The Necessity of Doing Homework
Entry:
Homework Essay
Introduction:
This assignment is on 9th April, 2014. It's for a practice about how to develop an argument.
Reflection:
The hardest part of this assignment was looking for reliable evidence to support my argument. I think I did well in essay structure and I did enough research to show many facts. If I had to do it again, I would care more about if those facts indeed supported each of my statement since some of them did not. I learned that making an argument requires evidence and examples, or it won't convince others.
Homework Essay
Introduction:
This assignment is on 9th April, 2014. It's for a practice about how to develop an argument.
Reflection:
The hardest part of this assignment was looking for reliable evidence to support my argument. I think I did well in essay structure and I did enough research to show many facts. If I had to do it again, I would care more about if those facts indeed supported each of my statement since some of them did not. I learned that making an argument requires evidence and examples, or it won't convince others.
Nowadays, as competition is fiercer, the burden students shoulder is increasing accordingly due to much homework teachers assigned. Though most students desire to have less or even no homework, I believe that homework is necessary and schools should not ban homework for students.
The first and foremost, homework helps students review what they’ve learned in the lessons. Homework contains knowledge that students have learned. According to the famous Forgetting Curve discovered by H. Ebbinghaus, it shows that a person only retains 35.8% of knowledge after 8 to 9 hours. Students are likely to forget part of new knowledge because of plenty of daytime classes and they’ve got different homework assigned by teachers. By saying “This is most clearly seen at the start of school when students suffer a loss in knowledge after a summer without practice and material review. Homework combats this and promotes retention of knowledge by making students practice regularly.” from an article written by Klaire Tan on the website named THE ORACLE, doing homework reminds what they’ve learned and they can practice it so that they won’t forget those parts. In a study conducted by Hill, Spencer, Alston and Fitzgerald (1986), they indicate that homework is positively connected to students’ achievement, such as test scores. Thus, doing homework does reinforce what students have learned in class for academic achievement.
Secondly, students can prepare for exams by doing homework. “When it (much homework) comes to math, what we found is that there is a bit of a sweet spot,” said Robert Tai, an associate professor with the Curry School of Education at UVa. “Students that were spending about a half an hour on math homework were reporting that their grades and test scores were actually better.” It implies doing homework helps students improve their actual grades. Meanwhile, another series of studies shows that average homework completer has higher unit test scores than 73% of non-completers. (Cooper, Robinson, & Patall, 2006). It also supports the necessity of homework. In addition, homework contains samples of exam questions since teachers won’t test students what they haven’t learned and these exam questions must be in textbook or homework that teachers assign. Therefore, doing homework is essentially a way to prepare for exams.
At last, students can learn skills by doing homework. According to a recent survey of teachers conducted by the University of Phoenix College of Education, assignments help capture critical thinking skills and high levels of learning. As the survey conclusion shows, students are able to gain other skills. The skills they learned from doing assignments are important since they might show these in future learning, as what Andrea Townsend, a high school science teacher and parent commented, “I've learned, while preparing my students to start college early, that study skills become much more important than they were in primary school”. Furthermore, students can learn how to organize time properly by doing homework. Laura Arrowsmith, who teaches high school history in Santa Clarita, has been impressed with the homework that her own seventh-grade son has been assigned and said he has learned time management. It certainly benefits him since he learns how to use time wisely to do appropriate things so that he won’t be too tired to deal with different issues.
In conclusion, homework is necessary and schools shouldn’t ban homework for students because students can review what they’ve learned, prepare for the exams and improve individual skills by doing homework. Homework indeed brings advantages to students.
The first and foremost, homework helps students review what they’ve learned in the lessons. Homework contains knowledge that students have learned. According to the famous Forgetting Curve discovered by H. Ebbinghaus, it shows that a person only retains 35.8% of knowledge after 8 to 9 hours. Students are likely to forget part of new knowledge because of plenty of daytime classes and they’ve got different homework assigned by teachers. By saying “This is most clearly seen at the start of school when students suffer a loss in knowledge after a summer without practice and material review. Homework combats this and promotes retention of knowledge by making students practice regularly.” from an article written by Klaire Tan on the website named THE ORACLE, doing homework reminds what they’ve learned and they can practice it so that they won’t forget those parts. In a study conducted by Hill, Spencer, Alston and Fitzgerald (1986), they indicate that homework is positively connected to students’ achievement, such as test scores. Thus, doing homework does reinforce what students have learned in class for academic achievement.
Secondly, students can prepare for exams by doing homework. “When it (much homework) comes to math, what we found is that there is a bit of a sweet spot,” said Robert Tai, an associate professor with the Curry School of Education at UVa. “Students that were spending about a half an hour on math homework were reporting that their grades and test scores were actually better.” It implies doing homework helps students improve their actual grades. Meanwhile, another series of studies shows that average homework completer has higher unit test scores than 73% of non-completers. (Cooper, Robinson, & Patall, 2006). It also supports the necessity of homework. In addition, homework contains samples of exam questions since teachers won’t test students what they haven’t learned and these exam questions must be in textbook or homework that teachers assign. Therefore, doing homework is essentially a way to prepare for exams.
At last, students can learn skills by doing homework. According to a recent survey of teachers conducted by the University of Phoenix College of Education, assignments help capture critical thinking skills and high levels of learning. As the survey conclusion shows, students are able to gain other skills. The skills they learned from doing assignments are important since they might show these in future learning, as what Andrea Townsend, a high school science teacher and parent commented, “I've learned, while preparing my students to start college early, that study skills become much more important than they were in primary school”. Furthermore, students can learn how to organize time properly by doing homework. Laura Arrowsmith, who teaches high school history in Santa Clarita, has been impressed with the homework that her own seventh-grade son has been assigned and said he has learned time management. It certainly benefits him since he learns how to use time wisely to do appropriate things so that he won’t be too tired to deal with different issues.
In conclusion, homework is necessary and schools shouldn’t ban homework for students because students can review what they’ve learned, prepare for the exams and improve individual skills by doing homework. Homework indeed brings advantages to students.