2008 Woodie Awards
OPINION: Homework should emphasize quality over quantity
Erika Prins, Staff Writer
Issue date: 11/13/07
Last Updated: 11/16/07
Being overwhelmed with school is, at this point, to be expected. But should we be challenging the amount of, and type of, assignments we are given in courses?
Most of us have big long-term projects to work on. But a couple hours of reading (for which there will be a quiz in class), a Core essay, and the rough draft for that paper… all due tomorrow?
“I feel like I’m so overwhelmed and I feel like I can’t do really well in any of my classes,” junior history major Ashley Thalmann said. Thalmann transferred to Whitworth this fall.
Even though she chose to take a light course load her first semester here, Thalmann feels swamped.
Professor and author David Kember has found that students that feel overloaded tend to take a more surface-level approach to their learning. He also argues the flip side: students feel more overwhelmed by the quantity of work if the teaching approach encourages a surface-level approach.
In other words, quality, not quantity, counts with coursework. Given the right “teaching and learning environment,” students can do more work without feeling like it is too much, according to a study done by Kember.
“Students themselves believe they are taught most effectively (that is, they learn best) when what they are taught is perceived as interesting and relevant, is presented in a well-organized, clear and coherent way, openly and with enthusiasm, is assessed appropriately, and when there is not too much of it,” Ellie Chambers of the Institute of Educational Technology said, summarizing a study on workload and the quality of student learning.
Compare a Core 150 paper to, let’s say, a research paper with a topic we have chosen. The Core paper, for most of us, is a matter of memorizing and spitting out information. We have been given a formula and must plug in a number of terms to arrive at the solution: our grade that has little to do with whether we are actually using our brains.
On the other hand, some of the research papers I have written have completely changed my outlook on important issues.
“Students are prepared to work long hours for courses which are well designed and well taught – though there is a limit. Piling on the work will eventually become counterproductive as students resort to short cuts and undesirable study approaches to cope with excessive demands,” according to Kember’s report.
For example, you spend a couple hours reading for a class. You get to class and hear a dry lecture regurgitating what you read last night, almost verbatim.
“Why, again, did I read?” you ask yourself.
Most likely, you have read because you had to take a reading quiz. You got a 6/10, because you made the mistake of thinking about the concepts rather than copying the “correct response” out of the book. Your classmate who didn’t read got a 10/10.
Now you are in class because of the attendance policy, not because you are learning anything new.
This is by no means the overall educational experience at Whitworth.
“Some of it’s busywork, but then some of it, I really learn...It’s a lot more analytical thinking,” says Thalmann, comparing her experience at Whitworth to her time at other colleges.
But if, in one class, we are so swamped with “surface-level” assignments that just make sure we are learning key words and concepts, we do not have the time to research ideas that interest us in another class.
One class like this can drain our time and energy so that we compromise the quality of more worthwhile assignments that require us to challenge our current outlook on issues.
Of course, our own commitment to our studies impacts how we feel about our classes as well. But if we are exhausted by piles of homework for a course that is not engaging, perhaps we should challenge how it is being taught.
Erika Prins is an opinions columnist and a senior majoring in International Studies and Spanish. Contact her at erika.prins@whitworthian.com.
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