Purpose

The purpose of the survey is to explore the attitudes and beliefs associated with
homework. When the notion of homework is tabled for discussion, the reviews by teachers,
parents and students are mixed. This survey will further that discussion from the student
perspective.
Target Population
The elementary primary (1-3) and junior (4-6) school aged students are the focus subjects
but the survey will be randomly administered to the junior population.
Introduction
The big debate, does homework help? The answer is for some yes and for others no. We
however will place our focus on the attitudes and beliefs that help generate the topic for debate.
If we make changes to our attitudes our beliefs will follow suit and the issue of homework may
cease to exist.
In the junior classrooms when a teacher announces at the end of the lesson, no homework, the
class erupts in cheers. The opposite, moans and groans are the sounds/responses when the
homework is assigned. Why is this? In the primary classes the students simply write down the
homework assignment in their agendas and move along. Do the junior students feel that the
concepts taught in class were sufficient? Does the teacher feel that the junior students need the
concepts reinforced? Are parents concerned that their children do not receive enough
schoolwork and employ the teacher to send more home? Those questions are all valid but for me
it comes back to the attitude. If we explore and understand the attitudes, we make it possible to
adapt beliefs that may lead to ways of enriching our learning experiences.

SURVEY ON HOMEWORK ATTITUDES AND BELIEFS

Please circle one number answer only for each question.

1.

I like to do my homework.

Strongly
Agree
5

2.

Agree

Neither Agree or
Disagree
3

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Agree

Neither Agree or
Disagree
3

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Neither Agree or
Disagree
3

Homework helps me to understand what Im taught in class.

Strongly
Agree
5

6.

Strongly Disagree

I do not care if my homework is completed.

Strongly
Agree
5

5.

Disagree

I do not like to do my homework.

Strongly
Agree
5

4.

Neither Agree or
Disagree
3

I care if my homework is completed.

Strongly
Agree
5

3.

Agree

Agree
4

Neither Agree or
Disagree
3

I can get help from my family if I do not understand my homework.

Strongly
Agree

Agree

Neither Agree or
Disagree

7.

Agree
4

Neither Agree or
Disagree
3

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Neither Agree or
Disagree
3

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

I care if homework is incomplete.

Strongly
Agree
5

9.

Homework does not help me to understand what Im taught in class.

Strongly
Agree
5

8.

Agree
4

I search the Internet to find the answers to my homework.

Strongly
Agree
5

Agree
4

Neither Agree or
Disagree
3

10. I dont care if homework is incomplete.

Strongly
Agree
5

Agree
4

Neither Agree or
Disagree
3

Please briefly provide a comment for each section.

1.

How do you feel about your teacher checking to see if you completed your homework?

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

2.

How do you feel about your parents checking to see if you completed your homework?

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

3.

How do you feel about students being disciplined for incomplete homework?

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

4.

How do you feel about students being rewarded for completing homework?

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

YOUR TIME AND PATIENTS IS GREATLY APPRICIATED IN FILLING OUT THE

SURVEY AND COMMENT AREA! THE RESULTS OF THIS SURVEY MAY FACILITATE
CHANGE IN EDUCATIONAL ATTITUDES.

Data Results

The Questions from the survey were separated into two categories. One category
consisted of positive question the other category was considered negative questions. The
numerical responses to the questions are also depicted below in each category.
Strongly
Agree
5

Agree
4
Positive Questions
Numerical Responses

Neither Agree or
Disagree
3

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

2
Negative Questions

Numerical Responses

1.) 4, 4, 3, 3, 4, 2, 3, 4, 3, 4

3.) 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1, 3

2.) 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 4, 4, 4, 5

4.) 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 2, 2, 1, 1

5.) 4, 3, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1, 4, 4, 4

7.) 2, 2, 1, 2, 4, 4, 3, 2, 2, 3

6.) 5, 4, 5, 5, 5, 4, 4, 4, 4, 3

9.) 1, 2, 4, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 3, 4

8.) 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 4

10.) 2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 4, 2, 1, 1

Comments
There were four sections for comments located at the end of the quantitative survey.
1.

How do you feel about your teacher checking to see if you completed your homework?

The overall response was positive and in favor of work being checked.
2.

How do you feel about your parents checking to see if you completed your homework?

The overall response was positive and also in favor of parental checks.
3.

How do you feel about students being disciplined for incomplete homework?

The majority of comments were in support of some level of discipline

4.

How do you feel about students being rewarded for completing homework?

The overall response was a split evenly in regards to reward and not to reward.

Analysis of Quantitative Data

The sample population for this survey was small but it does provide a simple window of
opportunity to analyze some of the attitudes and beliefs of the elementary junior grade students.
Given the use of the Likert scale, we will explore the mode of responses for each of the ten
questions asked. We will also explore the questions as groups broken down from the positive
and negative connotations listed above in our graphic organizer. The qualitative responses from
our comment section will be summarized in a more in-depth manner.
The following questions constituted the positive connotation list.
I like to do my homework. The answer that most occurred was Agree, followed closely
by Neither Agree or Disagree.
I care if my homework is completed. The most frequently appearing answer was Agree
with Strongly Agree as the only other response.
Homework helps me to understand what Im taught in class. The answer that most
occurred was Agree, followed closely by Neither Agree or Disagree.
I can get help from my family if I do not understand my homework. The answer that
most occurred was Agree, followed closely by Strongly Agree.
I care if homework is incomplete. The overwhelming response for this question was
Agree, with the only other response for Strongly Agree occurring once.
The following questions constituted the negative connotation list.
I do not like to do my homework. The frequently occurring response was Neither Agree
or Disagree, followed by Disagree.
I do not care if my homework is completed. The frequently occurring response was
Disagree, followed by a split between Neither Agree or Disagree and Strongly Disagree.

Homework does not help me to understand what Im taught in class. The frequently
occurring response was Disagree, followed by a split between Neither Agree or Disagree and
Agree.
This particular question posed a unique situation. The use of the Internet has become
commonplace if not a staple in everyday educational life. However, has it become so
commonplace that students are simply forgoing the steps of student deduction, investigation of
their textbooks and notebooks (for finding the answers) and opting out for just Google it. I
search the Internet to find the answers to my homework. The answer that most occurred was
Agree, followed closely by Neither Agree or Disagree.
I dont care if homework is incomplete. The answer that most occurred was Disagree,
followed by Strongly Disagree and one Agree.
The response and analysis from the quantitative data alone strongly suggests that the moans and
groans are coming from the students who were not part of this random selection and are possibly
in the minority when it comes to negatives attitudes towards homework. Let us take an in-depth
look at the qualitative data from our comments section.

Summarization of Qualitative Data

The first two topics of comments involved teachers and parents checking the
student/child(s) homework. The consensus was that the students dont mind if their parents
check their homework. The students explained that their homework was always done and
furthermore, their parents would gain some insight into what they were doing at school and could
help them if they made any mistakes.

The teacher was also welcome to check their homework, the majority of students were
clear when they said their homework is always completed. The students also stated that they felt
their completed homework enabled their teacher to see if the understood the concepts or required
help with what they were doing.
The last to topic comments involved rewarding students that completed their homework and
disciplining students that did not. Disciplining the students that did not complete their
homework was almost a unanimous decision form the survey population. It should be noted that
none of the population mentioned how their colleagues should be disciplined for incomplete
homework. However, while one student was of no opinion to discipline another felt that natural
consequences would suffice, since the homework is for the benefit of the student and not the
teacher.
Remarkably, there was a split in opinions towards rewards. Some of the students felt that no
reward was necessary and offered no further explanation, while the students who felt a reward
should be giving simply stated why but not how or with what. Reasons for why being rewarded
covered such areas as being an incentive for completing homework, and receiving recognition.
The cheers, moans and groans are all very real; the overall analysis and summarization of
our data suggests otherwise, where do we go from here? Perhaps, develop a policy that
incorporates some of the opinions discovered here. A larger sample population, a greater depth
of questions, more questions, the list is vast but one thing remains for certain the debate of
homework versus no homework and the underlying notions of attitudes and beliefs is far from
over.

Plan of Improvement
The fuel that keeps the debate of homework versus no homework alive is the attitudes
and beliefs towards homework. Eliminating the battle would be ideal, but we dont have
sufficient information to carry out that plan. We do however; have information to aid in
improvements. A school and classroom homework policy will aid in diminishing poor attitudes
and beliefs. The Policy would have to be put in place by the agreement of the school
administrator and the staff, allowing for classrooms level adaptations. In the classroom the
teacher can employ a base policy and then enlist the assistance of the students to determine what
type of homework goes home, the amount that goes home and when it is due back completed.
This idea comes from the approach when implementing rules around behavior and directly from
the survey administered. The survey has clearly depicted that the students possess opinions
worth sharing and investigating. A teacher, student collaboration on a homework policy would
help ease the feeling that teachers are piling on the work. Students would have ownership in the
policy and therefore could be held accountable in a way that just doesnt come across as teacher
versus the student. The expectations and predictability of when and why a student has
homework would play a much more positive role then the after lesson assignment of homework
routine/approach. The implementation of these suggestions is something to consider.