Nowadays, most professionals in educational field consider homework as quite pointless whereas some consider it as quite crucial part of student life. But when you consider a student’s point of view, most are least excited or interested in doing homework as students are many great distractions that seem more important to them. Their world of distractions includes social networking, multi-tasking, smartphones, games, texting, etc. So for most, homework is just an obstacle in continuing with their regular lifestyle.
Exceptions are always there. Some students who are very few considering total student population are interested in doing their regular homework. They believe that devoting some hours for doing homework is compulsory has homework has its own intrinsic value. So by doing it correctly and regularly they fulfil their responsibility. Whereas a huge percentage of students lie in-between, sometimes they think of doing their homework and sometimes they think of not to.
Types of Homework
One of the main reasons for homework is that students revise things done in class. There are basically three basic types of homework-
- Practise homework which helps in learning.
- Preparation homework helps student get introduced to topics which is yet to be taught in class. This makes students understand better and clarify their doubts.
- Extension homework helps students to learn solving different set of problems through things they have learnt.
Benefits of doing homework
Homework isn’t popular anymore as many educational institutes are against the old trend of giving homework to students. But there are some schools that think homework can be beneficial to students in various ways. Here are some benefits of homework-
- It helps students develop time management skills.
- It helps to set priorities in life.
- Teachers and professors through homework determine how each and every student is taking in particular subjects i.e. plays role of a simple assessment.
- Doing homework helps students in staying up to date with the topic taught in classes.
- Parents get to their students capabilities through assessment of their homework which helps a lot in testes or exams.
- It helps students build up their responsibility towards education.
- Through homework students get to learn to work on their own i.e. independently.
- Interested students can develop a mentor type bond with teachers. By discussing about their homework, students can get to know what they have done wrong so that it can be rectified for the big future or even receive appreciation for going well.
What can go wrong?
Well, sometimes giving homework to kids doesn’t really solve the purpose, instead it does more harm than good. It has been observed that children or even teen students when doing homework, just want to finish it. They look at it just like a responsibility instead of taking the opportunity to learn something new.
This scenario is very common in today’s competitive culture. Where teachers sometimes fails to understand that different student in the class have different level of learning capabilities. Homework must be given according to the student’s requirement. It’s for their benefit, it’s for them to learn and not some task which must be completed anyhow. Parents and teacher sometimes, thinking about the good of their children/student tries to make them do the vast amount of homework which ultimately doesn’t benefit them.
Students should be given homework which requires thinking and creativity. Teachers should come up with fun and innovative things for students to do as homework, which would keep them interested. When they take interest in their homework, they actually start learning.
How student must approach their homework?
Student must look at their homework, not only as a task but also as an opportunity to learn. They must give their best effort and do their best work instead of completing the work quickly. Some tips students might follow are:-
- Understand your homework well.
- Don’t just restrict yourself to completing the homework. Also try to learn related areas which would clear your concepts in that topic.
- Utilize your resources properly. Go beyond books. Talk to your parents, elders, siblings they might have some real life knowledge. Try to gather information as well as experiences from people. It will prepare you overall.
- Utilize the internet properly. Internet holds a huge pool of resources but finding what exactly you need, can be a little difficult.
- You can seek professional help if you want to understand something and need help regarding any assignment. It is not always possible to take private tuition for every subject. So you might need to approach specialists sometimes when you need.
The main that you must remember as a student is that you should focus on just completing your homework, you should find quality time and learn from it. And teachers also need to remember that Homework given must not be a pressure on students, they must be enjoyable and fun which would make a good learning experience.
