The Benefits of Homework

The Quality of Homework is an article which discusses the issues of giving children too much "busy work" homework.

I agree, there is no benefit in giving this type of homework.  Students would be much better off living their lives than spending time on homework that does not make them think.  Homework can be greatly beneficial in school systems as long as it is the type of work which engages and teaches students outside of the classroom.  Homework is meant to be an extension of school in order to reinforce and extend learning, rather than as a means of wasting students' time outside of the classroom.

I remember preferring "busy work" homework as a student because I could watch TV, talk on the phone, go online, and so on while I was doing my homework.  Obviously I was not engaged or learning from the work that was given to me.  Now that I've experienced College and Graduate level classes, which for the most part really do give homework to engage students and teach material, I am much more appreciative of the benefits.

I have also learned a great deal from being in Education classes.  Teachers really are not given enough time in one semester to teach all of the information necessary to get an in depth understanding of material. It is very important for the learning process that we obtain an in depth understanding of material in order to retain information.

By using homework to our advantage as teachers, we can provide students with a greater depth of knowledge.