There has been a recent surge in school students who think homework is boring and not at all necessary in their curriculum. This is a very concerning trend that is mostly found in younger students in their growing age.
Homework has been a very good substitute for analyzing and assessing school work by teachers, as well as their parents.
Why does homework seem boring?
So why does homework feel boring and repetitive these days? Well, that is a difficult question to answer. There are a lot of factors that have contributed to students feeling disfranchised by the school curriculum. Since homework is an important aspect of this curriculum, it is quite natural that students and parents alike have moved away from it.
Let’s take a look at a few reasons as to why homework is such a burden to students these days:
- The difficulty curve plays a huge role in determining the interests of students in homework. If a student faces problems with too much difficulty in their homework, it is very likely that he or she will lose interest in it sooner or later.
- Motivation can also play a significant role in this area, especially if the students are of a lower age group. Lack of motivation from school or tuitions act as a deterrent for school students in finishing their homework.
- Lack of innovation while coming up with homework might also contribute to this problem. Teachers and administrators of schools and colleges have to realize that technology plays a very important role. There are many online professional help websites these days that tackle these problems as well.
What can be done to resolve this issue?
Now that we have discussed the problem in depth, it is time to suggest some viable and reliable solutions. Although all of these solutions might not apply in every possible scenario, be rest assured that most of it are applicable in almost any educational setting.
So let’s take a look at 5 easy solutions or tips that can certainly improve the lack of interest in students, which in turn will help them to find homework interesting and intuitive:
- Appealing to common interests in students:
Homework has to be relevant to students in order to make it interesting for them. Often we see that there is no connection between what students relate to, and what type of homework they are given from schools. This causes a rift among students over their shared interest in a particular subject.
As an educator, it is very important to bridge this gap among students. There is always going to be a small percentage of students who lack common interest, but in order to appeal to the majority, teachers and professionals can try out the following tactics:
- Take a local class poll and find out what topics of study interest the majority of students.
- Offer assignments and homework based on the results of the poll. Integrate the school curriculum in such a manner that these two coincide.
- Prepare for mock assignments that can be discussed in class so that students get a fair share of information before they are assigned their homework.
- Offer concise and stimulating homework:
Scientific studies in student psychology have shown that they tend to lose interest in their assignments if those assignments are unnecessarily long and tedious to do. Hence, in order to keep them interested and not make homework boring for them, teachers should focus on demarcating homework in a proper manner.
Several PTA organizations have suggested that homework at junior school level should not exceed around 20 minutes of course work in the 1st grade. This time limit can certainly vary over the course of time, but on an average, it keeps students interested.
For higher grades, teachers can extend the time limit – adding an extra 10 minutes for every grade. However, for the 12th grade, the best time frame has been found out to be around 100 minutes. Although this might seem a bit of a stretch, it is perfectly acceptable for a high school senior.
- Forming local study groups:
The concept of study groups is not something new. It has been tested thoroughly in many education sectors for many years, and the results are mostly favorable, to say the least. Individual assignments are necessary for certain age groups in school, but several of them can easily bore out a student.
A viable alternative to this is the introduction of group assignments and homework. Several scientific researchers have shown that group assignments can have its own set of advantages over individual homework. Let’s take a look at a few:
- It improves bonding among students from an early age which is an excellent social skill to have when they grow older.
- It offers viable alternatives to stressful and monotonous homework on an individual level, thus creating a smooth and conducive environment.
- It offers students the chance to get better at subjects by working with peers, instead of relying on tuitions.
- Using modern technology:
It is highly suggested to teachers and educators around the world to integrate the use of modern technology in their day to day school curriculum. With the help of new and improved technology such as digitalized classroom teaching, students are able to relate to theoretical concepts much more fluidly.
Teachers can incorporate modern technology in homework by the following ways:
- Providing computer based homework such as research assignments
- Utilizing online education resources and websites to keep the students engaged in their course work
- Suggesting and working on developing several peer support groups via social media
- Offer rewards, perks and other helpful resources on homework websites from the school administrations
- Introduce variation in homework:
Lack of variety and innovation is yet another reason as to why students are easily bored with their homework nowadays. The same old pen and paper assignments can easily disinterest a student. So teachers can try out different forms or modes of assignments to keep their interests in these topics. The following methods can also help:
- Introduce community lessons via homework, or at least allot separate grades for doing such things that are considered outside the classroom.
- Start providing practical assignments to students, instead of monotonous theoretical assignments.
- Make the homework a lot more personal in nature so that students do not feel distant to such work while they are doing it.
These solutions have been extensively tested and tried in several institutions over the years, and have had positive results in all of them. So they can certainly be considered as viable and plausible alternatives to the conventional school work.
Why is homework important?
Homework shape a student’s personality in more than one way, and research has shown that it also contributes quite heavily towards choosing a particular career path in the future. If you want to know more about it, then you should have a look at “how to decide what career one should choose†for more information.
Imagine the world where students do not nag about their homework. With these tips and methods, that world is very easy to achieve!