Current Beliefs About Homework
My inquiry journey does not lead to a definitive conclusion that “yes, homework should be eliminated” or “no, homework should not be eliminated.” The complications and newly arising questions throughout my inquiry make me believe that every teacher should take time to seriously consider their beliefs about homework and their current homework practice. It would be unreasonable to think that homework, a long-standing practice, could change overnight, but I do believe that individual teachers can make a difference by carefully taking into consideration quality of homework assignments. The support of schools or an entire school district could relieve pressure some teachers feel when it comes to the amount or frequency of homework they need or should assign daily or weekly.
Sallee & Rigler (2008) mention a homework practice that I strongly believe in, “I use homework when I think an assignment would be useful, not as a matter of routine” (p. 51). In many of my graduate courses we have had numerous discussions about how teachers can help students stay open-minded about their options after high school whether they want to continue on to college, vocational school, or join the workforce. If students choose to continue their educations then professors will expect them to already have certain skill sets, and I think one of these skills is the ability to do work independently outside of class. This is my current outlook on homework and in my future practice I would like to incorporate my previous class work or homework from either high school or undergraduate studies in the classroom to provide students with a more grounded and visual understanding of what “homework” could look like in the future. I have discussed this with both my Penn mentor and my classroom mentor, and both individuals believe that bringing in examples of what homework could look like in college could greatly benefit students if presented in the right way.
Although I still believe homework can have value for student learning my inquiry journey has made me question the basis for grading homework when grades are subjective to the teacher grading and potentially even when the homework is graded. If the use of assessments is to determine whether students are learning or understanding content, then is it fair to grade homework, a type of formative assessment that is viewed as part of the learning process? The idea of giving completion grades, something I implemented this year, also unsettles me because it is unclear what the teacher is valuing with the grade. In a class where students have a tendency to copy off of one another right before class, does a completion grade send a message to students that the effort of copying is valued rather than the effort of trying the homework? Does this matter?
Sallee & Rigler (2008) mention a homework practice that I strongly believe in, “I use homework when I think an assignment would be useful, not as a matter of routine” (p. 51). In many of my graduate courses we have had numerous discussions about how teachers can help students stay open-minded about their options after high school whether they want to continue on to college, vocational school, or join the workforce. If students choose to continue their educations then professors will expect them to already have certain skill sets, and I think one of these skills is the ability to do work independently outside of class. This is my current outlook on homework and in my future practice I would like to incorporate my previous class work or homework from either high school or undergraduate studies in the classroom to provide students with a more grounded and visual understanding of what “homework” could look like in the future. I have discussed this with both my Penn mentor and my classroom mentor, and both individuals believe that bringing in examples of what homework could look like in college could greatly benefit students if presented in the right way.
Although I still believe homework can have value for student learning my inquiry journey has made me question the basis for grading homework when grades are subjective to the teacher grading and potentially even when the homework is graded. If the use of assessments is to determine whether students are learning or understanding content, then is it fair to grade homework, a type of formative assessment that is viewed as part of the learning process? The idea of giving completion grades, something I implemented this year, also unsettles me because it is unclear what the teacher is valuing with the grade. In a class where students have a tendency to copy off of one another right before class, does a completion grade send a message to students that the effort of copying is valued rather than the effort of trying the homework? Does this matter?