I give lots of homework, even in college, for several reasons.
1. Students need incremental practice on things and homework allows for that.
2. Students need recursive practice on things and homework allows for that.
3. Homework grades allow for a few blown days, but show whether a student is consistently strong.
However, I may be rethinking this idea–and not just because my students don’t like so much homework and I spend a lot of time grading.
USA Today‘s College Section had an article on the negative effects of homework.
The experiment followed 10,000 students around the world, and found that those burdened with homework actually achieved lower scores.
…
Smit and Jason Kuster, a Case Western Reserve University sophomore, gave their proposals for homework reform:“I think homework that served almost as a mini-quiz of what was taught in class that day might be a good exercise in memory retention.†Smit said.
“A system in which I learned some of the material outside of class, had it reinforced in class, and had any issues cleared up then would really work for me.†Kuster added.