Study tips & tricks
Why Is Homework Good for Students? 20 Reasons to Start Appreciating It
Author:
Samantha Williams
Jul 23, 2024
11 min
Table of contents
- The Homework Conflict: Understanding Both Sides of the Debate
- Why Is Homework Important?
- Is There Such Thing as Too Much Homework?
- Is Homework Necessary? Debate Continues
- Is Homework Beneficial If Parents Are Involved?
- Does Homework Actually Help?
- 20 Reasons Why Homework Is Good for You
- 10 Reasons Why Students Should Have Homework
- Do Benefits of Homework Outweigh the Downsides?
The Homework Conflict: Understanding Both Sides of the Debate
Homework has always been the subject of heated debates. Some argue it’s essential for better learning outcomes. Others praise the few educators who adopt no-homework policies, like that second-grade teacher in Texas who went viral in 2016.
How did homework go from timid adoption to a full-on ban in California in the early 1900s to becoming an integral part of a modern student’s life? And, more importantly, does it even make sense for us to assign such importance to those assignments?
To investigate the matter, we’ll dedicate this blog post to looking at one side of the debate and investigating the key reasons why homework is good.
But before you think we’re biased, let us announce that there’ll be a second part to this piece where we’ll be looking into the other side of the debate!
Why Is Homework Important?
If you’ve ever had to complete a bunch of boring assignments, you must’ve wondered at least once: Why even bother? It may be too boring, too detached from your life, or just too much for you to care about it.
So, why is doing homework important for students? It’s not just about getting good grades. Here are six main reasons why you shouldn’t discard homework as a relic of the past just yet:
- Study skill development. Crafting essays and completing other assignments allows you to develop study skills like research, analytical thinking, and writing skills.
- Better knowledge retention. Students remember around half of the information discussed in class. Assignments allow you to revise lesson materials and see how you can apply what you’ve learned to new problems and contexts.
- Self-regulation and discipline development. Assignments require a great deal of time management, some power of will, and a sense of responsibility to succeed at.
- Parent involvement. Assignments are an opportunity for parents to help cultivate valuable life skills in their children. While it’s not the only opportunity to do it, it still creates a foster ground for preparing kids for adult life.
- Opportunity for teamwork. Assignments that require collaboration, like presentations, teach you how to work with other people – and that’s a valuable life skill.
- Feedback loop. Homework allows teachers to identify gaps in student achievements and help them close those.
Is There Such Thing as Too Much Homework?
The prevailing consensus among researchers is that homework does lead to better learning outcomes. That said, not all students benefit equally from assignments. Research finds that assignments help students score better on standardized tests if they’re in middle or high school. However, the same can’t be said about elementary students.
“Too much homework” is also a real danger. One study suggested that 1.5-2.5 hours of work is the maximum for high school students; any work beyond that will cause more damage than good. For middle school students, the recommended threshold is one hour.
As for kids in elementary school, as little homework as possible is best for them. Although writing assignments showed a moderate positive impact on their learning outcomes, the key benefit of homework at such a young age has to do with non-academic outcomes. In other words, they help kids develop self-regulation skills rather than get better grades.
Is Homework Necessary? Debate Continues
Would students be better off without any assignments whatsoever? That’s an age-old question. Some would argue assignments should be abolished; some would complain that the current amount of homework isn’t enough.
The reality is that banning homework probably wouldn’t solve all the issues in the education system. While it may reduce stress and anxiety among students, here are three key reasons why homework matters too much to be abolished:
Life skill development (time management, self-discipline, self-regulation, etc.)
Study skill and habit development, otherwise known as learning to learn
Of course, not all assignments are created equal. Low-quality, repetitive assignments become busywork rather than a valuable learning tool.
Arguably, the debate should be about what kind of assignments students do, not whether they are inherently good or evil.
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Is Homework Beneficial If Parents Are Involved?
One common benefit that the proponents of homework cite is that it incites parents to get involved in their children’s education. But does parent involvement really help students become better learners? Well… that depends – but not on what you think.
The common misconception is that the more often parents help their kids with assignments, the better off they’ll be. But that’s not the most important factor. How parents help their kids with assignments matters more than how often they do it.
Parents should offer general guidance and monitoring while giving their kids enough room to complete the assignment on their own. Otherwise, they’ll fail to reap one of the key benefits of homework: developing autonomy and self-regulation skills.
Other guidelines for effective parent help include:
- Provide help only when the child explicitly asks for it
- Assist them with creating study routines
- Inspire them to view assignments as a learning opportunity
- Encourage them to persist when dealing with difficult tasks
- Praise their work
Does Homework Actually Help?
There is no clear-cut answer to this question. It all depends on how much and what kind of assignments students get – and how they approach those.
Is homework helpful when it comes to knowledge retention? It can be. As students retain only about half of what they learn in class, assignments become an opportunity to revisit key concepts and apply them to new contexts.
As for the types of homework, the more interactive and relevant for students’ lives it is, the better. Standardized, routine assignments can quickly become boring, putting out the flames of curiosity and motivation. This can lead to students abandoning their homework altogether.
That said, overall, completing assignments is proven to correlate with better standardized test results and higher college acceptance rates. How important these particular outcomes are, however, is up for debate.
20 Reasons Why Homework Is Good for You
Still not convinced you should put in the work when facing assignments? Let’s break down 20 reasons why homework is good for students to change your mind:
- It’ll help you get better grades, setting you up for a better GPA and standardized test results.
- It’s good for time management skills, as homework helps students become more organized and manage their time better.
- It’s beneficial for your brain, too, since assignments aimed at reinforcing known concepts train your memory.
- It teaches responsibility and accountability, which are valuable concepts for adult life.
- It develops your fact-checking, research, and critical thinking skills.
- It prepares you for future tests and exams.
- It helps you get accepted into the undergraduate or graduate program of your dreams.
- It encourages you to be more disciplined and develops your willpower.
- It enables you to practice key skills until you ace them.
- . It teaches you to collaborate with your peers.
- . It helps you learn from your parents in addition to your teachers.
- . It can help you find real-life applications for theoretical concepts.
- . It allows you to learn at your own pace, in the way that you prefer.
- . Some assignments let you develop your creative side.
- . Homework teaches you to be independent in your learning.
- . It forces you to leave your comfort zone when tackling challenging assignments.
- . It teaches you to learn and helps you acquire study habits.
- . It instills a sense of confidence in your abilities as you overcome challenges.
- . It helps you identify gaps in your learning and close them.
- . It enables you to expand your understanding of the material discussed in class.
10 Reasons Why Students Should Have Homework
Should assignments stay, or should they go?
Here are ten facts about why homework is good that the proponents of the former typically cite:
- It helps students achieve better SAT scores.
- It sets them up for better college enrollment chances.
- It enables them to acquire self-regulation and time-management skills.
- It’s beneficial for knowledge retention and long-term memory.
- It improves cognitive abilities and brain function.
- It can improve student engagement.
- It serves as a source of feedback for teachers.
- It develops research and critical thinking skills.
- It can establish connections between new material and already learned concepts.
- . It can teach students how to apply theory to practice.
Do Benefits of Homework Outweigh the Downsides?
As you can see, assignments have plenty of upsides, both in terms of academic and non-academic outcomes.
Homework has the potential to expand students’ knowledge on the subject, help them become more independent and productive learners, and improve their learning outcomes. It also teaches life skills like time management, autonomy, discipline, critical thinking, and so much more.
On top of that, assignments are a valuable tool for teachers as they help them see which students do great and which ones struggle with the material. And as for parents, assignments are an opportunity to help children develop their life skills and set them up for success later in life.
However, not all assignments are equally helpful – and not for all ages. Assignments can range from tedious math problems to interactive tasks that build on your inherent curiosity and pique your interest.
Too much homework isn’t just counterproductive for learning outcomes; it can also be bad for your health as it can be a source of tremendous stress and anxiety.
So, it’s impossible to say whether the benefits of assignments outweigh the downsides. It all depends on how much homework you’re facing – and what kind of assignments you get.
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While different studies have produced different results over the decades, the consensus is that the students who complete assignments score higher on standardized tests. However, beware when you see that fact among statistics on why homework is good: it rings true only for under 90-100 minutes of work a day.
The main reason why homework is good for students has to do with improved academic outcomes. However, that’s not the only reason. Assignments also help develop valuable life skills, such as self-organization, time management, critical thinking, creativity, and the ability to learn on your own.
While practicing certain skills is important, homework should encourage creativity, collaboration, and interaction. Effective assignments are thought-provoking and allow students to both revise learned concepts and find new applications for them in real life.
Yes. Despite all the reasons why homework is good, the concept itself was demonized in the early 1900s. California became the first state to explicitly ban assignments. In the 1930s, the United States classified homework as child labor on the federal level, effectively abolishing it.
Studies vary in their estimations of what constitutes too much homework. One frequently cited study suggests setting the cap at 1.5-2.5 hours of work per day for high school students and 1 hour for their middle school counterparts. Elementary school students should receive as little homework as possible.
Homework is a valuable study tool that benefits teachers, students, and parents alike. Students acquire a variety of life skills and better attain learning goals. Teachers can identify learning gaps among their students. Parents get an opportunity to get involved in their children’s studies and help them develop life skills.
While the reasons why homework is good are plenty, it’s not without its downsides. And if there’s one thing supporters and opponents of assignments agree on, it’s that both the quality and quantity of assignments can make or break students’ lives.
How much homework is too much continues to be a source of debate, however. A common rule of thumb is 10 minutes per grade per day, according to the U.S. National Education Association – but it’s not the only one.
As for quality, one study found that the majority of assignments are procedural and involve lower-level, repetitive work. However, as one of the researchers points out, “Assignments should be thought-provoking.”
