Sure, you’ve heard the strategies experts put in front of students to make them better at actually doing their homework. But have you ever wondered why these strategies aren’t effective for everyone? If so much research has been devoted to “How to Do Your Homework,” why not just research “Why Even Have Homework If Students Don’t Do It?” Anyway, here’s a few common homework strategies and why they fail.
Strategy 1: Make A List.
The Myth: Experts say you need to make a list in order to get organized and put your work in perspective. They claim you will be better able to prioritize and use your time effectively. Making a list is the first step toward building an effective homework workflow.
The Reality: You don’t need a list to tell you that your homework needs to get done. Students who spend time making a list are really wasting valuable minutes when they could be focused on completing homework. Also, homework isn’t always easy to break into simple, list-friendly tasks. If you have a science report due at the end of the week, you’re not going to sit and make a list saying “Collect all my materials. Surf the internet until I find something cool about science. Copy and paste information into document. Save. Print. Turn In.” Your list will just say “Do Science Report.” And for someone who isn’t that task-oriented in the first place, it is not going to be easy to complete that task, since there’s so many mini-tasks associated with it that it just becomes intimidating. So leave the list-making to the teachers.
Strategy 2: You Need A Quiet Spot.
The Myth: Experts say the environment surrounding the student plays an important role in how much homework a student gets done and how well they do it, and for best results, you need somewhere quiet with minimal distractions.
The Reality: Today’s students grew up in overstimulated environments in the first place, so placing them in solitary confinement in the library stacks is not going to magically make them more productive. Instead, a normal level of stimulation is more conducive to a student’s thought process and may be more welcome than silence. A little music in the background, for example, can focus one’s attention on a given project, and even influence one’s mood about the work. If you’re listening to energetic tunes while you’re getting work done, you’ll get a pleasant feeling of energy from the music and a nice endorphin rush from the sensation of having accomplished your goal, so you hardly need a quiet spot to produce quality work.
Strategy 3: Do Your Best Work.
The Myth: Students need to do their best work to get the most out of their homework. If they don’t do their best work, they won’t be able to learn.
The Reality: It doesn’t matter whether students are doing their best work or their worst work, as long as they’re doing the work. If the entire world always had to do their best work, we’d never get anything done. The truth is, the harder you try to do your very best, the more you think about what you could have done better, and then you have to go back and fix it. You never quite reach the point where you say “This is my best work. I am happy with it.” So if students want to turn in work that’s good enough to get by, they may as well do so. Perhaps we should applaud the fact that they can just let things go so easily - if a few more people could do that the world might be a better place.
This post isn’t meant to say, hey, everything you’ve been told about homework is wrong. It’s just supposed to make you think twice about drilling these mindless ideas into students’ heads over and over again. Enjoy the rest of your day!
