The Trouble with Homework by Annie Murphy Paul
Homework, at all levels of education, is now being examined with a scientifically critical eye. A new discipline called Mind, Brain, and Education is being implemented to see if it has any impact on how we learn through accomplishing homework. Certain techniques, such as "spaced repetition" and "interleaving", are proving to be superior to previous teaching practices for homework. Students who applied these techniques scored much higher on tests and retained the information longer.
I think that we can all relate to this article that I found in the New York Times. Typically for me, homework has often felt more like busywork rather than actual studying. Understanding the ways in which we learn could help future generations possibly even enjoy their education. Such a large part of learning and grading is placed on homework. If homework isn't improved, it will eventually effect everything from graduation percentages to how we evolve as a nation. Not be cliche, but children truly are the future - we have to improve education to further improve ourselves.
2 comments:
For some reason I couldn't make a post on the blog so I’m just going to post it here. Sorry about that.
This article writes that two studies were done to prove that music will enable us to stay mentally sharp. Both of the research shows that the group of the highly active musicians is superior to the others in terms of their spatial memory, processing speed and auditory memory. People who are involved in music (in any from including classical to pop) are training their brain for future developments.
I’ve played Piano for almost eleven years and I have to agree that these practices really improved my auditory memory and processing speed in various ways; I’m able to remember and sing the melody of a new song by just listening to it once or twice and be able to recognize and adjust my pitch/tone if I make a mistake when I sing.. It’s actually hard to explain the benefits that you’ll get from music; you’ll feel it once you get the experience. As the article have mentioned, buying and renting instruments can be costly, but with the access to the internet (especially Youtube) you can train your voice at home for free. “It’s never too late to start”.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/collections/201106/music-and-the-mind-or-music-and-memory/can-music-slow-down-the-aging-process
I agree with Christina about homework often being ‘busy’ work.
At my secondary school, we had a ‘homework’ timetable, which meant that each teacher could give homework on certain days, but not others. I think this made teachers think they had to give you homework on that day, even if there was nothing particularly useful to do. That is a perfect example of ‘busy’ work.
As well, as that aspect of it, because I have dyslexia, it would have been much more useful for me if the homework could have been in a different format, but most teachers give everyone the same homework, without taking into account different learning styles. If homework must be given, and many schools seem to have that belief, it needs to relate to the student and the curriculum in a meaningful way.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/11/opinion/sunday/quality-homework-a-smart-idea.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=the%20trouble%20with%20homework&st=cse
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