Why do we have such terrible evidence on homework effectiveness? (2022)

IMHO, education research and diet research suffer the same basic problem that different people respond to different approaches, but studies are looking for a single approach that works for everyone. They&#x27;re also hard studies to run because compliance is hard to measure at the timescales involved.<p>I&#x27;d love to see results more like these N methods will cover most people, and here&#x27;s what you can do to identify which method is best for a person, and how to switch. But also, in education, it&#x27;s not easy to provide multiple approaches for learning to different students in the same classroom, and it&#x27;s not easy to provide very small classsizes so that many approaches are available.

?<p>What is the purpose of the homework? What is homework? Is it literally just work? Does it take into account an individual student&#x27;s needs? If it doesn&#x27;t, then it&#x27;s pretty obvious why that would be ineffective. Not all people are the same and, as a result, not all work has the same effect. I&#x27;m sure somebody has thought about this before.<p>But honestly, this line of research kinda reminds me of the conversation over weight loss and calories. Have you tried eating less? Have you tried studying more? Are we waiting for formal research to tell us that putting in work might lead to better results? Yes, there are individual differences. But unless you know you&#x27;re an exception, you&#x27;re probably not. And it not being perfect doesn&#x27;t mean it&#x27;s not a good policy.

Is there any good evidence on how to structure learning really?<p>It all seems quite haphazard, to the point that even in the same school the same subject can be taught very differently depending on the teacher. Anecdotally, teachers seem thrown to the wolves regarding materials or what works best.

I thought there were studies indicated in Peak on structuring school differently. Thought there were indications from flight schools, but I can&#x27;t remember details. :(<p>I&#x27;m assuming none of those have held up?

&gt; Nobody Knows How Well Homework Works<p>Huh, interesting I actually did my graduation thesis on this when I finished my education degree. There is actually some well established literature about how effective homework can be. I wrote about it years ago on reddit: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;old.reddit.com&#x2F;r&#x2F;history&#x2F;comments&#x2F;jkt6l3&#x2F;no_we_really_are_not_going_to_do_your_homework&#x2F;gal5ovm&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;old.reddit.com&#x2F;r&#x2F;history&#x2F;comments&#x2F;jkt6l3&#x2F;no_we_reall...</a><p>Cliffs notes and sources:<p>- For homework to be effective teachers need to give it with a clear communicated goal and make sure to also discuss the work done is discussed afterwards to reinforce meaningfulness.<p>- There is a clear limit on the amount of time students can spend on homework before it starts to have diminishing and even negative returns.<p>- Ideally there is a school wide policy where teachers are aware of the amount of work other teachers give and make sure the combined work doesn&#x27;t exceed the threshold.<p>- Home situation matters a lot. tl;dr a clean quiet place to work is best.<p>- Parents role is important but not in the way they often think. The role of parents lies in &quot;facilitating&quot; the homework by, for example, offering the child a good place to study, helping to monitor time. However, parents have to be careful not to solve problems for their child.<p>All of these points need to be met in order for homework to have a reasonable chance of being effective.<p>* Cooper, H. a. V., J. C. (2001). Using Research to Answer Practical Questions About Homework<i>. Education psychologist 36</i>(3), 11.<p>* Donk van der, C., Lanen van, B. (2009<i>). Praktijkonderzoek in de school.</i> Bussum: Coutinho.<p>* Geerlings, T., Veen van der, T. (2008<i>). Lesgeven en zelfstandig leren.</i> (12e druk). Assen: Van Gorcum.<p>* Marzano, R. J. a. P., D.J. (2007). The Case For and Against Homework<i>. Educational leadership</i> <i>64</i>(6), 6.<p>* Marzano, R. J., Pickering D. J., Pollock J. E.(2001). <i>Classroom instruction that works: research-based strategies for increasing student achievement.</i> Alexandria, Virgina: ASCD.<p>* Neuwahl, N.M.E., Bogaart, P.H.M. de. (1989). <i>Huiswerk.</i> Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff.<p>* Rosmalen, M. van, Dam, J van, Struijk, A., Vermeer, E. (2009). <i>Wat maakt huiswerk nuttig?.</i> Master thesis. Utrecht: Instituut voor Lerarenopleiding, Onderwijsontwikkeling en Studievaardigheden (IVLOS).<p>* Trautwein, U. (2007). The homework-achievement relation reconsidered: Differentiating homework time, homework frequency, and homework effort. <i>Learning and instruction 17</i>(3), 372-388.<p>* Trautwein, U. a. K., Olaf (2003). The relationship Between Homework an Achievement - Still Much of a Mystery. <i>Educational psychology review 15</i>(2), 115-145.