Effectiveness of Homework Research



Running Head: EFFECTIVENESS OF HOMEWORK

Effectiveness of Homework:

Comparing the amount and type of homework assigned

in high school Spanish classes to achievement

Outline of Research Proposal

By Carly M. Schwarmann

August 15, 2008

Seattle Pacific University

EDU 6975 Interpreting and Applying Educational Research I

Instructor: Whitney Meissner

I Purpose of Study and Objectives

A. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of homework on academic achievement and determine what type and how much homework is ideal to assign to high school Spanish students.

B. Hypothesis- Students who do all homework assignments will perform better on the chapter test than students who do only some or no homework.

C. Teachers can share the information with parents and students to justify and help them accept the amount of homework assigned. If results show less homework is needed, it will create less work for students and teachers.

II How your study relates to previous research

A. This study is most closely related to LaConte, R. T. (1981). Homework as a learning experience. What research says to the teacher. NEA, 33. Retrieved July 11, 2008, from ERIC database. The study compares the effectiveness of three different types of homework: preparation, practice, and extension.

B. Studies compared students given homework, no homework or other assignments to compensate for no homework. 14 studies favored homework, while six favored no homework. Cooper reported high school students in classes that did homework outperformed 75 percent of students in a no homework class. In junior high it was half that, and in elementary school there was little effect on achievement gains (Cooper et. al 1998). The following research will test these results of the effectiveness of homework for high schoolers as well as identify the type and amount of homework that is most beneficial.

C. Harris M. Cooper has done extensive research on effectiveness of homework. Homework in manageable amounts is beneficial for increasing achievement in high schoolers. Experts give a general guideline of 10 minutes per grade in school, which means two hours total per day is appropriate for seniors (Cooper and Gersten 2002).

III Literature Search

Cooper H. M. & Gersten, R. M. (2002). A teacher’s guide to homework tips for parents. U.S.

Department of Education (June 2002). Retrieved from



Cooper, H. Lindsay, J.J., Nye, B., & Greathouse, S. (1998). Relationships among attitudes about

homework, amount of homework assigned and completed, and student achievement.

Journal of educational psychology 90, 70-83.

Cooper, H. & Valentine, J. (2001). Using research to answer practical questions

about homework. Educational Psychologist, 36 (3), 143-153. Retrieved July 12, 2008,

from

(2005). Focus on effectiveness. Retrieved July 12, 2008, from Homework and

practice research based strategies:

home.php

(2000, October). Getting the most out of homework. Retrieved July 11,

2008, from Northwest regional educational laboratory:

Homework - purpose, public attitudes toward homework, the positive and negative effects of homework, extensiveness of homework. (2008). In Education encyclopedia state . Retrieved July 11, 2008, from

Kazmierzak, K. S. (1994, April 12). Current wisdom on homework and the effectiveness of a homework checking system. Retrieved July 11, 2008, from ERIC database.

Kidwell, V. (2004). Homework. New York: Continuum.

Knorr, C. L. (1981, January 24). A synthesis of homework research and related literature. Retrieved July 11, 2008, from ERIC database.

Kohn, A. (2006). The homework myth. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo.

LaConte, R. T. (1981). Homework as a learning experience. What research says to the

teacher. NEA, 33. Retrieved July 11, 2008, from ERIC database.

Neilson, W. (2005, February 12). Homework and performance for time−constrained students. Economics bulletin vol.9, Retrieved July 11, 2008, from

Sharp, C. (2000, December 11). Review of studies on homework. Retrieved July 11, 2008, from OFSTED and National foundation for educational research: homework.cfm

Skandera, H and Sousa, R. (2003, January). Homework pays off. Hoovers digest, no. 4, Retrieved July 11, 2008, from .

Trautwein, U. (2007, June). The homework-achievement relation reconsidered: Differentiating homework time, homework frequency, and homework effort. Learning and instruction, 17, 372-388. Retrieved July 11, 2008, from ERIC database.

IV Sampling

A. The population studied will include Kamiak High School students in the Mukilteo School District.

B. Kamiak is a wealthy high school in Mukilteo, Washington, just north of Seattle. The school has 2,200 students, 17% are Asian, 2.8 % Black, 2.4% Hispanic, .8% American Indian/Alaskan Native, and 74.7% are white. 8.8% of the population receives free and reduced lunch, 7% are students who receive special education, and 2.8% speak English as a second language. The dropout rate is at 3.2%. 92.9% of students met the WASL reading standard, 96% met writing standard and 74.8% met math standard in 2007.

C. Using convenience sampling, I will assign three separate classes varying amounts of homework. This method makes the most sense to be fair to the whole class about the amount of work assigned as well as making it easier to structure lessons and go over assigned work in class from a teaching standpoint. For a period of three weeks, the duration of one chapter, one class will be assigned all worksheets and extra activities also called extension activates for homework as usual. A second class will only be assigned extension activities for homework. The third class will not be assigned any homework.

D. I will conduct the research with three of my Spanish one classes.

E. Each Spanish one class has 33 students. The total sample size will be 99 students, which exceeds the requirements of 15 subjects in each group for experimental research.

F. There will be no subgroups. Test scores from all individuals in each Spanish one class will be collected. The classes consist of freshman and sophomore students.

G. To avoid the risk of confidentiality, students will be assigned identification numbers and will not be referred to be name.

An additional risk for students that are not assigned homework is that they could lose critical learning and practice of skills. I will try to alleviate this symptom by giving clear examples and reviewing topics in class.

V Variables

A. The dependent variable is Spanish achievement as measured by the chapter test.

B. The independent variable is the type and amount of homework assigned.

C. A possible confounding variable is that some students often do not complete all the homework assignments, so I will provide an incentive such as a class party if everyone completes all their assigned homework for the chapter. If any student misses more than one homework assignment, he or she will be asked to come after school to complete the work.

VI Instruments/ Measures

A. I will use a measure of equivalence through the chapter test created by the textbook, En Español. This is the required assessment chosen by our district and used in all Spanish classrooms.

I will also keep data of completed homework in my grade book for each class to ensure it is all complete. I give a score of up to four points to each assignment using a rubric.

B. Comparing the test scores from each class will show whether completing the homework assignments has an effect on achievement and whether the amount and type of homework makes a difference.

C. I will check over homework and grade the tests myself using the answer key from the textbook.

VII Research Design

A. This research project is an experimental design.

B. Threats to internal validity

• A possible threat to internal validity to the experiment could be diffusion treatment because students from different classes may talk to each other about the class. I will tell classes that if they want to discuss work in class, they should talk to their learning partner in the class because other classes are working on different assignments.

• History, due to the time of day, could be another threat to internal validity because one class meets before lunch, one meets after lunch and the other class meets the last period of the day. Student energy level change slightly throughout the day, however, since the experiment is mainly dealing with homework done outside of class, the threat may be insignificant.

• Subject effects are another threat to internal validity because students may alter their level of effort because they know they are part of a study.

• I will attempt to eliminate the threat of instrumentation by grading all the tests myself, however since some answers are open-ended they could be evaluated differently. I will use a clear rubric giving each required piece of information a set number of points.

• Experimenter effects are possible because I could treat classes differently since I know which classes are getting more or less practice at home.

• Selection could play a role in internal validity because students from each class have a wide range of abilities and even though it is a first year course, some come to the class with more prior knowledge than others.

C. This research design will have limited generalizabilty because of the small sample size and the fact that it is a convenience sample of a school with distinct demographics not representative of all Spanish students. The sample could be considered biased because students come from a high socio-economic status and are primarily college-bound.

D. Operational definitions of types of homework:

Extra activities for homework are extensions that go beyond the work in class: assignments that are open-ended and require higher level thinking skills.

Workbook pages are practice homework used to reinforce acquired skills: usually closed ended questions.

Preparation refers to reading assignments given before class.

E. The intervention is the type of homework assigned. Class A will receive the usual workbook pages and extension assignments amounting to approximately one half an hour of homework each night. Class B will be assigned only extension assignments and no workbook pages equaling approximately 15 minutes of homework per night. Class C will receive no homework assignments.

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