Session Information
11 SES 09 A, Quality of School Education
Paper/Ignite Talk Session
Contribution
The research question is: ‘How can homework impact on the independent learning of Year 10 students in English?’ I was interested in this topic because according to the renovated programme which we are working on in our school in Kazakhstan students are required to be more independent and self-regulated to be able to keep up with changing times. The State Programme of Education Development for 2011-2020, which is developed by the Ministry of Education and Science of Kazakhstan, aims to increase competitiveness of education, and develop the human capital through quality education. One of the programme goals is ‘the formation of an intellectually, physically and spiritually developed citizen of the Republic of Kazakhstan, who is expected to succeed in a rapidly changing world’ (Kazakhstan Programme 2020, 2010, p.3). To achieve this goal, the first and the foremost issue that we must overcome is aspiring to train them to be independent learners.
One of the ways to encourage learners to develop their independent learning skills might be linked to homework. The study sought to find the link between independent learning and homework via a literature review and by collecting the data.
To establish a link between independent learning and homework, it was useful to understand what the terms ‘independent learning’ and ‘homework’ mean. ‘Independent learning’ in most cases is associated with ‘self-directed learning’ (Knowles, 1975, p. 18), ‘ownership’ of learning (Meyer et al, 2008, p. 3) and with ‘being motivated to take responsibility for their learning’ (Holec, 1981, p. 3). Overall, independent learning is a combination of different ‘micro processes’ (Schunk and Ertmer, 2000).
Furthermore, it is widely accepted that the teacher’s role in enabling and encouraging independent learning is important because pupils might not gain the independent learning skills without support. Christenson and Anderson (2002, p. 35) claim ‘general classroom characteristics such as providing standards and expectations, opportunities to learn and promoting a positive climate affect a student’s ability to learn independently. What they found important is the strategy of tracking assignments for which learners should be trained to keep assignment books and a calendar. This research tried to seek the ways how teachers can encourage learners to become independent learners through different types of homework.
There is a debate among researchers such as Kohn (2007), Cooper (2006), Zimmerman (2005) and others about the negative and positive impact of homework; that is why homework is a controversial topic. Researchers mainly argue about the importance of homework and its diversified role in developing learners. Kohn (2006, p. 3) argues that ‘homework can make learning seem unappealing and frustrating’. In terms of decreasing children's motivation and taking family activity time it might be true. Nevertheless, Corno and Xu (2004, p. 125) regard that ‘homework helps students develop responsibility and life skills and provides experiential learning opportunities to learn to cope with difficulties and distractions’.
Homework may vary according to the age of the learners. Dufresne and Kobasigawa (1989, p.207) pointed out that ‘older students spent more time studying harder items and performed better than the younger students’. Therefore, Year 10-11 students were more likely to become independent learners, and this study attempted to scrutinize the impact of homework on them.
Independent learning in English is important because it ‘allows students to develop tenacity and initiative and encourages creative personal responses to the texts’ (English-GCSE, 2012, p.1). Conceivably, there are some characteristics that are inherent both to independent learning and homework.
The findings from this research will help to inform teachers how to guide students to do different types of homework and what resources they can use to help them become independent learners.
Method
The nature of work is practitioner research, and the specific approach is case study. Case study is a form of qualitative descriptive research that helps the researcher to find out the issue related to one single situation or a whole group of individuals and enables them to develop a deeper understanding of the problem (McLeod, 2008). The study attempted to find the interrelated connection between independent learning and homework and examined the contribution of homework on developing independent learning. Following the principles underpinning the guidelines, research was conducted within an ethic of respect for the people who were interviewed and questioned. In this project I used such research methods as questionnaires, interviews and a focus group discussion. 24 Year 10 students and four English teachers took part in the questionnaire. Four members of the senior leadership team were interviewed and there were 5 students in the focus group. A set of open-ended and closed questions were used to collect data. The questionnaire helped me to identify what kinds of resources they use in completing the homework and whether teachers have any role in encouraging the students to develop their independent learning skills. The focus group discussion conducted with the students enabled me to determine what independent learning skills they can develop while doing homework. What I noticed from the discussion about homework is that the amount of homework in English also plays a part in strengthening and inspiring them to develop certain skills. The interview helped me to ascertain what sorts of homework the students are usually set and how they cope with the given tasks. The descriptive statistics assisted me to scrutinize the data gathered when looking at the questionnaire. Key point coding was used while collecting key findings from the interview undertaken from the senior leadership team and to identify what Year 10 students thought about the link between homework and independent learning. I could locate, store, and retrieve key phrases and text passages in assistance with coding. Synthesising across the entire data enabled me to compare my data from the perspectives of teachers, students and school administration. Overall, the coding helped me to find some evidence in support of my research question.
Expected Outcomes
The results of the study show that there is a direct link between homework and independent learning. Homework can contribute to develop independent learning of Year 10 students in English in different ways: - By repeating, revising and practicing; - By learning from mistakes; - By doing it without teacher’s assistance; - By connecting what they learned in class with homework through research; - By revising and familiarising themselves with future questions; - By gaining confidence in doing homework; - By doing research and project work. Year 10 students will be able to develop some specific skills in English to become independent learners through homework. These include: - Reading comprehension skills; - Creative writing skills; - Develop to use linguistic techniques; - Consolidating analysis and literacy skills; - Analysing words, phrases and word choice; - Researching and inquiring skills. Year 10 students are old enough to understand the value of homework and they can do homework independently. They can develop their time-management and thinking skills, as well as self-management and inquiring skills when they complete homework by practising without teachers’ assistance and avoiding the mistakes they have already made. My practitioner research topic is one of the controversial areas of study that needs further investigation. Even though Cooper (2008), Zimmerman (2005), Corno and Xu (2008), Warton (2001) and many other scholars, have already undertaken a lot of research they still think that there is a lot more to discuss and solve. What I still want to know is how we can keep the balance between homework purposes. All the homework purposes are equally important. We cannot blame the teachers whose main homework aim is to improve exam performance, because the work of teacher is in many cases evaluated by the attainments of the learners.
References
Burton, N., Brundrett, M., Jones, M. (2014). Doing your Education Research Project, 2nd edn. London: SAGE publications Ltd. Cooper, H., Robinson, J. C., and Patall, E. A. (2006). Does homework improve academic achievement? A synthesis of research. Review of Educational Research, 76(1), 1-62. Cooper, H., and Valentine, J. C. (2001). Using research to answer practical questions about homework. Educational Psychologist, 36 (3), 43-153. Corno, L., & Xu, J. (2004). Homework as the job of childhood. Theory into Practice, 43(3), 227-233. Christenson, S. L., and Anderson, A. R. (2002). Commentary: The centrality of the learning context for students’ academic enabler skills. School Psychology Review, 31(3), 378-393. Deslandes, E. (2009). International Perspectives on Student Outcomes and Homework. London: Routledge. Hallam, S. (2004). Homework The evidence. Institute of Education, University of London: Bedford Way Papers. Holec, H. (1981). Autonomy in Foreign Language Learning. Oxford: Pergamon. in: Ivanovska, B. (2015). Learner Autonomy in Foreign Language Education and in Cultural Context. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 180 (2015), 352–356. Kohn, A. (2006). Abusing research: The study of homework and other examples. The Phi Delta Kappan, 75(1), 8–20 Kohn, A. (2007). Rethinking Homework. Principal, 86(3), 35-38 Lafrenière, D., Menuz, V., Hurlimann, T., Godard, B. (2013). Knowledge Dissemination Interventions: A Literature Review. SAGE Open, 3(3), 1–14. Maats, H., and O’Brien, K. (2014). Teaching Students to Embrace Mistakes. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teaching-students-to-embrace-mistakes-hunter-maats-katie-obrien Meyer, B., Haywood, N., Sachdev, D. and Faraday, S. (2008). What is independent learning and what are the benefits for students? London: Department for Children, Schools and Families. Schunk, D., H. and Ertmer, P., A. (2000). Self-regulation and academic learning: Self-efficacy enhancing interventions. in: Harvey, V., S., Chickie-Wolfe, L., A. (2007). Fostering independent learning. London: The Guilford Press. State Programme of Education Development in the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2011-2020. (2010). The Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Astana. Strang, J., Masterson, P., Button, O. (2007). How to Teach Learning to Learn in the Secondary School. Trowbridge: Crown House Publishing Ltd. Stern, J. (2009). Getting the buggers to do their homework. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. Warton, P. M. (2001). The forgotten voice in homework: Views of students. Educational Psychologist, 36 (3), 155-165. Xu, J. (2008). Validation of scores on the Homework management Scale for high school students. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 68(2), 304-324.
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