[Maths-Education] Homework

[Dylan Wiliam]

Susan Hallam (when she was at the Institute of Education, and to where she
has recently, I believe, returned) wrote a review of the research on
homework with Richard Cowan:

Hallam, S. & Cowan, R. (1998, August) What do we know about homework? A
literature review. Paper presented at British Educational Research
Association 24th annual conference held at Queen's University Belfast.

I don't know if it was ever published elsewhere.

As I recall, its broad conclusion supported Peter Gill's hypothesis, namely
that of the three kinds of homework (preparing for future learning,
consolidating previous learning, or independent project), the most commonly
used (consolidating previous learning) is the least effective, while
preparing for future learning (ie what independent schools in the UK still
tend to call 'prep') was the most effective. However, all the effects were
vanishingly small. Getting students to do homework (and getting teachers to
mark it!) is just an incredibly expensive and generally unproductive
public-relations exercise.

Dylan

Dylan Wiliam                  School of Education
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