Week Thirteen - Final Research Paper

What has your research shown?

Introduction:

Why do some student’s complete homework and some don’t?  This is a question that I have wondered about for quite some time.  I know that doing homework helps raise test grades but how can I convince my students that it will raise theirs?  “There is a positive correlation between homework and student achievement on unit tests”.  I wonder if I change the type of homework assignment from something traditional (do the even problems from the back of the math lesson) to something more interactive and engaging, if I would have a higher completion rate?

I believe that homework is necessary because students need to practice solving and working with math problems by themselves.  In class, students are encouraged to work together to develop techniques and to explain math topics.  Homework is a great tool for learning because it forces students to work on their own.  If the first time a student tries to do a problem on their own is at the time of the test, I believe they will not be as prepared as if they had done homework on their own during the unit.  Traditionally I have only given pencil and paper homework, through this research project I am specifically focusing on alternate types of homework and looking at the completion rates during this process. 

The topic that I am researching is homework in the math classroom.  I am specifically wondering about the type of homework assignment and if having variety in the type of homework assigned will help with the completion rate among students. 

Literature Review:

For my criteria, I looked for current literature published between 2014 – 2020.  I read many online articles about homework and alternate type of homework. After reading, I selected 11 to be used in this research.

I found three themes as I was reading; alternate types of homework help, technology engages students, and how helpful is homework.  Below is a review for each of the three themes.

Technology and alternate types of homework:

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics promotes the use of technology as an “essential resource” because it can promote and excite students about mathematics.  The chosen technology must promote the learning of students and continue to let them interact, examine and visualize the mathematics.  In personal finance, calculators, apps or software let students work with real data to represent situation they will soon face as adults.  Choosing the right tool is extremely important.  More and more apps are becoming readily available.  Teachers must test and try out the technology before they introduce it into the classroom.  Some apps only promote speed and accuracy whereas some apps promote discovery with virtual manipulatives.  Teachers philosophy of teaching mathematics should match the type of app they use in the classroom.  Technology is a tool and like all tools should be used in moderation.  The teacher is the center of the learning and the technology should be the supporter.

One of the problems with traditional homework is that it is the same for every student in the classroom, but how often is each student at the same level?  Alternate homework assignments allow for differentiation and proper scaffolding.  Below are some ideas from Wabisabi Learning for alternate types of homework.

·       Assign a question set for homework vs. ask students to think up of homework questions

·       Assign an article to read and answer questions vs. ask students to write down questions they have after reading the article

·       Completing worksheets vs. demonstrate you understand a concept in small groups using any sort of medium to work with

·       Assigning ten-word problems vs. in small groups choose one-word problem that relates to them in real life and solve it

·       Memorize facts and rules vs. ask students to create a memorization trick that works for at least one of the items asked to memorize

·       Review sheet at the end of a unit vs. frequent short quizzes and go over the answers but do not grade the quiz

Specific homework alternatives in personal finance (combined list)         

·       Given some information about a homeowner, write a story that demonstrates certain information

·       Given information about potential homeowners and types of mortgages, explain why one is a better choice over the other

·       Online simulations like ‘how the market works’ and ‘budget challenge’ offer real life choices for students to make while competing against each other and learning how to invest and budget their money

·       Interviewing an adult who has a retirement account and learn as much as you can then write down questions you have for your teacher

·       Use excel and learn all of the types of templates available – quickly able to look at different scenarios without a lot of recalculating

·       Use excel to make your own budget using all of the available tools excel has to offer

·       Compare and contrast questionnaires given at the beginning and end of a unit – how has your understanding evolved and changed?

·       Financial goal setting activities – research how you want to live (what is the most important to you) and then work backwards to determine what amount of money you will have to earn

·       Create a podcast with a money tip for their peers

Amount of homework:

I found that students in high school gain the most out of assigned homework as long as the amount given is not overwhelming.  Articles from Edutopia specifically stated that homework should de directly related to the lessons learned during school and should be doable.  Especially with math homework, the topic learned should be reinforced with the homework. 

Once a student becomes frustrated they become turned off from doing it.  It is also important to keep in the back of your mind that sometimes it is not the student’s choice not to complete the homework, due to family situations they may not have the time or space to sit down and complete the assignment.  Teachers need to be flexible and allow students to complete what they can. 

Parent’s also play a big role when it comes to homework.  A parent can put a lot of pressure on their student to complete their work, this can either encourage the student to complete their work or turn them off from doing it at all. 

The type of school also plays a role in the amount of homework students will do.  A student at an urban school will spend more time on average completing homework verses a rural student.  Private schools verse public school also play a role in the amount of time a student will spend on homework.

There are a lot of outside factors as to why students do or do not do homework.  Teachers need to be flexible and work with students.  Student interviews are a great way to get to know your student as well as find out their strengths and weaknesses when it comes to homework.

Questions to be Answered:

1. Would a different type of homework assignment increase student completion rates?
2. Does homework completion rate correlate to a higher assessment grade?

Methodology:

A.     I began collecting data by conducting interviews.  The questions I asked are listed below:

1.     If you had to guess, what percentage of homework do you complete in this class?

2.     If the homework assignment was shorter, do you feel like you would do it more often?

3.     What is your overall grade in this class?

4.     Are you satisfied with your overall grade in this class?

5.     If homework were assigned online, would you complete it more often?

6.     Why do you think teachers assign homework?

7.     If homework were worth more than "work ethic”, would you complete more of it?

B.     Next, I kept a detailed spreadsheet of student’s completion rate and details of the type of assignment it is.  I will then decide what type of homework seemed to have higher rates of completion.

C.     When I gave a new type of homework assignment out, the following day I asked for feedback from the students.  Having prepared questions for students is important so that they will be the same each day.  Below are the questions that I asked:

1.     Did you complete ____ assignment?

2.     If yes, did you like it more than the traditional type of homework?  Why?

3.     If no, why not?

D.     At end of a unit, I entered assessment scores to my spreadsheet of homework completion rates.  I looked to see if there was a direct correlation in my data.

I am giving students the opportunity to talk to me about homework.  I was curious about their take on why they think teachers assign it and what type of assignments they like the most.  I also wanted to see if they have any ideas/suggestions for new types of homework assignments.  For this research project, I interviewed students at the beginning of my study and at the end.  During both interviews, I asked them the same questions. 

What challenges occurred?

One of the main challenges was that I only meet with my students three times a week.  I needed to make sure that I had a timeline for when I give questionnaires/surveys and conducted interviews so that I did not miss my window.  I also made sure that I had plenty of surveys ready at all time on my desk.

Another challenge that occurred was that students miss a lot of school due to travel for sports and activities.  I was especially careful to track attendance and when students turned work in after they returned to school.

Finally, some my homework assignments were technology based, I anticipated that there will be some technical difficulties and there was.  Sometimes students didn’t have internet so they had to turn an assignment in late. 

Results with Discussion:

I wanted to specifically look at data between homework completion and tests scores.  I further wanted to see what type of homework had the highest completion rate, was it a book assignment, project, technology based or a worksheet.  Additionally, I wanted to look at which day of the week had the highest completion rate. 

Due to covid19 and school closure, I was unable to collect any data for this research project.

Work Cited:

9 Weekly Budget Templates – Docs, Excel, PDF. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.template.net/business/budget-templates/weekly-budget/

Catapano, J. (n.d.). Teaching Strategies: Alternatives to Traditional Homework. Retrieved from https://www.teachhub.com/teaching-strategies-alternatives-traditional-homework

Does Homework Perpetuate Inequities in Education?: READ online. (2014, December). Retrieved from https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/does-homework-perpetuate-inequities-in-education_5jxrhqhtx2xt-en#page

Economics and Personal Finance Activities. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.cengage.com/resource_uploads/downloads/1133562108_353491.pdf

Larson, M. R. (2019, February 11). Do We Have to Embrace Technology in the Math Classroom? Retrieved from https://www.hmhco.com/blog/matt-larson-technology-in-math-classrooms

Picha, G. (2018, October 17). Effective Technology Use in Math Class. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/article/effective-technology-use-math-class

Scharaldi, K. (n.d.). What are the benefits of using technology for maths instruction? Retrieved from https://www.texthelp.com/en-us/company/education-blog/march-2018/what-are-the-benefits-of-using-technology-for-math/

Teach Money. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.incharge.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Teach-Money-Web.pdf

Terada, Y. (2018, February 23). What's the Right Amount of Homework? Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/article/whats-right-amount-homework

Turner, C. (n.d.). What kinds of homework seem to be more effective? Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast

Watanabe-Crockett, L. (2020, February 3). 6 of the Most Engaging Homework Alternatives You'll Find. Retrieved from https://wabisabilearning.com/blogs/literacy-numeracy/6-engaging-homework-alternatives