How do we make homework meaningful? - Ian Stonnell

Homework... long has it been the bane of many a teacher's working life - that annoying extra little bit of workload that so often feels like an add-on; something to do because we feel we should be doing it but perhaps not 100% sure why. And then when we set it... oh the battles it can create with those students who just don't get it done! It's understandable when some of us in the profession question the point of setting it at all!

However, this is probably going a bit too far. Instinctively we know there is a benefit to homework (there is), maybe what we need is just some convincing of what the benefit is, as well getting a better idea of what makes homework meaningful. Let's see what the research tells us.

At it's worse homework can be a barrier to learning.

Homework can make a significant difference to student outcomes

In 2015 research was conducted into the effectiveness of homework as a strategy to to improve performance in maths and science [Fernandez-Alonso et al. 2015]. In short it found homework made a positive difference to outcomes. Below are some further thought provoking findings:

1. Students who were set regular homework performed better compared to those who only received it occasionally.
2. Frequency of homework was more important than the amount of time spent on an individual piece of homework.
3. Students who completed there homework by themselves achieved on average 10% better than those who got help from their parents.
4. More time spent on homework did not necessarily mean better outcomes.

If students can't do the homework by themselves progress won't happen.

What makes homework effective?

Dylan William famously stated that 'most homework set is crap'. In Fernandez-Alonso' et al's, study they also acknowledge that a lot of homework set was inefficient and lacking in impact (i.e. overblown and too time consuming). Therefore, if we want the best outcomes from homework we need to consider what makes homework effective and efficient. Based upon Fernadez-Alonso's findings and other research by Vatterott we should think about the following questions when we plan and set homework:

1. What is the purpose? If it has none, don't set it.
2. Is it a good use of the time it requires to complete? If it's not, re-think it.
3. Is it something that students perceive as meaningful? If they don't know its meaning, have we told them?
4. Is it achievable - can students complete the homework without adult support? If they can't how can we blame them when they don't do it?

If the homework you plan has a positive answer to these questions then most likely it will be a motivational task that will have an impact and completion rates will increase.

Carefully considering why we set homework is the clear solution to making it meaningful.

The R&D group - A word from Ash Choudhury and Anna Walczynska 

In our first meeting we discussed the current state of homework practice across the school and acknowledged that whilst there were lots of great strategies taking place there were plenty of areas where things were not ideal. One of the main discussion points was what the main purpose of homework is - Is it about supporting memory and recall, rehearsing skills learnt in lesson, or a means to encouraging independent learning or research?

As a group we considered memory and recall to be the primary purpose, after all, knowledge should be at the core, although independent learning would be a positive side effect of the implementation of any homework strategy. Following our sharing of a range of memory recall strategies practitioners decided to draw on five that they felt could be useful models to base a sequence of homework tasks upon:

• Over-learning
• Spaced Repetition
• Retrieval practice
• Acquisition before application
• Interleaving
• Graphic/knowledge organizers

We will soon be planning and implementing some new homework strategies with these discussions in mind and look forward to letting you know what we find out.

If Denbigh staff have any questions feel free to speak to any member of the R&D group.

Ash and Anna

@ash_achoudhury
@AnnaWalczynska

Useful links:

• https://blog.innerdrive.co.uk/how-helpful-is-homework
• https://researchschool.org.uk/huntington/blog/homework-what-does-the-evidence-say
• https://blog.teamsatchel.com/what-makes-a-good-piece-of-homework
• https://time.com/4466390/homework-debate-research/
• https://content.ncetm.org.uk/itt/sec/KeelePGCEMaths2006/Research/Homework%20Research/ReportSusanHallam.pdf
• http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept10/vol68/num01/Five-Hallmarks-of-Good-Homework.aspx
• https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/edu-0000032.pdf

Cognitive Load Theory and its implications on teaching and learning - Ian Stonnell & Ian Hayden

What is cognitive load theory? It sounds complicated. Well it is and it isn't.

Put in its most simple terms cognitive load theory states that our brains have a limited working memory that can only process small amounts of new information from our environment. If we overload this working memory we are not going to be able to process it and therefore the new information will be forgotten.

A simple model of memory. The working memory is the part that we don't want to overload!

That's a problem for teachers. Today with the expectations of the new curriculum too often we teach at pace, overloading our students, and then wonder why they have forgotten everything we tried to teach them. We've all been there during exam revision when a class genuinely looks back at you with sincere eyes and say, "Sir, we can't ever remember you teaching us that topic". They probably aren't lying to you.

If we have overloaded our students working memory chances are nothing was ever learnt in the first place.

However, the implications of cognitive load theory can give teachers a wide variety of strategies to help improve teaching and learning and support long term memory. We discussed two avenues of inquiry - (1) How can we alter the way we present information to minimise cognitive load? (2) How can we aid the retrieval of prior knowledge to aid transferring knowledge into the long term memory?

Willingham's simple model of the mind.

General strategies could be:

1. When starting new concepts teach slow, accelerate later. 
2. Consider the knowledge you want students to remember in each learning episode.
3. Use explanation strategies that avoid overloading working memory and encourage connections with prior knowledge.
4. Tie any new learning to knowledge already in the long term memory.
5. Integrate retrieval practice strategies routinely into lessons to enhance student access to knowledge stored in the long term memory.

In our research group we discussed several specific strategies underpinned by cognitive load theory including:

1. The take home strategy (as demonstrated by Adam Boxer).
2. Knowledge organisers
3. Interleaving and spacing
4. Routine low stakes retrieval practice (including homework)
5. Explanation strategies e.g. dual coding/direct instruction/worked examples.

Off course cognitive load theory is a lot more complex than how I have presented it here, however, I don't want to overload you with too much unnecessary information! If you want to know more about cognitive load theory and any of the other strategies feel free to peruse some of the links below or search for yourself!

Cognitive load theory and applications:

• https://achemicalorthodoxy.wordpress.com/2018/10/25/simplifying-cognitive-load-theory/
• https://classteaching.wordpress.com/2019/02/27/cognitive-load-theory-what-to-do/
• https://www.cese.nsw.gov.au/images/stories/PDF/Cognitive_load_theory_practice_guide_AA.pdf
• https://twitter.com/impactwales/status/979024960059510784

Knowledge organisers:

• https://classteaching.wordpress.com/2018/09/14/using-knowledge-organisers-to-improve-retrieval-practice/
• https://my.chartered.college/2019/05/organising-knowledge-the-purpose-and-pedagogy-of-knowledge-organisers/
• https://www.teachwire.net/news/why-every-teacher-should-use-knowledge-organisers
• https://www.teachwire.net/news/how-to-create-the-perfect-knowledge-organiser
• https://twitter.com/olicav/status/1180547009255804929

Dual Coding:

• https://lovetoteach87.com/2019/05/02/examples-of-dual-coding-in-the-classroom/
• https://www.olicav.com/
• @olicav

Retrieval practice:

• https://www.retrievalpractice.org/
• @retrievelearn

Explanation techniques (based on understanding of CLT):

• https://teachreal.wordpress.com/2018/09/19/reclaiming-chalk-and-talk/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
• @EnserMark
• @atharby

Interleaving and spacing:

• https://impact.chartered.college/article/firth-spacing-interleaving-classroom/

Hope you find this helpful!

Ian Stonnell @DenbighCPD

Ian Hayden @IanHayden8

An experiment to develop the ability of students to ask meaningful questions - Shwab Choudry

Research and Development Focus
My focus was on passive and disengaged learners and I wanted to investigate the ability to challenge higher order cognitive thinking through questioning as a way to impact on passivity.

Questioning is perhaps one of the most vital adaptive skills to acquire for any individual. As defined in the Oxford dictionary, questioning is a matter which requires resolution or discussion (Oxford dictionary, 2017). If the right questions can provoke meaningful discussions pupils thinking and engagement can be supported. Therefore the effective use of questioning can help create challenges which can engage students as well as help students retain knowledge.

However, one of the problems which lay among students, is that many do not feel confident in asking questions. Other than the obvious reason that “questioning is a type of thinking some children find hard” (Board & Cross, 2014) it is in fact, the mindset of the pupils who get the impression that questioning irritates those who are in authority such as parents and teachers making them feel as if their questions are inappropriate to ask. It can be argued that students do not know how to ask pertinent questions and therefore this can act as a barrier between teachers and students (Schell, 1998). However, students have this notion built into them that asking questions can lead to embarrassment and the fear of being ridiculed (Schell, 1998). These could be some of the reasons to why a lot of the students are passive when it comes to putting their hands up to ask and answer questions.

How can we help students generate more meaningful questions?

Barriers to Student-Generated Questioning
There are many reasons why students are not encouraged to question. Teachers may need control and may feel pressure to cover established course content. If answering student questions takes too long, leads teachers away from their material, or requires teachers to enter content areas outside of their expertise, teachers may consciously or subconsciously discourage student-generated questioning.

Furthermore, some students have learned not to ask questions because those in authority such as teachers or parents have given the impression that questions are irritating or inappropriate. A history of receiving empty responses that are simply restatements of the question also inhibits students from questioning. In addition to prior experiences, students' decisions to ask questions are influenced by peer pressure, embarrassment, and fear of ridicule.

Not knowing how to ask pertinent questions can also act as a barrier. Natural inquisitiveness may be inhibited by current educational practices. Typically, students are comfortable asking nonacademic questions such as "What pages should we read in the book?" or "Will this be on the test?" but need guidance, time, and practice to develop their ability to use higher-level questioning. Students may also be accustomed to the use of questions from textbooks, student guides, and teacher guides in which experts identify problems and ask questions rather than having students doing so.

Intervention
I will be using a question grid which can support students to formulate questions during discussion activities. The grid has been structured to follow Bloom's taxonomy levels of questioning; acting as a classification system which assists teachers and students in recognising various levels of question asking. It is a 6x6 grid with the first 6 columns containing the questions who, what, when, why, where and how, and on the second part, there are six rows within a specific type of questions that prompts the user to ask different style of question. Inside the grid it gives an indication of how you might start a sentence with the question for example; ’when can it be….’ The further down the column and row the more challenging the question becomes.

An example of a question matrix that can be used to help students generate questions.

I will be using my year 10 business class as a sample group as it has a mixture of boys and girls with different cognitive abilities and contains several passive learners. I will use the resource with a plenary game called ‘tell me, show me!’. This game consists of students writing down a question on a piece of paper and at the back, they would write or discuss the answer to it.  Students will use the grid to manipulate their questions.

I hope that during this activity many of the passive students will engage with the question setting and the discussions that can follow.

Implementation and impact

1 = Not confident
5 = Very confident

At the end of the trial I gave a questionnaire to the pupils for them to respond to in order to identify whether or not they had found the resource useful and their confidence in using it. The students response was largely positive. However, a large proportion of the class responded with a neutral or negative answer. Through further discussion I found out that some students saw it as just another task not a resource that promoted thinking or engagement. In addition to this higher ability students reported that they already felt confident in formulating their own questions and the resource became irrelevant. Nevertheless, with the passive students it did provide a way for them to engage in meaningful discussions as it helped the majority of these students in becoming more confident in participating in group discussion. They also reported that they enjoyed the activity and thought it was a fun and engaging exercise.

Further Research:
I feel there is enough evidence to suggest that the use of my question resource can engage learners. I would like to continue to use the question grid in different learning situations and assess the impact on different groups such as passive learners or lower ability students.

Recommendations

• Questioning when used effectively can engage passive learners.
• Encouraging students to formulate their own questions, using a resource like the one I have used, can encourage meaningful discussion and therefore engagement in a task.
• Encouraging students to create their own questions also encourages independence and ownership over a piece of learning.

References
Denscombe, M (2010) The Good Research Guide, OUP
Kolbs learning theory (1984) cited online.(accessed 23.04.17)
Berger, W. (2014). A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas. New York: Bloomsbury.
Wiederhold, C., & Kagan, S. (2007). Cooperative Learning and Higher Level Thinking: The Q-Matrix. San Clemente: Hawker Brownlow Education.