Students can spend multiple hours a night doing their homework. Teachers assign homework on google classroom or on paper because it allows extra practice, but how much homework is too much?
According to the National Center for Education Statistics an average of 6.8 hours of homework per week is given to high schoolers nationwide. Is all this homework actually worth it? According to Coopers Research, an institute that studies medical education, two hours per night is the optimal amount. After this amount students do not get any benefit. With those in sports and clubs, it can be hard to manage all of this. “This year has been very hard to manage all my homework because I am taking a lot harder classes. This week I have had no time to do any of my hobbies because I have been studying for tests and doing homework. I think the amount of homework you get really depends on the difficulty of classes you take,” senior Zack Fuchs said.
Going back to what Fuchs said, the classes you take definitely affect the amount of homework you get on a daily basis. According to Best Colleges, a platform that helps thousands of college students get their degree, AP teachers not only cover more material they assign more homework. Typically, you will also get a lot more homework in a math class as opposed to an English class.
AP math teacher Tammy Newbern said, “Homework is a crucial part of math education, especially with block scheduling. Math truly needs to be a daily class and block has taken that away from us. Math is not a spectator sport, you need to be actively involved in the process. You wouldn’t go out to play your football match Friday night without consistent daily practice of the plays – the same holds true for math. Research shows the brain grows when you are practicing the material; the first time when you make a mistake, and then again when your brain catches that you made a mistake and correct it. The most important part of learning is recognizing our mistakes and learning from them! I try to give the minimum amount of work I think we need to be proficient at a topic; some of that is in class where we can work with each other and talk to the teacher if needed and then some of that is independent practice. Ideally, when we have homework, I’m hoping that it gets done on the no-contact days, so that we are seeing the material every day.”
