Regular homework tasks of up to 15 minutes in length can significantly boost student performance, a new study shows.
Overall, the study found a “little and often” approach enhanced students’ performance and was just as effective as longer-duration assignments.
The findings are contained in a study by researchers at Maynooth University into the role of homework on student achievement in maths and science.
The benefits of homework have been hotly disputed over recent years, with President Michael D Higgins among those who have called for schoolwork to finish in the classroom.
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Researchers examined the homework patterns of more than 4,000 second-year students at post-primary level using new artificial intelligence (AI) techniques. It suggests that avoiding very long homework tasks “allows students to balance schoolwork with other important activities outside of school”.
The study highlights that the frequency of homework was more important than its duration. Daily homework assignments were found to be most effective for improving maths achievement, while science performance benefited most from homework assigned three to four times a week.
Short-duration homework tasks, lasting up to 15 minutes, were shown to be just as effective as longer assignments. This suggests that regular, concise homework can promote learning without overwhelming students with excessive work.
Contrary to previous research, this study found that all students, regardless of socioeconomic background, experienced similar benefits from homework, indicating equitable advantages across diverse student populations. The researchers advocate for homework policies which prioritise regular, short-duration assignments to optimise student engagement and academic success without causing undue stress.
The research, led by Prof Andrew Parnell, Nathan McJames and Prof Ann O’Shea, used an AI model to analyse data from a large international survey, Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study. Mr McJames, the lead author, said the study provides strong evidence that regular homework can significantly enhance student performance, especially when given “little and often”.
“By avoiding very long homework assignments, this also allows students to balance schoolwork with other important activities outside of school,” he said.
Prof Parnell added: “This research provides valuable insights that can guide evidence-based policy changes in education, ultimately benefiting students across the board.”
Published in the journal Learning and Instruction, this study used new techniques to understand how homework affects students’ performance in maths and science. The model examined data for more than 4,000 14-year-olds in Ireland to see how often they did homework and how well they did in school. It tried to find the hidden patterns to see if doing homework more often helped students get better grades.
Unlike traditional methods that only capture simple relationships in the data, the new AI approach handled more complicated situations. Rather than guessing that more homework was always better, it checked for different possibilities and allowed for different students to have a different reaction to different levels of homework.
The AI model also helped researchers figure out if homework really made a difference or if other things, such as how affluent a student’s family was or how experienced their teacher was, were playing a bigger role. It separated these effects to understand what was truly happening.
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