully that while they may be beneficial in some ways, they also have negative effects too. I didn't know that homework was originally made as a punishment so I found that interesting.
ReplyDeleteAs long as the amount of homework is reasonable and doesn't take up too much time, in my opinion, it is acceptable to assign.
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