Homework assignments to enhance student engagement in secondary education

Abstract

Secondary school teachers often complain that their students show a disengaged attitude in class. Students do not prepare for lessons, they show a passive attitude towards classroom activities and they have a limited awareness of their own learning process. Based on a pilot study, four homework assignments were designed, implemented, and evaluated to stimulate students to prepare for history lessons and subsequently show a more engaged attitude and involvement in classroom activities. Two groups of, in total 50, 11th grade students of pre-university education participated in one group pre-post-test design. Data on student engagement in class is gathered by class observation: time on task, their level of activity, and amount and variety of questions students asked. Students' motivation and perceived learning outcomes are measured by means of a self-report: Three of the four homework assignments (jigsaw, preparing analytical skills, and the fragmented assessment) showed increase in student engagement compared to the baseline of the first two classes. Implications for practice are discussed.Keywords Student engagement . Homework assignments . Activating instructions . Active students Studies have characterized high school students, in particular, as bored, staring out classroom windows, counting the seconds for the bell to ring, and pervasively disengaged from the learning process (Goodlad 1984;Larson and Richards 1991). Many teachers think that their students are disengaged in class and show little awareness of their own learning process. The mostly heard complaint is that students do not prepare for class as they make only little use of instructional materials, extracurricular activities and assignments, and Eur J Psychol Educ (2013) 28:767-779 DOI 10.1007 M. Buijs (*) University of Amsterdam, Hermelijnstraat 57, 6531 JW Nijmegen, the Netherlands e-mail: m.buijs@liemerscollege.nl W. Admiraal Leiden University, Wassenaarseweg 62A, 2333 AL Leiden, The Netherlands e-mail: w.f.admiraal@iclon.leidenuniv.nl feedback of teachers to learn outside school. This lack of engagement outside school also leads to a passive attitude in class: Students complete the minimum of exercises that is needed for their exam (Battin-Pearson et al. 2000;Jonassen and Blondal 2005;Allen et al. 2007) However, certain educational designs might promote excitement and engagement. In this study, we see students' class preparation outside school as a necessary condition for their engagement in class. The problem of this study therefore is how students can be encouraged to prepare class, not with the primary objective of gaining knowledge, but with the aim to become more engaged and active during the lesson. Student learning, engagement, and homeworkRecent thinking on teaching and learning has been influenced by several theories of learning, including behavioral learning theory, cognitive learning theory, and social learning theory, rooted in the works of Dewey, Piaget, and Vygotsky. Jonassen et al. (1999), in their constructivist approach...

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