Too Much Homework?

This blog was originally created in part to talk about teaching and learning, so I thought I'd throw in a post or two on that topic. Here (Via Slashdot) we have a report on the correlation between the quantity of homework and the performance on an international standardized test. It appears as though more homework is not the answer to better performance. Shocking, and I thought making a student add 2+2 a million times would make them better at turning a fraction such as 1/2 into a decimal.

The interesting quote:

During the early 1980s, many U.S. schools and teachers ramped up their homework assignments, at least to younger children, in reaction to intense media focus on studies comparing the mediocre performance of American students to the industriousness of their Japanese counterparts. At the same time, ironically, Japanese educators were attempting to reduce the amount of homework given to their students and allow them more leisure from the rigors of schooling. Neither the American nor the Japanese educational reform of the 1980s seems to have affected general achievement levels in either country, according to the book.

Keywords: learning, Teaching, Homework