U of A education expert weighs in on how to get more out of homework

Learning how they learn best should be a key objective for students, says a University of Alberta expert.

According to education expert Greg Thomas, when it comes to homework, quality is better than quantity.

Thomas is a professor with the faculty of education at the University of Alberta. He said what kids learn is important, but how they learn is too – and it's time to reconsider what's being assigned.

"The guiding thing for me has always been how are we preparing students for a very fast-changing world where they have to have good dispositions and lifelong learning skills?" Thomas said. "And where does homework fit into the development of those types of skills?"

Thomas is an expert in metacognition, which is the act of stepping back to understand why and how you're doing a task. He said that understanding how and why learning happens can help teach students the lifelong learning skills they will need in an increasingly demanding job market.

"We all know that down the track we're going to have to learn new things to be able to actually manage our survival in the changing world society that we live in," Thomas said. "We now see a growing emphasis on microcredentials, online courses, continual upgrading, which 20 or 30 years ago wasn't that necessary but certainly is today."

So, as pressures on students mount, Thomas said schools should consider how homework can be used to benefit students in and out of the classroom.

"We still need to remember that they're going to grow up to be people, not all of them are going to go to university, and we want them to have that more rounded outlook on life," he said.

Thomas said homework works best when it's properly scheduled, serves a clear purpose and comes with well defined expectations. And, it should serve the needs of all students - like those without study space or internet access at home.

For example, some schools have schedules to ensure students only get as much homework across subjects as they can handle, rather than random assignments piling up across classes.

There is also the option to have after-school study zones which can ensure access to a study space, internet and help from a teacher.

And extracurricular activities and a social life are just as important for students as curriculum, Thomas added, teaching lifelong communication and interpersonal skills.

"If a student is getting three hours of homework a night, they might come to resent that because it's stopping them doing (other) things," Thomas said.

"What we really want is to try and seek that ideal balance point in between the demands of formal education and the really important life skills and attitudes that they develop outside the classroom."

A 10-year study by Challenge Success found homework to be a common stressor for middle and high school students and determined there was little evidence that homework for elementary students improved achievement in most subjects.

Thomas said he hopes homework can become a tool to teach students to do more than just assigned tasks, adding it should be part of a broader educational objective to engage students in what they are learning, teach them thinking skills, self motivation, independent learning and other beneficial attitudes and strategies.

"I know that these things work in schools," he said. "I know that once teachers start talking to students about how they learn stuff, the students can actually improve how they learn things."

"Two or three minutes is all it needs in a lesson and if every teacher in school does it, then you create a tsunami of change."