12 Pros and Cons of Homework (2023)

Last Updated on March 11, 2021 by Filip Poutintsev

Homework is defined as tasks assigned to students by school teachers that are intended to be carried out during non-school hours. Homework is designed to reinforce what students have already learned. Homework is a word that most students dread hearing.

12 Pros and Cons of Homework (1)

Table of Contents

  • Pros and Cons of Homework
  • Purpose of Homework
  • Should Students Have Homework?
  • Pros of Homework
    • 1. Homework Encourages Practice
    • 2. Keep Track of the Progress
    • 3. Improved Academic Outcome
    • 4. Teaches Time Management
    • 5. Parents are Involved in the Learning Process
    • 6. Creates Communication Bridge
    • 7. Provides More Learning Time
  • Cons of Homework
    • 1. Encourages a Sedentary Lifestyle
    • 2. Causes Unnecessary Stress
    • 3. Eats up Free Time
    • 4. Not Always Effective
    • 5. Discourages Creative Endeavours
  • Conclusion

Pros and Cons of Homework

The teachers assign homework to the students as they believe that homework will help the students to recollect the topics that were covered in the class. There are some lessons that are perfect for the classroom environment, but there are also some things that children can learn better at home. So homework helps to maintain the balance between them.

Generally, homework includes reading, writing, or completion of a certain problem which will improve the overall performance of the student. This means that kids who do homework are more committed to doing well in school.

(Video) Homework: Pros and Cons

Purpose of Homework

The most common purpose of homework is to have students practice material already presented in class so as to reinforce learning and facilitate mastery of specific skills. It is found that appropriate homework in the right amounts can enhance younger students’ learning and prepare them for a routine of studying as they get older.

Homework impacts students’ academic achievement—test scores. Homework is also thought to improve study habits, attitudes toward school, self-discipline, inquisitiveness, and independent problem-solving skills.

Preparation assignments introduce the material that will be presented in future lessons which helps students obtain the maximum benefit when the new material is covered in class.

Should Students Have Homework?

The type and amount of homework given to students have been debated for over a century. For years, teachers and parents thought that homework was a necessary tool when educating children. But studies about the effectiveness of homework have been conflicting and inconclusive.

Proponents of homework say that it improves student achievement and allows for independent learning of classroom and life skills. Also, homework allows parents to monitor their child’s learning. Opponents of homework say that too much may be harmful to students as it can increase stress, reduce leisure and sleep time, lead to cheating, and is not proven to be beneficial for younger.

According to Harris Cooper, a professor at Duke University, there is a positive correlation between homework and student achievement, meaning students who did homework performed better in school.

(Video) Is Homework Necessary?

As a general rule, the maximum amount of time that a student should spend each day on lessons outside of school is 10 minutes per each grade level. This means a first grader should spend 10 minutes daily on his homework while a senior high school kid should spend about 2 hours.

Should students have homework or not? Let’s discuss some of the key pros and cons of the homework.

Pros of Homework

1. Homework Encourages Practice

One of the positive effects of homework is that it helps to encourage the discipline of practice. Repetition is necessary to get better at skills. Practising the same problem over and over helps to reinforce the discipline of practice. Homework helps make concepts more clear and helps to build a career in the future.

2. Keep Track of the Progress

Homework allows teachers to track students’ progress, meaning that homework helps to find out the academic strengths and weaknesses of children. Homework can also help clue teachers into the existence of any learning disabilities their children may have, allowing them to get help and adjust learning strategies as needed.

3. Improved Academic Outcome

Studies show that homework improves student achievement in terms of improved grades, test results, and the likelihood to attend college. Research by the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) concluded that increased homework led to better GPAs.

It has also found that students who regularly do homework have scored better in standardized tests than other students who didn’t do homework at all.

(Video) Homework advantages and disadvantages

4. Teaches Time Management

When homework is assigned to the students, students are able to manage their time and make effective study plans. Homework is much more than just completing the assigned tasks but also teaches time management skills.

It helps to manage study time by completing all assignments on time. Time management is a necessary skill that a student must have which is very useful not only in school life but also in the future.

5. Parents are Involved in the Learning Process

Parents need to know what their children are learning in school. Homework helps parents to track down what their children are learning at school and their class performance. By sending homework from the school, it allows the entire family to encounter the assignments that their kids are doing when they are in school during the day. A study shows that parental involvement in homework can improve class performance.

6. Creates Communication Bridge

Homework helps to create a communication network between student, teacher, school, and parents. Teachers are unaware of the lives of the students at home and the parents are unaware of their lives at school. Communication helps to understand each other in a better way, as teachers get to know the needs of students and parents about their children’s strengths and weaknesses.

7. Provides More Learning Time

School hours aren’t always enough for students to grasp the core knowledge. Homework allows for more time to complete the learning process. Setting homework allows students to revise content learned during the day and also helps to get things thoroughly because there is sufficient time for research and also there is less disturbance in the home.

Cons of Homework

1. Encourages a Sedentary Lifestyle

As the students get long assignments/homework, hence require much time to complete it. If students are given more homework, then they get less amount of time for extracurricular activities and also affect social development. A sedentary lifestyle can be dangerous and can cause health problems such as obesity.

(Video) Pros and Cons of Homework

2. Causes Unnecessary Stress

With a large workload and difficult tasks, homework causes students to feel anxious and stressed. Unnecessary stress causes demotivation. In some cases, homework may even be assigned over term breaks or the summer holidays.

This causes severe stress for some children, leading to issues such as sleep deprivation. This causes behavioural changes in students and also ingraining homework as a negative aspect of school life.

3. Eats up Free Time

Free time allows children to not only relax but also discover the world. Childs spend hours completing the assignment which eats up the valuable time kids have to spend with their family, attend extracurricular activities, and catch up with friends. During that time kids can learn many things like riding a bike, reading novels, attending social activities, attending family functions, etc.

4. Not Always Effective

A study found that homework creates a negative attitude towards schooling and the education system. Research by John Hattie, Professor of Education at the University of Melbourne, has found that homework in primary school has a negligible effect on students’ academic growth, as students are completing separate and unrelated projects rather than reinforcing learned knowledge. Homework doesn’t necessarily help to improve students’ academic performance rather it puts a burden on students.

5. Discourages Creative Endeavours

As we know homework eats up the leisure time because students spend hours completing their assignments. During that time students might like to do creative works that they are interested in such as, painting, singing, playing games, learning an instrument, etc. There might be a case where a student is much interested in doing creative work rather than spending hours on homework.

Conclusion

Concluding the article, both the pros and cons of homework are valid. Teachers and parents find homework as a necessary task for the children’s academic success while students find it as a burden or headache. The main purpose of homework is to bridge the gap between children’s learning at school and at home.

(Video) Should Homework be Banned? | Is Homework Beneficial? | Should students have homework?

On the one hand, homework is an effective way to reinforce the concepts that were learned at school which helps to improve the academic outcome of the students. On the other hand, homework puts a burden on the student and the time that homework demands would be better spent with meaningful activity.

Thus, a good way to think about homework is the way you think about medications or dietary supplements. If you take too little, they’ll have no effect. If you take too much, they can kill you. If you take the right amount, you’ll get better.

References

FAQs

What are the 10 benefits of homework? ›

Homework helps teachers determine how well the lessons are being understood by their students. Homework teaches students how to problem solve. Homework gives student another opportunity to review class material. Homework gives parents a chance to see what is being learned in school.

Are there benefits to homework? ›

Studies have shown that homework improved student achievement in terms of improved grades, test results, and the likelihood to attend college.

Is homework harmful or helpful? ›

Quality homework is engaging and relevant to kids' lives. It gives them autonomy and engages them in the community and with their families. In some subjects, like math, worksheets can be very helpful. It has to do with the value of practicing over and over.

Why is homework good facts? ›

Homework goes beyond just the task itself; it helps children take control of their workload and increase their time management skills. Homework is set with a deadline and taking ownership of this deadline helps them think independently and develop problem-solving skills.

What are the benefits of homework essay? ›

Benefits Of Homework Essay

For example, Homework teaches students that learning can occur wherever you are. Every day you are expanding your knowledge whether you know it or not. Teachers assign homework to carry out the lesson and broaden knowledge. Also, students have greater self-direction and self-discipline.

Is there any value in homework 2 minute speech? ›

This is an Expert-Verified Answer

it helps in making rythem ,as we know that for better studying there is need of practice so its play great role in study.

Why is homework not important? ›

While school is an important part of a child's life, it's also as important that the child takes a break from his education. Multiple studies have found that most students are getting too much extra assignments, leading to sleep deprivation, unhealthy levels of stress, as well as related health problems.

Why homework is not necessary? ›

Consequences for high school students

In 2013, research conducted at Stanford University found that students in high-achieving communities who spend too much time on homework experience more stress, physical health problems, a lack of balance in their lives, and alienation from society.

How much homework is too much? ›

Many districts follow the guideline of 10 minutes per grade level. This is a good rule of thumb and can be modified for specific students or subjects that need more or less time for assignments. This can also be helpful to gauge if you are providing too much (or too little) homework.

Is homework good for mental health? ›

Cynthia Catchings, a licensed clinical social worker and therapist at Talkspace, says heavy workloads can also cause serious mental health problems in the long run, like anxiety and depression. And for all the distress homework can cause, it's not as useful as many may think, says Dr.

Is homework important essay? ›

Homework is sometimes a burden to teachers and students but still it is necessary. Some people doubt homework's effectiveness, but teachers and researchers agree homework is essential. Homework helps students get better grades in school. Some people don't know exactly what homework is.

Should 1st graders have homework? ›

The key to effective homework, they say, is keeping assignments related to classroom learning, and tailoring the amount by age: Many experts suggest no homework for kindergartners, and little to none in first and second grade. READ: Mindfulness Activities for Kids. ]

Is homework good for kids? ›

Homework can provide an increased understanding of concepts taught at school. Giving students extra practice, allows those concepts to be committed to each student's long term memory. Good homework reinforces what is taught at school.

Why homework should not be required? ›

Consequences for high school students

In 2013, research conducted at Stanford University found that students in high-achieving communities who spend too much time on homework experience more stress, physical health problems, a lack of balance in their lives, and alienation from society.

What are the pros and cons of homeschooling? ›

Pros and Cons of Homeschooling a Child
  • Easier to teach and easier to learn. ...
  • Discipline issues in the classroom are avoided. ...
  • Adaptation to special considerations. ...
  • Makes good use of time. ...
  • Cost. ...
  • Adapting your child to a new reality. ...
  • No social interaction during study time.

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