Programme 382, Thoughts on Homework (4-12-19)

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney.

This week's podcast is a solo episode in which I riff on the topic of homework. Your feedback and thoughts on the topic and on the podcast are welcome as always.

Among the topics mentioned on the podcast are the following:

• Is time spent on school homework a good return on investment?
• Overview of podcast
• Why teachers give homework
• The Goldilocks principle and setting tasks for students, both in class and for homework
• Why research on homework can be problematic
• Lessons from research that can help children benefit from doing homework
• The “Matthew Effect” in homework
• Acquiring the habit of doing homework
• Image of rider, elephant and path from the books Switch and The Happiness Hypothesis. I also drew on ideas from Atomic Habits in the podcast.
• Questions to ask your child about homework
• Teaching your child strategies for doing homework
• How teachers can make homework more interesting for children
• When parents and teachers provide contradictory information for children
• Study strategies teachers can teach children