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Homework Research Hattie: The Challenges and Opportunities of Assigning Purposeful Homework



At secondary level he suggests there is no evidence that prescribing homework develops time management skills and that the highest effects in secondary are associated with rote learning, practice or rehearsal of subject matter; more task-orientated homework has higher effects that deep learning and problem solving. Overall, the more complex, open-ended and unstructured tasks are, the lower the effect sizes. Short, frequent homework closely monitored by teachers has more impact that their converse forms and effects are higher for higher ability students than lower ability students, higher for older rather than younger students. Finally, the evidence is that teacher involvement in homework is key to its success.


I am currently in the process of looking into a whole school home learning policy and I would be really interested to read the work you did. I have been trying to read as much research into home learning as possible, but getting some actual data would be great.




homework research hattie




Very interesting thoughts. To say it has zero effect seems a bit far fetched for all students. It depends on the quality of the school and quality of life at home. I work with low income students who seem to not have much education at home. The homework the teachers send helps us evaluate where the children are and help increase their education even if the parents are not involved in their education. Children with strong support systems probably benefit by helping around the house more and being a great part of the community.


Homework that reinforces the application of skills and knowlegde already taught will prove to be purposeful. The time spent on homework must be in keeping with the concentration span of the child. It should not be an extension of the school day. 6 to 9 year olds learn best through play. Written tasks rob them of that opportunity to explore whilst developing valuable life skills.


The topic of homework definitely causes debate between educators around the globe and sometimes conflict between parents and their children. Homework in John Hattie's research has an effect size of 0.29. The debate is not whether we should give it or not but making sure that homework reinforces the learning. Check out these top ten tips from the teacher toolkit to remind you to set homework that is based on quality not quantity here.


A fair number of meta-analyses have been conducted on homework, spanning a broad range of methodologies and levels of specificity, as well as using effect sizes based on standard deviation or correlation coefficients. Some of the most significant studies are compared in my book (particularly those by Harris Cooper and colleagues as well as John Hattie), but I will further explain some of the less regularly cited studies below.


One finding to note was that time spent doing homework and its frequency were less impactful, in terms of effect sizes, than completion and effort, which had a larger effect. Interestingly, and unlike many other studies, they found that the attainment relationship in maths and science was stronger for elementary (primary) pupils than for middle school (KS3) pupils, whereas high school (KS4/5) pupils still showed a positive relationship. One suggestion put forward by the authors for the modest effect between homework and attainment for elementary pupils is that maths assignments were often short whilst other subjects were longer; this may account for differences with other analyses as their study focused on maths and science only. Lastly, the analysis also showed the effect to be more positive amongst US pupils than Asian pupils.


It is interesting that effect sizes do not increase for higher education, despite the assumption that older pupils are more inclined or willing to partake in homework. Nonetheless, the number of studies included here were quite low and included only 2 for the higher education settings.


Despite some mild discrepancies, all of the meta-analyses mentioned above suggest that homework impacts on attainment to some extent. Although the effect sizes for most are small, I do not think they should be discounted. Granted, we know that there are various competing variables affecting any straightforward conclusions here, but if these small effects are being detected, we must assume that homework is still a worthy pursuit.


For full disclosure I work with Hattie as a Visible Learning trainer, and I often write about his research here in this blog. Additionally, I present with him often, and read pretty much everything he writes because I want to gain a deeper understanding of the work. To some that may mean I have a bias, which is probably somewhat true, but it also means that I have taken a great deal of time to understand his research and remain current in what he suggests. I also left my job as a school principal which I loved very much, so I too have taken a great deal of time to look at his research through a critical lens, and I believe I see how it fits into our practical lens as building principals and teachers.


There Are No Shiny New ToysSlavin does bring up a point that Hattie often brings up. Hattie has always suggested that school leaders and teachers not simply go after those influences that have the highest effect sizes. In fact, in numerous presentations and articles he has suggested that schools get an understanding of their current reality and research the influences that will best meet their needs. He has additionally suggested that those leaders and teachers not throw out those strategies they use in the classroom, but actually gather evidence to understand the impact of those strategies they use.


The Teaching & Learning Toolkit focuses on impact; it presents an estimate of the average impact of homework on learning progress, based on the synthesis of a large number of quantitative studies from around the world.


This page offers a summary and analysis of individual Australasian studies on homework in primary and secondary schools. In contrast to the Toolkit it includes studies which do not estimate impact, but instead investigate the implementation of interventions and how they are perceived by school leaders, teachers and students. This information is valuable for school leaders and teachers interested in finding out more about particular examples of homework interventions that have been delivered in Australia and New Zealand.Two Australasian Research Summaries were generated by Melbourne Graduate School of Education in 2016 exploring feedback in primary and secondary schools and this page reflects the synopsis of the two original summaries.


Publications by Australian-based authors have examined the effect of homework on secondary student achievement globally, based on global studies (Hattie, 2008; Horsley & Walker, 2013). Nevertheless, the findings are broadly applicable and help inform the determination of impact for homework as a teaching and learning intervention.


One study by Falch and Rønning (2012) examined homework in OECD countries more broadly but included data for Australia and New Zealand. The study showed that homework was more extensive for mathematics than science. Schools in both Australia and New Zealand, on average, gave homework 50 per cent of the time.


In their book, Horsley and Walker (2013) included a systematic review of global studies on effective homework practices, most of which are American. They concluded that homework has a positive but minor effect on student achievement overall. There is no support for positive outcomes for students in the early years of primary school and very weak support for students in the higher grades of primary school (citing Cooper, 1989, ES=0.15). As students grow older, homework has a growing effect on achievement outcomes (ES=0.31 for the early years of high school, and moderately high benefits [ES=0.64] for students in upper high school). Homework in science and social studies had the highest effects while maths had the lowest. The authors also discussed motivation as a contributing factor in engaging students in homework activities. Student self-concept and beliefs around competence can also affect student effort in relation to homework. They highlight that homework activities need to be matched with individual levels of engagement and understanding.This review excludes articles based in an Australasian context already cited in the current version of the Toolkit.


Reality: Meta-analysis has shown that the amount of homework a student does in primary school has no effect on student achievement or progress. The research is not saying that there should be no homework, but if schools are going to set homework (which many parents expect) then the focus should be on the type of homework given. Homework does have more effect on results for secondary school children, but generally students are given way too much. A short time spent practising what was taught that day can have the same effect as one or two hours of study. Professor Hattie says what happens in the classroom is what matters most. Five to 10 minutes practising what was taught at school that day has the same effect as one to two hours studying something different. The worst thing you can do with homework is give young kids projects to do.


Reality: Most teachers talk between 80 and 90% of the time during a lesson. The research has shown that students are more engaged and learn more when teachers talk around 50% of the time, or even less. Evidence shows that children can learn very effectively from their peers; when another student explains concepts to them. The best teachers encourage their students to be active and engaged in the classroom, exploring ideas, and not just passively listening.


Few would argue the importance of feedback to increase student achievement even without having read the research from John Hattie. With an effect size of .73, Feedback is almost double that of the hinge point .4, making it an effective instructional strategy that is applicable across disciplines and grades. What is clear when distilling information regarding the what & how of effective feedback is that the components are similar in the research and theory but the variability lies in the inhibiting factors and culture of feedback in the classroom. 2ff7e9595c


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