Homework is for losers.

[Sanctum]

I recently got my progress report for AP Euro and my averages were: 92% for Test, 95% for Quizzes, 90% classwork, and 19% homework. Overall this got me a D+ if im not mistaken the purpose of homework is to prepare for quizzes and test and so on, so if im Acing all of these test and quizzes why should my homework matter, and why is my homework grade weighted to heavily?

 

[Words]

Why do you expect the convention to be rational?

btw, i had low scores for my tests, quizzes and especially, homeworks but received perfect grades nonetheless. My institution is not as unreasonable.

 

[Minuend]

Well, learning gradually and repeatedly ensure the information sticks better to your memory. Cramming before an exam or test makes you forget in a very short time. Perhaps those who get good grades on homework also remembers better. And some students need to have deadlines or they don't work at all. So I suppose it increases grade average.

Well, I have some slight difficulties with deadlines and small tests. I am not always able to study in those brief periods of time before an assignment or a small test, but I always know enough to pass exams. Little use if they don't allow you to take the exam due to failed assignments :/

 

[EyeSeeCold]

I recently got my progress report for AP Euro and my averages were: 92% for Test, 95% for Quizzes, 90% classwork, and 19% homework. Overall this got me a D+ if im not mistaken the purpose of homework is to prepare for quizzes and test and so on, so if im Acing all of these test and quizzes why should my homework matter, and why is my homework grade weighted to heavily?

That's weird. Usually homework counts for less than or equal to 25 percent of one's grade.

It's probably because it's an AP class, and homework is one way to determine the amount of effort a student puts in.

 

[Cheeseumpuffs]

AP Lang/Comp -
Writing assignments (In class timed writes) = 94%
Literature/Reading assignments (the homework) = 36%
Attendance/Participation = 127%
Overall grade = 80%

AP Physics B -
Science Journal (in class) = 90%
Labs/Investigations (Homework) = 37%
Tests = 101%
Overall Grade = 72%

These are my two classes where it's the most pronounced but yeah, I have the same issues. Homework is completely ridiculous to grade for any substantial points. Mastery of the subjects should come long before effort put in.

 

[EyeSeeCold]

AP classes are in line with college prep classes, where it's not just about your education but fostering the discipline needed to succeed in college.

 

[kora]

I spent all of last year getting yelled at by teachers and stubbornly refusing to do work. I was predicted D's ad C's but ended up getting A's and B's, plus top marks in philosophy because I was so interested in the lessons themselves. I think I do the necessary work during lessons by listening and taking it in. So yeah, homework is for losers. Or people who aren't that interested in the subject in the first place maybe. I HATE HOMEWORK

 

[Vrecknidj]

...if im not mistaken the purpose of homework is to prepare for quizzes and test...

There's your mistake.

The purpose of school, and homework, isn't what you seem to think it is. The purpose is to promote compliance.

I've been a teacher for more than 20 years, fighting the system from within. I know of which I speak.

Dave

 

[Hadoblado]

The development of habitual time management skills is valuable. I spent all of primary school, highschool, and college (which is basically yr 11 & 12 in Aus) rebelling and getting my non-compliant rocks off. Come university, I am a stressed out wreck because 95% of the work is assignments completed in your own time.

 

[Words]

Well, learning gradually and repeatedly ensure the information sticks better to your memory. Cramming before an exam or test makes you forget in a very short time. Perhaps those who get good grades on homework also remembers better. And some students need to have deadlines or they don't work at all. So I suppose it increases grade average.

Homework is not the only way to ensure information sticks in. And what if a student has a great memory already? The system does not account for these things.

It's probably because it's an AP class, and homework is one way to determine the amount of effort a student puts in.

Effort and/or discipline is only useful only when it produces results, and is considered as useful because it often does. But continuously slamming your head unto a locked door won't open the door. Effort does not necessarily lead to success. The system does not account for these things.

The development of habitual time management skills is valuable. I spent all of primary school, highschool, and college (which is basically yr 11 & 12 in Aus) rebelling and getting my non-compliant rocks off. Come university, I am a stressed out wreck because 95% of the work is assignments completed in your own time.

Does knowing how much time you need to do something in relation to other things given a certain time limit really need "development"?

And Isn't a bit circular? Homeworks are for developing habits for doing more homework?

 

[Dapper Dan]

And Isn't a bit circular? Homeworks are for developing habits for doing more homework?

No, homework is for getting you used to doing mindless paperwork all day.

You want my advice? Knock the stuff out as soon as you get it. Especially in college. Otherwise you'll just put it in that folder and it'll never come back out.

Also, don't aim for a career that includes a lot of mindless busywork. That should be obvious though.

 

[Hadoblado]

Circular? You learn habits when you don't need them so that you have them when you do. By time management skills, I not only mean the planning phase, but the grindstone phase as well. Dealing with procrastination, motivation, and unproductive rationalisations is not easy for me, although I'm not completely convinced learning habits at a younger age would have helped me either.

 

[Words]

No, homework is for getting you used to doing mindless paperwork all day.

Still quite "circular." Mindless paperwork is the same thing as homework.

Circular? You learn habits when you don't need them so that you have them when you do. By time management skills, I not only mean the planning phase, but the grindstone phase as well. Dealing with procrastination, motivation, and unproductive rationalisations is not easy for me, although I'm not completely convinced learning habits at a younger age would have helped me either.

I don't understand why you have to psychologically condition yourself. If you have to do something (because you value something), then you just do it. Why do you need to practice for that?

 

[Hadoblado]

People do not necessarily work like that. I do not want to do the work in front of me and dumping it on my future self's plate is one way of avoiding it. Who knows? I may not feel so rubbish tomorrow, which could make the hard yards less painful.
If people acted strictly in accordance with goal oriented motives then there would be no procrastination, which, while being irrational, is still an existing behaviour in otherwise rational people.

 

[RockinLollipop]

I got a 69% in my Earth Science class in middle school because I didn't do the homework. I got a perfect 100% on the midterm exam, highest grade in all the Earth Science classes, and I still have yet to understand why I had to do homework if I already obviously understood the material. Also, I kept loosing my homework because my binder was a mess and things kept falling out of it.

Homework is not the only way to ensure information sticks in. And what if a student has a great memory already? The system does not account for these things.

I completely agree, but then again it wouldn't be very efficient to try to take into account the needs of all types of students, so I guess they're only trying for the most common types.... This makes me wonder how common the students who don't do homework but still get good test scores are, because based on that there should be reason for a change in the system.

 

[nanook]

since i couldn't learn short term, if i wanted to, i always had to learn along with the lessons or i would fail the test. learning 'along' didn't stop me from forgetting everything i learned in school, three years after school. the way i see it, school is not about downloading something into your brain and keeping it. it's about proving that you can master a school situation. you may break that down into tasks like "understand the test questions" or "work after school diligently and produce verifiable results on time", i think "knowing what has been taught last year" may be a tiny part of it, occasionally, but it's the whole package. just be a good student. if you don't make homework, you may only work while someone is watching over your shoulders. if you are not a good student, you may not be a good citizen. and school isn't about education, it's about creating a mixed-classes society and filtering out the willing. and it works. it's all very rational. doesn't make it wise.