Does homework make you smarter?

There are long-standing contrary views about the contribution of homework on students’ achievement. The question has been does homework makes you smarter? How did or has homework contributed to your academic development? Have you witnessed any changes in your child being positive or negative due to homework?

Why Schools are Cancelling Homework

Despite its pros, there is no absolute proof that homework can enhance a student’s performance. Researches have highlighted the numerous benefits of the practice but have failed in coming up with the best method.

 As a result, some schools have decided to abolish the practice due to its associated negative impact on kids. That said, the teachers are to find and assign other effective forms of homework.

Owning to same reasons, a Texas second grade teacher in 2016 announced she would stop assigning homework. The superintendent of a Florida school district also abolished home tasks for elementary students the following year. She instead introduced twenty minutes of nighty reading, backing the decision on research about what best in improving students’ academic achievement. Since then, some other elementary schools have adopted the policy.

However, proponents of homework feel that the decision to eliminate the practice can be dangerous. They argue that even if it does not improve achievements, it has many other benefits like boosting self-learning and teaching time management. It also allows parents to monitor the performance of their kids.

Why homework does not make you smarter 

Undoubtedly, homework has several benefits, but there is no concrete evidence that it boosts academic achievement. Opponents of the practice even agree that it has positive effects at the upper level of education and not at the elementary level. But does homework make you smarter?

As humans, we naturally make an effort to practice whatever we have learned within a possible space of time. This is called retrieval practice, and it should not be done immediately after acquiring information. 

The same applies to students. After classes, they may subsequently revisit their books to relearn things they could not understand in the classroom. So giving them homework immediately after lessons on the same thing covered in class is not a smart move. Based on research, retrieval practice is compelling than forcing students to reread and answer questions. Meaning, there is nothing smart about students scoring higher marks in homework since they review materials to answer questions. 

Homework only makes you smarter if it is to serve a particular purpose, which is sadly not in most cases. Most teachers fail to device better strategies on when to assign homework and which type of homework best suits a situation. Maybe, homework can relate to achievements if teachers manage it better.

Also, what is the smartness of overburdening students? One of the strongest points of people who oppose homework is that it overloads students. Many students succumb to stress, and its related symptoms due to many activities students undertake in a day.

Conclusion

Homework makes you smarter only when it is to serve a purpose and well structured.  Different levels of education require an organized homework structure. For example, maths homework may be useful in boosting achievements at the elementary level but not in the middle or secondary school.