Posted on aug 21, 2013 comments off on research shows homework improves grades ecu economics professor dr. Nick rupp conducted research that demonstrated grade improvements for students who completed homework. Photo by cliff hollis by kathryn kennedy ecu news services students may think that arriving at east carolina university means escaping from parents and constant reminders to do your homework! however, those out of class exercises could affect college students’ academic success – at least if they’re studying economics. Nick rupp, who counts education tactics among his research interests, recently published the results of a study in which he found that doing homework assignments leads to higher test grades. There’s always been anecdotal evidence, he explained, but i wanted to explore it scientifically. After students in multiple sections of his principles of microeconomics class consented to participate in his study, rupp handed out two different syllabi to participants. For a second group, homework was optional, so test scores made up 100 percent of their grades.

Individual students were assigned to the groups via a simple exercise: a coin flip. The classroom had kind of a football crowd mentality on the day of the coin flip , rupp said. He added that those who landed in the homework optional group were initially overjoyed. They performed a half letter grade better, on average, than those who did not have to complete homework assignments. Rupp observed that there were a students in both groups – those who would do their homework whether or not it was required.

The biggest difference was for students who initially performed poorly in the course. Homework completion also could cause students to pass a course they were otherwise on the brink of failing. It wasn’t because the homework grades helped them, but because they were learning more before the test.

And every student did have access to the homework and the option to complete it and have it graded. However, he also observed that those students not required to do the homework would often wait until just before the test to complete all the exercises. Those students didn’t get feedback to know what they might have done wrong and what to study before testing.

Assigning homework does mean more work for one other party – those teaching college classes. Rupp said that his research indicates that two thirds of professors at the seven largest campuses in the unc system assign homework, but another third does not. This is a joint message – about the importance of doing homework – to both the students and the educators, rupp said. There is more work but if you care about student performance and keeping students in your class…it does pay dividends. Rupp plans to conduct a similar study involving homework in chemistry classes, to see if his findings can be applied to other academic subjects. The role of homework in student learning outcomes: evidence from a field experiment was published in the journal of economic education.

Essay Made By Filipino Writers

It turns out that parents are right to nag: to succeed in school, kids should do their homework. Duke university researchers have reviewed more than 60 research studies on homework between 1987 and 2003 and concluded that homework does have a positive effect on student achievement. Harris cooper, a professor of psychology and director of duke's program in education, said the research synthesis that he led showed the positive correlation was much stronger for secondary students those in grades 7 through 12 than those in elementary school. With only rare exception, the relationship between the amount of homework students do and their achievement outcomes was found to be positive and statistically significant, the researchers report in a paper that appears in the spring 2006 edition of review of educational research.

Student in psychology, and erika patall, a graduate student in psychology, are co authors. While it's clear that homework is a critical part of the learning process, cooper said the analysis also showed that too much homework can be counter productive for students at all levels. Even for high school students, overloading them with homework is not associated with higher grades, cooper said. Cooper said the research is consistent with the 10 minute rule suggesting the optimum amount of homework that teachers ought to assign.

The 10 minute rule, cooper said, is a commonly accepted practice in which teachers add 10 minutes of homework as students progress one grade. In other words, a fourth grader would be assigned 40 minutes of homework a night, while a high school senior would be assigned about two hours. For upper high school students, after about two hours' worth, more homework was not associated with higher achievement.

How to Write a Good Application Essay 5 Paragraphs

The authors suggest a number of reasons why older students benefit more from homework than younger students. First, the authors note, younger children are less able than older children to tune out distractions in their environment. But the reason also could have to do with why elementary teachers assign homework. Perhaps it is used more often to help young students develop better time management and study skills, not to immediately affect their achievement in particular subject areas.