Homework involvement and academic achievement in High School students

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. Homework has been shown to have a significant impact on the academic performance
of students from the last grades of Primary Education to the end of Secondary Compulsory Education. Although students' involvement with homework —the amount of tasks completed, time spent and time management— and their motivation —intrinsic motivation, perceived usefulness— would determine the quality of their learning outcomes, both factors would worsen as the students progress through their schooling. However, the analysis of this trend has not taken into account the Post-compulsory Education stage, where good grades are essential for accessing university. Therefore, the aim of this research is to see how academic performance varies according to the involvement and motivation of High School students towards their homework. METHOD. The School Homework Survey was applied to a total of 328 students in the two last High School grades to find out their degree of involvement and motivation towards homework
and their academic performance was measured in three subjects. RESULTS. The data show that students with a higher involvement with homework would, in general, have a better academic performance in High Hchool. Doing the tasks assigned by the teacher, taking advantage of the time they spend on it, and remaining intrinsically motivated when tackling homework would be conditions that allow us to differentiate between high and low-performing students. DISCUSSION. The homework-performance binomial maintains a positive relationship during the High School stage, so prescribing homework could still have an impact on student performance in this crucial Post-Compulsory Education stage. The results of this work suggest the need to pay special attention to aspects such as time management and learning at home.