final homework survey
There were questions from the Sallee & Rigler Homework Survey that I believed I should have included in my initial homework survey in retrospect. In Chemistry Homework Survey #1 (Artifact 2A) I wanted to learn more about why many of my students were not doing their homework. The options students could choose were broad such as “I had other things going on at home” but what interested me most was what these other “things” were. I used the first 2 questions on the survey (Artifact 14A), which asked about student participation in out of school activities and the respective time committed to these activities.
Out of both of my classes (49 students) only 2 students did not check off or write in any out of school activities or responsibilities. Student responses makes it clear that they have a lot going on in their lives aside from school and homework. From conversations with students I know that many of them need to get home every day before their siblings or they need to go straight to work. Just because students are busy outside of school, however, does not necessarily mean that homework should be eliminated to relieve students of more responsibility. When I examined student responses to “List 3 reasons why you think teachers assign homework (Artifact 14C),” I read many responses that aligned with my belief that homework should review class material or provide students with an opportunity to practice what they learned in class. Although some student responses shared similar beliefs to my own it is evident from the responses from both 2nd and 7th period that there are many different reasons teachers may give homework according to students.
For Artifact 14D I thought it was fascinating that both classes averaged a response of 3.4 (between agree and strongly agree) for “I see a clear connection between the homework Ms. Wang gives and the questions on the quiz/test.” This could suggest that my practices were consistent between my two classes or the quizzes I designed aligned well with the homework assignments I gave students. It would have been valuable if students had rated the statements in Artifact 14D at the beginning of my inquiry journey because it would provide a more dependable long-term comparison. The student ratings still provide me with student beliefs after my teacher action research. The average ratings suggest that even though students believe that homework is practice for future assessments and many of them also see a connection between the homework I assigned and the questions on their quizzes and tests, this is not enough to convince some students that homework is worthwhile.
The lower ratings for questions 5 and 6 in comparison to the other questions does not surprise me due to the consistent reactions and complaints from students on surveys and classroom conversations about homework. On the survey I only indicated my classroom in questions 2 and 6, and the remaining statements are generalized to all contexts. Since I was not explicit, students may have given responses in regards to only my classroom. The disparity in ratings suggests that I have successfully shown students the connection between the homework I assign and what I assess on the quiz, however, their actual beliefs about the concept of homework did not change. Furthermore, I have been writing a lot about my analysis of what I observe or what I analyzed, but I think student responses should be taken at face value. Student beliefs should be the strongest determinant for whether or not homework should be eliminated because the practice of homework is aimed for the learning of the students not for anyone else. If it is possible for students to see the connection between homework and learning or assessments with explicit direction from the teacher, then I do not think that I can conclude that homework should be eliminated.
Out of both of my classes (49 students) only 2 students did not check off or write in any out of school activities or responsibilities. Student responses makes it clear that they have a lot going on in their lives aside from school and homework. From conversations with students I know that many of them need to get home every day before their siblings or they need to go straight to work. Just because students are busy outside of school, however, does not necessarily mean that homework should be eliminated to relieve students of more responsibility. When I examined student responses to “List 3 reasons why you think teachers assign homework (Artifact 14C),” I read many responses that aligned with my belief that homework should review class material or provide students with an opportunity to practice what they learned in class. Although some student responses shared similar beliefs to my own it is evident from the responses from both 2nd and 7th period that there are many different reasons teachers may give homework according to students.
For Artifact 14D I thought it was fascinating that both classes averaged a response of 3.4 (between agree and strongly agree) for “I see a clear connection between the homework Ms. Wang gives and the questions on the quiz/test.” This could suggest that my practices were consistent between my two classes or the quizzes I designed aligned well with the homework assignments I gave students. It would have been valuable if students had rated the statements in Artifact 14D at the beginning of my inquiry journey because it would provide a more dependable long-term comparison. The student ratings still provide me with student beliefs after my teacher action research. The average ratings suggest that even though students believe that homework is practice for future assessments and many of them also see a connection between the homework I assigned and the questions on their quizzes and tests, this is not enough to convince some students that homework is worthwhile.
The lower ratings for questions 5 and 6 in comparison to the other questions does not surprise me due to the consistent reactions and complaints from students on surveys and classroom conversations about homework. On the survey I only indicated my classroom in questions 2 and 6, and the remaining statements are generalized to all contexts. Since I was not explicit, students may have given responses in regards to only my classroom. The disparity in ratings suggests that I have successfully shown students the connection between the homework I assign and what I assess on the quiz, however, their actual beliefs about the concept of homework did not change. Furthermore, I have been writing a lot about my analysis of what I observe or what I analyzed, but I think student responses should be taken at face value. Student beliefs should be the strongest determinant for whether or not homework should be eliminated because the practice of homework is aimed for the learning of the students not for anyone else. If it is possible for students to see the connection between homework and learning or assessments with explicit direction from the teacher, then I do not think that I can conclude that homework should be eliminated.