Hi there. In this education post, I cover the topic of homework. I want to talk about homework as practice. My recent education posts are on the negative side. I want to cover a topic that is not too negative nor critical this time around.
Purpose of Homework
There is only so much time to cover material in class. Homework is designed to have students learn on their own, do readings and try out practice problems. Readings allow students to familiarize themselves with the materials that were either covered in class or soon to be covered in class. Practice problems allow students to practice solving word problems, do exercises to build skills and build memorization.
When it comes to the amount of homework, it can vary from subject to subject and between teachers. Some subjects tend to have lots of homework as a lot of work outside of class is needed to answer questions and/or do practice problems. There are some teachers who give too little homework and some teachers that give too much homework. The teachers that give too much homework may think their course is the most important and like to give homework as punishment or something. That is a different topic.
Practice Before A Test Instead Of During The Test
For subjects in the STEM field such as Science, Technology (Computer Science & Programming), Engineering and Mathematics, homework is crucial for practice. Practice in these subjects include building algebra skills to solve equations and problems, building memory and problem solving skills and being familiar with topics through readings.
It is important for students to put in the work and practice before tests and exams. Not enough practice usually results in poor scores in exams as the student may not be familiar with knowing what to do, the algebra skills may be slow or sloppy, and the speed may not be fast enough for completing the test.
As of late I have been thinking of homework as dance practice and tests like live performances. Dancers do a lot of dance practice to make sure they can do the dance moves. They also do practice to make sure that the moves look sharp and not sloppy. For dance groups, they also do a lot of practice to try to be in sync when they move together in some moves. Like tests, you get one shot at a performance. If you do bad, it looks bad but if you do well then the show looks good and you get praises.
There was one Youtube video I watched where the guy mentioned that you would rather practice at home before a test than during a test. It might have been the Youtube MathDoctorBob. I don't recall. Homework allows students to practice at work and be familiar with the course material. Knowledge gains through homework helps with recall and problem solving for tests, assignments and presentations.
