Date of Award

1984

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Education

Department

Education

First Advisor

Nancy Polette

Second Advisor

Jeanne M. Donovan

Abstract

Purposes of the Study: The purposes of this study were to examine the effects of two types of homework on the achievement level .of third graders in language and mathematics. Specifically, the study was designed to answer the question: Is there a significant difference in the achievement of students who have homework and those who do not have homework? Does the subject matter make a difference?

Procedures: In this study, twenty students from one classroom were randomly placed into two experimental groups of ten students each. Each experimental group was used as a control group for the other.

Both groups were taught in the usual manner using the school curriculum guides. Homework was issued each Monday through Thursday. The mathematics homework consisted of ditto sheets to practice computation, concepts, and application. The language homework consisted of ditto sheets to practice spelling, mechanics, and expressions. No classroom time was devoted to an explanation of homework; however, papers were graded each day with written corrections and comments. The approximate time spent each night doing homework, as indicated by parents, was thirty minutes.

The data were subjected to a t-test for statistical analysis.

Major Findings: Analysis of the data indicated that neither the homework practice nor the subject matter had a significant effect on the achievement level.

Analysis of the data led to non-rejection of the null hypothesis at the .05 level of significance. There was no significant difference between the experimental and control groups mean gain scores.

Recommendations: Further investigation of homework versus no-homework is recommended using more time for the study- -since small but insignificant gains were recorded. A study with more individualized homework practice is recommended. More time should be allotted to each skill area.

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