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Making homework count

By Stephanie Hirschman

October 8, 2024

Homework and independent study can make a massive contribution to students’ progress, particularly when classes don’t meet daily, or students aren’t living, working or studying in anglophone environments. There are several issues to consider when setting homework.

Why students are doing homework is a fundamental question which can cover a wide spectrum of reasons. The most obvious is that it offers both teachers and students a chance to check on learning and identify areas for further review and consolidation. Exam preparation courses make use of homework to consolidate and accelerate learning and deliver results. Finally, some institutions require teachers to set homework and some clients, for example parents, believe that a course with homework offers better value for money.

Whatever the reason behind setting homework, be clear with students about how they’ll benefit from the assignment, how to do it effectively, how long they should spend on it and how it will be marked.

The homework that many people expect from a language course is “more of the same” exercises, that is, those that offer extra opportunities to practice grammar or vocabulary from the lesson.

It is also possible to bring in practice from other online or print sources, but this can sometimes be problematic, especially for lower levels. Make sure that the resource you choose maps onto the lesson content without placing extra demands on students, for example, by introducing a completely different context or topic with unfamiliar vocabulary to practice a grammar point. You also need to make sure that terminology is consistent – students who are expecting to practice present continuous may not recognize that it is also called present progressive. With lower levels, go over the instructions and/or demonstrate one of the exercises so they know how to get started.

It's worth mentioning here that flipped learning may also be a useful approach to homework. This is where students preview part of the lesson plan (like a reading or listening task) or research a general topic independently before class in order to maximize opportunities for communicative activities during the lesson.

Other types of homework include semi-controlled practice of target language. Students could write personal sentences including vocabulary items or grammatical structures from the class – note that they may need training to do this. A sentence like, “The milk went off,” is not as effective for learning as, “We had no milk for the coffee this morning – it went off because we didn’t put it in the fridge last night.” You may wish to provide some question or example prompts as support.

An unusual and motivating type of speaking homework is a personalized bingo game. Students create their own bingo card, which might be a 4x4 grid. In each cell, they write a key word or structure from the lesson that they wish to practice during the next few days. They carry the card around in their pocket, and every time they use an item of target language, they can tick it off, aiming to complete a line. This is especially suitable for students who are living, working or studying in anglophone environments. Teachers can monitor progress regularly and even offer small prizes.

The question of what teachers actually do with homework also has multiple possible responses, which will depend on the teaching context. At one end of the spectrum, if there is good buy-in from the students, teachers may only need to point them towards a selected set of “more of the same” exercises and make sure the answers are accessible for self-checking. Make it clear that you welcome questions if anything isn’t clear and test regularly to check understanding.

Whatever choices you make about homework, here’s one final tip. It’s best to complete assignments the day after receiving them and not on the same day. Research on spaced repetition shows that reviewing information after around 24 hours, “just before you forget it,” is the most effective way to boost retention.

Adapted from: https://www.linguahouse.com/blog/post/makinghomework-count

Acesso em 25/10/2024

Read the text below to answer question

“To read these books, in this way, as an exercise in self-knowledge, carries certain risks. Risks that are both personal and political. Risks that every student of Political Philosophy has known. These risks spring from the fact that philosophy teaches us, and unsettles us, by confronting us with what we already know. There is an irony: the difficulty of this course consists in the fact that it teaches what you already know. It works by taking what we know from familiar unquestioned settings, and making it strange. [...] Philosophy estranges us from the familiar, not by supplying new information, but by inviting and provoking a new way of seeing.

But, and here is the risk, once the familiar turns strange, it is never quite the same again. Self-knowledge is like lost innocence; however unsettling you find it, it can never be 'unthought' or 'unknown'. What makes this enterprise difficult, but also riveting, is that Moral and Political Philosophy is a story, and you don't know where the story would lead, but you do know that the story is about You.”

Text taken from: “Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?” Introduction Class ― Michael Sandel

Text 1

Companies know how we think

Companies can now find out exactly how you think through the science of neuromarketing. Advertisers are currently collaborating with scientists to test their products directly on our brains. Some experts believe that one in ten TV commercials have already been designed using neuromarketing.

The reasons are obvious.The technique allows companies to discover exactly what people like about their products. For example, when we eat a type of potato chip, it may be the color, the flavor, or the pleasant noise it makes when you crunch it in your mouth that we like most.

In order ................ tap into what’s going ................ in consumers’ brains, it all begins laboratories and office buildings.

Groups of volunteers submit themselves to a simple process. Wearing a special headset called an electrode cap, they watch commercials or test products. The caps allow researchers to monitor brain activity. When something attracts the attention of the volunteers, this is highlighted on a computer. They literally use this device to read the minds of their volunteers. This may sound a little scary, but advertisers are just tapping into our existing thoughts and desires. And that’s what advertisers have always tried to do.

Previously, companies would give people a survey or questionnaire to complete in order to research their customers. The problem was that people didn’t always tell the truth. They may not want to be critical of a product or advertisement because they don’t want to upset the interviewer. The electrode cap overcomes this problem. It shows when someone really is interested in something.

Neuromarketing is also used to develop packaging for the world’s most famous brands. The aim is to make their products stand out in a busy marketplace. This will become standard as more companies capitalize on the technology. With millions invested in advertising, companies simply cannot afford to hope that their ads and products will be a success. If they can find out what we think first, and change their products to make them more successful, they will quickly pay off the high cost of neuromarketing and dominate their market.

Too many third graders can’t read this sentence

9 Feb. 2017- Editor's Picks

Two-thirds of U.S. third graders face challenges that will impact their future, including academic struggles that could lead to dimmer academic and career prospects. Sadly, only one in three U.S. students demonstrates reading proficiency at the end of third grade. This has alarming consequences for these children, and for our country.

A report released today from the Business Roundtable (BRT) sheds light on this troubling trend in American education, and advises business leaders on how they can help put more children on a path to success.

(...)

I’ve heard it said that before third grade, students are learning to read, while after third grade, they’re reading to learn. Grade three is a critical crossroads in a life's journey. If you’ve read this far, then you understand why this is so important. Not enough of our young learners can say the same.

I encourage you to read the BRT report. As you read, please consider ways to help our schools and our teachers keep students on paths to bright futures.

Leave your comments below

Michel Jonas

Really, all I read was blabla wa wa wa. Are you Charlie Brown’s teacher? If we can't understand our children who are crying out for help and direction, then there is something wrong with you. Please go back and check yourself! They are worth so much more.

Rick Shire

Thanks for sharing. With two young children, I increasingly think about the importance of early childhoodeducation. Pre-k care is far too inaccessible, ultimately magnifying inequality from the earliest stages of life.

Tom Franks

What exactly is education? Academic education doesn't make someone a better person or even a better employee, I would guess that anything we learn in the education process is at the most 10% useful to us as people. Education should teach academia but also life skills such as budgeting, EQ skills, languages etc., all the elements to be a successful person and not necessarily a successful professional.

(Adapted from https ://www.linkedin.com)