What future for digital homework: Literature review

Digital homework today is an observable fact of school practice, which resulted from the distance learning experience during the COVID-19 pandemic and the development of online platforms that provide EdTech products of this kind. Yet, not enough reflection of this issue has happened so far. The article attempts to summarise recent research on homework to answer the question: what kind of digital homework has the potential to improve teaching and learning? First, the article compares research findings on the effect of homework and homework-related teaching practices to outline deficiencies in three aspects of homework: the quality of homework, the quality of feedback, and autonomy support. Then it demonstrates digital homework variability using the SAMR model. Finally, the author suggests solutions for three named aspects of homework on different levels of the SAMR model. For homework quality, higher levels of technology integration bring new task designs and more complex learning objectives. For feedback quality, it means being able to collect and employ learning data which was impossible earlier. For autonomy support, it makes homework relevant to students’ goals and interests. Recommendations provided might be helpful for the design and development of new educational technologies, as well as for better use of digital homework in teaching practice.

Weekly Self-Ratings of Treatment Involvement and Their Relation to Symptom Reduction in Internet Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia

Background Treatment involvement, including involvement with written material as well as homework assignments, has previously been associated with better outcomes in cognitive behavioral therapy, but there is a lack of knowledge on which specific aspects of involvement that are the most promising for use as predictors of treatment effects. Methods The objective of this study was to use a battery of weekly self-rated questions regarding different aspects of participant involvement during 8 weeks of either guided internet cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (ICBT-i, n = 73), or an active internet-delivered control treatment also including homework (ICBT-ctrl, n = 75), to predict reductions in insomnia severity after treatment. The markers of involvement were single questions on amount of time spent on treatment, amount of text read, amount of subjective knowledge gained and index scores of homework quantity (based on ratings of how many times specific techniques were used) and homework quality (based on ratings of the understanding, used as intended, and helpfulness of each specific technique). Results While none of the markers predicted reductions in insomnia severity for participants in the ICBT-ctrl group, text read, subjective knowledge gain, and homework quality predicted larger reductions in insomnia severity for participants in ICBT-i. Amount of subjective knowledge gained was a particularly useful marker in the ICBT-i group, since weekly ratings from the first half of treatment sufficed to explain a rather large proportion of variance in insomnia severity post treatment (14%). Conclusions The results strengthen subjective knowledge gain as a candidate for use as a predictor of treatment effects in ICBT-i.

Investigating Factors that Influence Math Homework Expectancy: A Multilevel Approach

The present study investigated several clusters of variables influencing students’ math homework expectancy based on 3018 students in grade 8 in China. Results revealed that math homework expectancy was positively associated with homework quality at both the individual and class level. At the individual level, math homework expectancy was positively associated with prior math knowledge, parent education, homework interest, homework favorability, parent autonomy support, mastery-approach, and homework value. Meanwhile, math homework expectancy was negatively associated with homework time, parent help quantity, and performance-approach. Finally, compared with females, males tended to have higher math homework expectancy.

Homework in therapy: a case of it ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it?

It is argued, illustrated by a case example, that homework quality and end of therapy outcomes can be positively affected when ideas of compassion and attention to individual frames of reference are considered. It is suggested that by exploring the affect experienced when completing tasks and being mindful of client learning (i.e. the zone of proximal development), engagement and emotional connection with homework increase.

Reliability and Validity of Self-Efficacy for Learning Form (SELF) Scores of College Students

We studied psychometric properties of the SELF with 223 college students. The SELF assesses students' self-efficacy beliefs regarding their use of specific self-regulatory processes in various areas of academic functioning. To determine the validity of SELF scores, the following outcome measures were studied: perceived responsibility, homework quantity, and homework quality. In addition, students' grades, standardized test scores (SAT), and instructor ratings of students' self-regulated skills were investigated. Students' scores on both the original SELF and an abridged form of the scale (SELF-A) were found to have a unitary factor structure and high level of internal reliability. Interestingly, the SELF-A was superior in its prediction of all validity measures except the SAT, which was comparable for the two forms.

The Effect of Parent Participation in Strategies to Improve the Homework Performance of Students Who Are At Risk

The effect of teaching parents of at-risk students to facilitate a home-based self-management program to improve homework performance and academic achievement was Investigated. The parents of 26 sixth- and seventh-grade students from two middle school programs for at-risk youth received training and implemented home-based self-management and reinforcement strategies. Results indicated that overall levels of homework completion and homework quality increased significantly for those students whose parents consistently implemented the 10-week homework program. Significant increases in mathematics achievement also occurred. These results suggest that the practice of homework may be an important element of academic programming for students at risk and students with disabilities and that parents may play a primary role in the homework process.