So, I’ve been seriously questioning the use of homework this year, especially after reading a large amount of Alfie Kohn over the summer. Last year, I had a large group of students who would not do the homework, despite parent interventions, tutoring, advisor interventions, and very lenient deadlines. Most of them did not do well on tests, either, and I found it easy enough to keep pointing to homework as a panacea… “If he would only do his homework, he would understand!”
This year, I have a smaller group that doesn’t do their homework, but they’re different. They’re nerds. They like math, programming, and science. They ask great questions in class, dive into problems readily, come up with really amazing intuitive solutions, explain things to their peers, and strike me as the type of students who really could excel in math or science. But they don’t usually get the homework done… and honestly, I can’t say that they need to. They don’t ace every test, but they care about math and seem to understand the material a lot better than their grades would portray because they’re being punished by missing homework.
There’s something wrong with this. If you observe my class, you would likely pick these students out to be some of the top students, but they’re not (in terms of grades). I think my need for “fairness” and “objectivity” has kept me from seeing before how that homework grade is really affecting many students in the wrong way. On the other hand, I have a small group of students who struggle in class but always do their homework, and their grades are overinflated as a result.
Sadly, my grades don’t seem to be reflecting what students actually know. Giving grades in general is something I also struggle with, but as long as we have to do it, I want the grades to mean something.
Some other great posts about homework that I’ve read recently make me think I’m not completely insane for wanting to give it up:
Tom Whitby: The Homework Option Plan
Dan Meyer: Why I Don’t Assign Homework
Shawn Cornally: Stop Grading Homework, Please
Math for Humans 