#1. Make homework relevant

Students need to see the value of homework so that they devote their time and effort to doing it. Therefore, it’s necessary to communicate the aims behind each homework you assign. Holding a class discussion can help you find out their opinions about homework and raise their awareness of how much it can accelerate learning.

Yet, such awareness-raising may not suffice if students are not benefiting from homework.

To that end, your assignment should not be used as a punishment but rather as a stimulus for students to learn more outside school.

Besides, for students to do and benefit from the work it’s important to make the right selection of tasks.

So, creating homework requires planning and considering students’ learning needs and interests. It’s not a last-minute decision we make just to nudge students to work outside class. Even when assigning activities from the coursebook, we should be more selective about what works best for them.

Making this deliberate decision will show your students the value of homework and motivate them to do it.

But, what kind of tasks to assign to make homework more relevant to students’ learning?

Homework is meant to reinforce what students have learned in class. So, tasks need to provide more practice, and reflection, and foster understanding and mastery of a given concept/topic/skill.

Also, its tasks need to help cater to students’ learning needs, providing them with more opportunities to work on the learning materials covered in class. So, knowing about your students’ needs (through monitoring classwork, observing and talking to them, etc.) you can vary homework tasks for different students.

Homework is also a tool to extend students’ learning in class. Tasks can be more challenging; involving students in research or inquiry to find and solve problems, discover something new, analyze and evaluate existing information, create something, etc.

So, homework can be an effective tool to enhance students’ higher-order thinking.

In addition, students are likely to value homework when it encourages them to take responsibility: to have certain choices to decide what works best for them.

Therefore, from time to time give your students some choices within the homework. They can, for instance, choose from a set of tasks to do, the topics to work on, the kind of performance they prefer and fits their needs (written, oral presentation, creating a video, a poster, etc.).

You can also make homework an opportunity for students to collaborate and learn from and through others. Students can have the chance to meet outside class, work in groups, and write homework as a joint effort. Working with partners can make such a task more relevant and motivating for students.

#2. Make homework fun and engaging

It’s so necessary to create homework our students will benefit from, but sustaining their interest and motivation in doing it is also required. Therefore, homework should involve students in doing things that they enjoy.

Finding out about students’ learning preferences through questionnaires, classroom discussions, observations, can help you create more motivating, worthwhile, and enjoyable homework tasks.

So, think about your students’ interests: what do they like to do outside class (reading, watching movies, going out with friends, etc.)? Do they like to work with partners? What kind of homework tasks do they prefer most?

Hence, taking those preferences into account when deciding on the work students can do outside class does not mean ignoring the lesson objectives or the intended learning outcomes. Instead, it’s about designing valuable activities that motivate students to work beyond that classroom context.

So, to make your homework more fun and engaging:

• Include new, different, unfamiliar, or unexpected homework tasks.
• Connect homework tasks to topics/things/materials students already find interesting or hold in esteem.
• Encourage students’ self-expression, sharing of experiences, and everyday life concerns.
• Foster students’ creativity. Students enjoy using their imagination for creating, for example, make-believe stories, videos, sketches, suggesting handy solutions to particular issues, and acting out pretend plays.
• Allow competing to add more excitement to homework.
• Besides varying your homework tasks and personalizing them, set them differently. Send them via email to students or post them on your class blog. You can also write out homework tasks on slips of paper and place them in envelopes, one for each student. Deliver them containing the homework instructions in class. Tell students to open the envelopes at home (Painter, 2010).
• As stated before providing some choices within your homework will help students make conscious decisions about what works for them and so engage them in doing the work.
• Invite students to create a homework task for their class. Be sure to clarify the aim and learning expectations.

#3. Make homework manageable

As Sharon Bobbitt (1998) wrote: “Homework is meant to be a positive experience which encourages children to learn”. So, it needn’t only be relevant and engaging, but also manageable in terms of time.

For this purpose, you need to be mindful of the number of homework tasks you assign as well as the frequency of doing so. Even if you have created motivating and relevant tasks, too much homework is likely to be tedious for your students.

So, if you want them to do homework and learn from it, focus on the most important tasks for their needs and interests and avoid assigning homework for each lesson.

To facilitate homework completion and boost your students’ productivity in such a process, here are some tips:

• Ask your students to keep an exercise book only for homework. They can leave the first page blank where they write down in class the task’s type, aims, data, and times of completing it.
• Provide them with a checklist that includes a set of goals about the homework at hand. This will help you identify their areas of difficulty while doing it.
• Help them organize their own learning time outside class. Encourage them to make their homework plan indicating the time and days when they will work. Also, ask them to consider tips for themselves and share with others what works for them. You can add your ideas and advice as well.
• Reward ‘best homeworkers’, those students who have completed tasks and succeeded in overcoming their learning difficulties.

#4. Monitor and give positive feedback

Feedback is a motivational tool for students to keep doing their homework. It’s necessary, therefore, to provide positive feedback that supports them to learn from homework tasks. This means your feedback needs to help students identify their progress and areas of weakness.

To do so, consider the way you’re correcting and communicating feedback. This is through:

• Clarifying the aims of each homework you assign and what you expect from students.
• Explaining the assessment criteria upon which you’re assessing the work.
• Giving more descriptive comments highlighting students’ strengths and weaknesses, asking them questions, and expecting to get their responses in class. For example: “you have trouble with …….. Do you have an issue with understanding……….?”.
• Use homework as a tool to monitor students’ learning. Devote time to check homework (mainly during small group instruction) and invite students to ask questions.
• Keep your homework log of what students are doing in homework. This will help you provide the necessary support and guidance.
• Encourage students to reflect on the work they’ve done and on their achievements. Discuss with them what you’ve noticed (improvement, difficulties, etc.) and listen to their concerns.

 

This is my new approach and homework strategies for teachers. Use them with your students and collect enough information from them to know how they find your homework. Then, make clear decisions to set more effective homework tasks. Your students will learn a lot from your homework.

References

Painter, L.(2010). Homework. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Robbitt, S.(ed.).(1998). Helping your students with homework: A guide for teachers. Washington.D.C: Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S.Department of Education.

For more homework strategies for teachers read: Helping your students with homework by By Nancy Paulu.