







Wonder why students literally working day and night begin to throw tantrums so often? Well, it’s that overabundance of homework they are burdened with. Hey, don’t give me that look; Education scholar Denise Pope is the one to propose that theory. Researchers have recently confirmed the theory, saying homework exceeding two hours adversely affects the lives of students. This is specifically true in case of their interaction outside school with friends and family.

The study published in the Journal of Experimental Education contained a sample of 4,317 students from top ten high schools in California. On average each of these students would spend 3.1 hours on homework every night. Researchers concluded that an overabundance of homework actually meant that the effectiveness of the task could no longer be retained; in fact, it would only hamper the learning process. Thus, it should only span ninety minutes to two hours.









The research team also learnt that those who crossed those limits experienced more stress, could spare much lesser to no time for family and friends and their health also deteriorated. As much as 56 percent students agreed with this correlation. This only convinced the researchers to conclude that any homework given to students should be purposeful and not feel like a chore. The need to spend time away from studies alone to develop interpersonal skills also needs to be acknowledged by schools.

So it seems like there might be some backing and reprieve for students who are bogged down by ‘too’ much homework. There’s no denying that homework is necessary for students to put to practice what they learn. However, there is also no doubt that there has to be some purpose to it rather than feeling like a box-ticking exercise. Let’s hope that corrective measures are taken by educational institutions in this regard in the near future.

More details at Phys

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