Module 1
February 6th, 2017
Part One: Research
In education, teachers are (or rather, should be) constantly researching new information; be it in regards to furthering their own personal studies, new information to incorporate into their syllabus and individual lesson plans, or how to best serve their diverse classroom. Having research literacy allows teachers to spend their time and efforts on only the most beneficial information, instead of trying to sort through ineffective or irrelevant content.
Many very effective assignments given to students require outside research. Furthermore, if the teacher assigning the homework is proficient in finding information and related data, they are more likely to engage with their students about how best to do so as well which, in turn, will lead to better informed students.
With the vast amount of information available to us, as teachers, we have the ability to always incorporate fresh content and appeal to different points of view. A teacher who is consistently researching new methods and pedagogy is less likely to fall into a rut or stale routine. Teaching students with current events and new information mixed into classic methods can also allow students to make real-world connections with new knowledge acquired in class.
Another benefit of having information available to teachers is the wide support network. Problems within the classroom likely have been written about and have a plethora of workable solutions. There are many forums where professionals can write about and discuss experiences and issues they encountered and the ways in which they were handled.
Part Two: Homework Discussion
In doing research for my bibliography assignment, I have concluded that assigned homework may or may not be effective for a number of reasons.
4. Too much homework can be detrimental
These reasons aside, I don’t believe that removing homework completely is the best course of action either. I believe that ensuring that students are being assigned quality work, can still benefit the student. By avoiding what students may believe to be “busy work” and keeping assignments short and to the point could also work to keep engagement and ensure completion for a wider range of students.
Sources
Peer reviewed research articles for support:
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1. Sarah Klinger | March 15th, 2017 at 11:19 pm
I agree that homework should be of good quality. Instead of giving students a lot of busy work to do it is better to give them less homework that is beneficial to the student’s learning. I liked the four reasons why homework is bad, but i would like to add onto one of those reasons some more. You said a student may come from a household that lacks parental control over their student’s education. I agree with this but I think it is also important to recognize that the students may not have the necessary materials at home to complete their homework as well. The parent might be very engaged in their student’s education but they simply cannot afford the necessary materials. Overall, I really enjoyed your post.