Gender and homework management reported by African American students

The present study linked gender and grade level to homework management strategies and homework completion behaviours. The participants were 685 African American students in the south‐eastern USA, including 370 eighth graders and 315 eleventh graders. Gender appeared related to the majority of homework measures examined in the present study. Specifically, compared with boys, girls reported more frequently working to manage their workspace, monitor motivation and control negative emotion. In addition, girls reported that they were more likely to complete their assigned homework and were less likely to come to class without their homework. On the other hand, grade level (eighth graders vs. 11th graders) did not relate to homework management strategies and homework completion behaviours.     

Self-regulation of homework behaviour: relating grade,gender, and achievement to homework management

Abstract

The present investigation linked grade, gender, and maths achievement to homework management strategies using data from 305 Chinese students in grades 7, 8, and 9. These strategies included arranging the environment, managing time, handling distraction, monitoring motivation, and controlling potentially interfering emotion. A three-way MANOVA examined the effects of grade, gender, and maths achievement on homework management strategies. Grade or gender was not related to homework management strategies. Meanwhile, high-achieving students (compared with low-achieving students) were more likely to arrange the environment, manage time, handle distraction, monitor motivation, and control negative emotion.     

Middle‐School Homework Management: More than just gender and family involvement

The article links student and family characteristics, along with homework characteristics and homework purposes, to homework management as reported by 194 middle‐school students in Grades 5–6. The results revealed that homework management was not related to grade level, amount of parental education, time spent on homework, or extrinsic reasons for doing homework. However, girls and students who received family help reported more frequently managing their homework. In addition, homework interest and whether homework was a favorite activity were positively related to the use of homework management strategies, above and beyond gender and family help. Furthermore, intrinsic reasons for doing homework accounted for an additional, significant percentage of the variance in homework management, with higher levels of intrinsic reasons being positively associated with more frequent use of homework management strategies.     

Girls and mathematics —A “hopeless” issue? A control-value approach to gender differences in emotions towards mathematics

This study analyzed gender differences in achievement emotions in the domain of mathematics. Based on Pekrun’s (2000, 2006) controlvalue theory of achievement emotions, we hypothesized that there are gender differences in mathematics emotions due to the students’ different levels of control and value beliefs in mathematics, even when controlling for prior achievement. The structural relationships between prior achievement, control and value beliefs, and emotions were assumed to be invariant across girls and boys in spite of hypothesized mean level differences of beliefs and emotions across genders. The emotions and beliefs of 1,036 male and 1,017 female 5th grade students were assessed by self-report measures, and their prior mathematics achievement was assessed by academic grades. Even though girls and boys had received similar grades in mathematics, girls reported significantly less enjoyment and pride than boys, but more anxiety, hopelessness and shame. Findings suggested that the female emotional pattern was due to the girls’ low competence beliefs and domain value of mathematics, combined with their high subjective values of achievement in mathematics. Multiple-group comparisons confirmed that the structural relationships between variables were largely invariant across the genders.     

Homework in the Home: How Student, Family, and Parenting-Style Differences Relate to the Homework Process

Parents (n = 709) were surveyed about involvement in their child's homework. A factor analysis revealed three dimensions of homework involvement similar to those found in more general studies of parenting style. These dimensions are autonomy support, direct involvement, and elimination of distractions. A fourth dimension, parental interference, differentiated itself from autonomy support for students in higher grades. Two-thirds of parents reported some negative or inappropriate form of involvement. Parenting style for homework was then related to student and family characteristics and student schooling outcomes. Results indicated parents with students in higher grade levels reported giving students more homework autonomy and less involvement of all other types. Parents in poorer families reported less support for autonomy and more interference. Parents reported less elimination of distractions when an adult was not at home after school and, for elementary school students, when there were more than one child living in the home. Elementary school parents of males reported more direct involvement in homework, while high school parents of females reported more direct involvement. More parental support for autonomy was associated with higher standardized test scores, higher class grades, and more homework completed. More positive parent involvement was associated with lower test scores and lower class grades, especially for elementary school students. Student attitudes toward homework were unrelated to parenting style for homework. Stage–environment fit theory and conceptions of families as varying in resources to support children are used to explain the findings and draw implications for parent behavior and educational practice.     

Does homework behavior mediate the relation between personality and academic performance?

Past research has consistently shown that there is a relation between personality and academic performance, but much less work has focused on explaining this relation. The present study examined whether three aspects of homework behavior, namely homework time, procrastination, and learning strategies, mediate the relation between personality and academic performance, controlling for cognitive ability, track level, gender, and ethnicity. We investigated this in a nationally representative sample of about 9000 secondary school students in The Netherlands (average age 13 years). Results indicated that all personality traits were related to homework behavior, and that both personality and homework behavior were related to end-of-year grades in math and Dutch language. Nevertheless, homework behavior only partially mediated the relation between personality and grades.     

Chameleon effects in homework research: The homework–achievement association depends on the measures used and the level of analysis chosen

Using a data set specifically tailored to homework research, with a sample of 1275 students from 70 classes in Switzerland, the association between homework and achievement in French as a second language was tested at three levels (class level, between-student level, and within-student level). The strength and direction of the homework–achievement association depended on the homework indicator chosen and differed to some degree across analytical levels. At the class level, achievement was higher in classes set frequent homework assignments and in classes where students reported low overall levels of negative emotions when doing homework. At the between-student level, high individual homework effort and low levels of negative homework emotions predicted favorable developments in French achievement, whereas high homework time predicted lower achievement. At the intraindividual level, high homework effort, high homework time, and low levels of negative homework emotions were statistically significantly associated with positive student evaluations of the learning gains from the specific assignment.     

Perceived learning environment and students' emotional experiences: A multilevel analysis of mathematics classrooms

A multilevel approach was used to analyse relationships between perceived classroom environments and emotions in mathematics. Based on Pekrun's (2000) [A social-cognitive, control-value theory of achievement emotions. In J. Heckhausen (Ed.), Motivational psychology of human development (pp. 143–163)] social-cognitive, control-value theory of achievement emotions, we hypothesized that environmental characteristics conveying control and value to the students would be related to their experience of enjoyment, anxiety, anger, and boredom in mathematics. Multilevel modelling of data from 1623 students from 69 classes (grades 5–10) confirmed close relationships between environmental variables and emotional experiences that functioned predominantly at the individual level. Compositional effects further revealed that classes' aggregate environment perceptions as well as their compositions in terms of aggregate achievement and gender ratio were additionally linked to students' emotions in mathematics. Methodological and practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

Students' emotions during homework: Structures,self-concept antecedents,and achievement outcomes

In the present study (N = 553; 8th and 11th grade students; 52% female) we investigated students' enjoyment, pride, anxiety, anger, and boredom while completing homework (homework emotions), and contrasted these emotions with those experienced during class (classroom emotions). Both homework emotions and classroom emotions were assessed separately for the domains of mathematics, physics, German, and English. Our hypotheses were based on propositions of the control-value theory of achievement emotions (Pekrun, 2006), Marsh and Ayotte's (2003) differential distinctiveness hypothesis, and previous empirical findings. In line with our assumptions, observed correlations between homework emotions and classroom emotions suggested that the emotions experienced in the two settings should be assessed separately. Within domains, both homework emotions and classroom emotions showed clear linkages with students' academic self-concept and achievement outcomes, with self-concept being slightly more strongly related to classroom emotions. Between-domain relations of emotions were significantly stronger for homework emotions as compared to classroom emotions, likely due to the relative situational homogeneity of homework settings across domains. Further, between-domain relations for emotions in both settings were weaker in 11th grade students, whereas within-domain relations did not differ as a function of age. Implications for research and educational practice are discussed.     

Homework Goal Orientation Scale: Measurement invariance and latent mean differences across gender and grade level

The current study validated the Homework Goal Orientation Scale (HGOS) for secondary school students. Results revealed that HGOS consisted of two distinct but related subscales: mastery‐approach and performance‐approach. Given satisfactory measurement invariance, the latent mean differences were then examined across gender (males vs. females) and grade level (7th vs. 9th). Findings showed no statistically significant mean differences across gender and grade level. Finally, consistent with theoretical expectations, compared with performance‐approach, mastery‐approach was more strongly associated with homework effort, homework emotion regulation, homework completion, and math achievement.     

A follow-up study of high school students with a history of grade retention

The present study examines high school students with a prior history of grade retention (N = 38) compared to a matched control group of nonretained students. The retained students were lower on a number of scholastic variables (i.e., achievement, intelligence, grades), more often absent from school, and lower on three subscales of a self-esteem measure (the Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents). The authors explored the correlates of grade retained with the measured variables and found that the later a student was retained was associated with lower grades, less-positive school attitudes, less time on homework, lower educational expectations, more discipline problems, lower self-control, and a more external locus of control.     

A‐level Results in Comprehensive Schools: the COMBSE project,Year 1

Abstract

This analysis of A‐level English and Mathematics results from ten comprehensive schools in the north‐east represents some of the work done in the first year of a ‘school effects’ study entitled the COMBSE project ('Confidential, Measurement‐Based, Self‐Evaluation'). The project enables participating schools to compare their A‐level results with those of similar schodls. In an attempt to take account of differences in intakes to the schools, data were collected for a wide range of variables expected to relate to A‐level grades: prior achievement, socio‐economic status, class size, teacher characteristics and time variables such as time allocated and time reportedly spent on homework. However, once an index based on an average O‐level grade was computed, other variables contributed little or nothing to the prediction of A‐level grades.

Some findings ran counter to the general pattern of effects in the literature. For example, a negative correlation between time spent on homework and grades achieved, and smaller classes obtaining lower residual gains than larger classes in English, though not in Mathematics. Two issues were raised: is the 30% failure rate reasonable and should A‐level Mathematics be so much more difficult to pass than A‐level English?     

Quality of parental support and students’ emotions during homework: Moderating effects of students’ motivational orientations

Two studies investigated the relationship between, parental support, students’ motivational orientations, and students’ emotions during homework. It was assumed that intrinsically motivated students would feel better when parents provided much learning autonomy, while extrinsically motivated students would experience more positive affect when directive parental support was given. In study I, students (N=181) reported their emotions after having read two vignettes (autonomy-supportive vs. directive parental support). In study II, 38 students reported their motivation, the perceived quality of parental support, and their emotions after each of 21 homework sessions. Results of extreme group comparisons (intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation) partly supported the assumed Aptitude-Treatment-Interaction: Even when students’ academic self-concept was controlled, extrinsically motivated students tended to report more negative affect than intrinsically motivated students under autonomy-supportive conditions; for directive parental support, the reverse trend was discovered. Consequences for homework interventions are discussed.     

Students’ emotions during homework in mathematics: Testing a theoretical model of antecedents and achievement outcomes

The experience of pleasant and unpleasant emotions in academic situations is known to affect students’ learning. The aim of the present study was to extend previous research by examining the antecedents and consequences of student emotions in the homework context. Multilevel analyses of a longitudinal dataset containing 3483 grade 9 and grade 10 students in 155 classes showed that the perceived quality of the homework tasks assigned by the teacher affected students’ experience of unpleasant homework-related emotions. Moreover, the experience of unpleasant emotions during homework sessions was negatively related to homework effort and negatively predicted later achievement in mathematics.     

Early Identification of Student Performance and Effort Using an Online Homework System: A Pilot Study

Two distinct student groups, in terms of academic performance, were identified early in the semester as either being under-performing students or over-performing students using an online homework system. The students who are identified as under-performing received, on average, lower grades than their fellow students but spent more time completing the homework assignments. These students are great candidates for targeted advertisement of student resources such as tutoring services. The students who are identified in the over-performing student population received higher grades than their fellow students, but spent less time completing the homework assignments. These students are great candidates for honors programs, independent research projects, and peer-tutoring programs. Incorporating these evaluation criteria to online homework systems will allow instructors to quickly identify students in these academic student populations.     

Enjoyment,Boredom, Anxiety in Elementary Schools in Two Domains: Relations With Achievement

This study investigated the enjoyment, boredom, and anxiety of elementary school students and the relations of these emotions with achievement in two domains. Seven-hundred-and-sixty-seven second- and fourth-graders completed an adaptation of the Achievement Emotions Questionnaire-Elementary School (AEQ-ES: Lichtenfeld, Pekrun, Stupnisky, Reiss, & Murayama, 2012) assessing their emotions in their native language and mathematics. The hierarchical model of the instrument was invariant across countries (Italy, Germany, United States), grades, gender, and domains. Anxiety related negatively to achievement, while enjoyment related positively to achievement only in mathematics. Second-graders reported more enjoyment and less boredom and anxiety than fourth-graders. Overall, mathematics resulted in better emotions than native language. The results have implications for future research on achievement emotions in elementary school.     

Parental support and homework emotions in Chinese children: mediating roles of homework self-efficacy and emotion regulation strategies

The goal of this study was to evaluate a complex multiple mediation model linking parental support, homework self-efficacy, emotion regulation strategies (i.e. cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression), and homework emotions among Chinese children. Participants were 832 fourth and fifth grade students attending public primary schools in urban China. Measures of parental support, homework self-efficacy, emotion regulation strategies, and homework emotions were collected using self-report assessments. Results from multiple mediation analyses demonstrated that parental support indirectly predicted homework emotions through its positive associations with homework self-efficacy and cognitive reappraisal strategy. However, homework self-efficacy and expressive suppression strategy did not mediate the relation between parental support and homework emotions. Results are discussed with regard to the roles of homework self-efficacy and emotion regulation strategies in the links between parental support and children’s homework emotions. Educational implications are also considered.     

Attitudes toward Study Hall as Related to Grades

Abstract

The relationship between some selected attitudes toward study hall and the criterion of self-reported grades was investigated in a sample of 981 boys and 1019 girls, representative of the national population of high school students. Less time spent in study hall and more time spent doing homework outside of school were associated with better grades. Moderate amounts of time spent doing homework at school tended to be associated with better grades. Unfavorable attitudes and perceived unfavorable attitudes toward study hall were associated with better grades. Preference for serious studying at home was associated with reports of better grades. It was concluded that the better students did more homework; but study hall was neither the time nor the place of their choosing.     

Course grades and academic performance by university students: A two-stage least squares analysis

This study employs two-stage least squares to estimate an educational production function for university course grades. The dependent variable is grade for studenti in coursej. Explanatory variables include measures of student aptitude and ability, teacher and course characteristics, and student time allocations to academic endeavors. Results of the study suggest that (1) homework assignments, examinations, and use of a required text increase the time students allocate to a given course; (2) time allocated to a given course has a positive effect on course grade; (3) homework assignments, examinations, and required texts, while increasing time allocated to a given course, have negative effects on course grades; and (4) measures of high school performance, in the presence of controls for mathematical and verbal aptitude, are positively related to the time students allocate to university courses but have no significant independent effect on course grades.     

Predicting homework motivation and homework effort in six school subjects: The role of person and family characteristics,classroom factors,and school track

This study examines the determinants of homework motivation and homework effort in six school subjects at three levels: student level, classroom level, and school level. We hypothesized that several factors—including stable personality characteristics such as gender and conscientiousness, students' domain-specific homework motivation, and characteristics of homework assignments—have concomitant effects on student homework effort. The sample consisted of 511 students in Grades 8 and 9. Across all six school subjects, multilevel modelling showed that students' homework motivation and homework effort varied primarily as a function of their shared perceptions of homework quality and control (classroom level) and of their conscientiousness, individual perception of homework quality, and expectancy and value beliefs (student level). Domain-specific patterns were found for student gender in line with gender stereotypes. Cognitive ability, family background, and parental homework help or control were only loosely associated with homework motivation and homework effort.