The effect of explaining the meaning of formulas in homework tasks on 10th gradestudents' test performance and their use of learning strategies

• Autores: Eriko Ota
• Localización: Psicología y educación: presente y futuro / coord. por Juan Luis Castejón Costa, 2016, ISBN 978-84-608-8714-0, págs. 1545-1553
• Idioma: inglés
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo
• Resumen

  • In the last few decades, it has been proposed that deep processing (e.g., understanding and explaining the meaning of knowledge) is important for robust learning (i.e., long-term retention and transfer). Rosário et al. (2013) argued that the way teachers teach influences students’ approaches to learning (i.e., deep or surface approach). However, compared to the effect of lessons, little is known about the effect of homework tasks on students’ learning. This study addressed the question of wheter it is enough to focus on the use of deep approaches to learning only in lessons, or if we should also pay attention to homework design. Through a quasi-experiment, I examined the effect of homework tasks that prompted students to explain the meaning of mathematical formulas. In the treatment group, 10th-grade students (n = 42) were assigned explanatory tasks in all 10 lessons and in half of their homework tasks. In the control group, other students (n = 42) were not assigned explanatory tasks at all, but were instead assigned drill practice tasks as homework. About one month after the treatment, participants took a post-test that asked them to recall and explain the meaning of formulas and to solve some transfer problems. A mixed-design ANOVA revealed a main effect of the Range of questions (i.e., whether the explanatory homework was assigned or not in the treatment group) and a Range × Group interaction in the transfer problems. Post-hoc tests showed that the treatment group students scored significantly better in the questions of specific contents that they had explained twice through lessons AND homework. Moreover, the result of the students’ questionnaire responses showed that the treatment group students used less surface strategies during the experiment. These results suggest the importance of carefully designing not only classroom lessons but also homework.