–              Neetin Agrawal, Senior Vice President, SuperTeacher

Homework has remained one of the most important aspects of a child’s learning process ever since the formalization of education across the world. Be it to understand a concept better, or to manage time effectively, homework has found credence among the majority of the population. Teachers have long used homework as an effective tool to strengthen the students’ study skills, as well as to enhance their learning time.

However, it is important to understand that every student is unique and possesses a different learning need. Hence, teachers should introduce some additional changes while assigning homework tasks. SuperTeacher brings you 3 such ways which can be used by the teachers to plan and assign homework differently.

Make Homework Accommodative

While assigning homework tasks, teachers should make sure that they make necessary modifications to it, on the basis of a child’s learning skills and needs. Teachers should strive to identify practices that will help students individually and bear the potential to increase their learning outcomes and motivate them.

Some major modifications that teachers could introduce are:

• Conduct personalized discussions: This shall help the teachers in understanding the learning needs of the students better.
• Avoid humungous assignments: Too many tasks, in the beginning, might demotivate them.
• Alternate responses: Allow them to submit alternative responses, such as audiotape recordings rather than written responses. The flexibility of completing homework will avoid redundancy in the task, rather making it more interesting and fun.

Ensure Clear Communication

According to research, homework accounts for one-fifth of the time spent by students on academic tasks. Despite that, students complete such study assignments in environments that are beyond a teacher’s control. Many students might face difficulties in completing the assigned tasks due to a lack of guidance when they get stuck.

Hence, teachers should ensure that they are able to communicate their expectations clearly. Students should also be informed about the homework policies, best practices, probable difficulties they could face, etc. right at the beginning of the process. Moreover, teachers could also connect with the parents to inform them about the best ways to help the children in completing their after-school tasks.

Teach Basic Study Skills

According to a study, teachers believe that homework problems might get aggravated due to a lack of basic study skills. Young learners, at times, might not be aware of the right way to approach the task assigned to them. For instance, students might struggle to access the right resources to refer to while completing their homework.

Similarly, students might lag behind in time management skills. Hence, teachers should provide a brief list of the right learning resources for students to refer to. Moreover, teachers can help build up time management skills among the children by giving them some valuable tips on concentration. They could set out a definite timetable and work on completing the task within the stipulated period, rather than simply sitting with the assignment for several hours.

Conclusion

Homework as an instrument for effective learning could be beneficial if enhanced to meet the needs of the students. It is important to ensure that the individual needs of the students are factored in while assigning them homework assignments.