Predicting students’ homework environment management at the secondary school level

The present study examined empirical models of variables posited to predict students’ homework environment management at the secondary school level. The participants were 866 8th graders from 61 classes and 745 11th graders from 46 classes. Most of the variance in homework environment management occurred at the student level, with classmates’ shared homework interest as the only significant predictor at the class level. At the student level, homework environment management was positively associated with learning-oriented reasons (i.e. doing homework for reinforcing school learning and developing a sense of responsibility), homework interest, family homework help, academic achievement and teacher feedback. On the other hand, homework environment management was negatively associated with the amount of time spent on television and peer-oriented reasons (i.e. doing homework for working with and seeking approval from peers).     

Gender and Homework Management Reported by High School Students

This study linked gender and grade level to five features of homework management reported by 426 high school students (setting an appropriate work environment, managing time, and controlling attention, motivation, and potentially interfering emotions). In addition, it linked gender and grade level to relevant homework behaviours and affective reactions toward homework. The results revealed that grade level (grades 9–10 vs. grades 11–12) did not relate to any of the above homework measures. On the other hand, compared with boys, girls more frequently reported working to manage their workspace, budget their time, and monitor their emotions. They also reported that they spent more time doing homework, were less likely to come to class without homework, and considered homework less boring.     

Middle‐School Homework Management: More than just gender and family involvement

The article links student and family characteristics, along with homework characteristics and homework purposes, to homework management as reported by 194 middle‐school students in Grades 5–6. The results revealed that homework management was not related to grade level, amount of parental education, time spent on homework, or extrinsic reasons for doing homework. However, girls and students who received family help reported more frequently managing their homework. In addition, homework interest and whether homework was a favorite activity were positively related to the use of homework management strategies, above and beyond gender and family help. Furthermore, intrinsic reasons for doing homework accounted for an additional, significant percentage of the variance in homework management, with higher levels of intrinsic reasons being positively associated with more frequent use of homework management strategies.     

Predicting homework time management at the secondary school level: A multilevel analysis

The purpose of this study is to test empirical models of variables posited to predict homework time management at the secondary school level. Student- and class-level predictors of homework time management were analyzed in a survey of 1895 students from 111 classes. Most of the variance in homework time management occurred at the student level, with parent education appearing as the only significant predictor at the class level. At the student level, the variation in homework time management was positively associated with self-reported grade, adult-oriented reasons for doing homework, learning-oriented reasons for doing homework, and student initiative in arranging the homework environment.     

Students' Perceptions of Interpersonal Aspects of the Learning Environment

This study examined variables associated with differences in students' perceptions of interpersonal teacher behavior. The perceptions of 3023 students and 74 teachers in 168 classes in seven secondary schools were used in the analyses. Investigating variance at the student, class, teacher and school levels revealed that several variables are significantly related to students' perceptions: student and teacher gender, student and teacher ethnic background, student age and grade, class size, grade level, subject taught and teacher experience. There were interaction effects between some variables, such as student ethnicity and student gender, as well as student and teacher gender. While significant, the amount of variance explained by these was low (around 10%). The outcomes generally confirmed earlier research, although some new effects were found. Perhaps the main result of the study was its verification of the complex and interactive nature of students' perceptions of the learning environment and researchers' understanding of it.     

Classroom Learning Environments in Urban Elementary,Middle, and High Schools

The purpose of the present study was to investigate student gender, subject area, and grade level differences in students' perceptions of their classroom learning environment. Over 13,000 students from 96 urban elementary, middle, and high schools that served predominantly minority students completed a modified version of the Classroom Environment Scale (CES) and the Instructional Learning Environment Questionnaire (ILEQ). Female students generally reported higher scores for their perceptions of the learning environment than did male students. There were very few differences by subject area, but there were many statistically and educationally significant differences by grade level. In general, middle school classes had less favorable perceptions of their learning environment than did either elementary or high school classes.     

College students’ homework and academic achievement: The mediating role of self-regulatory beliefs

The influence of homework experiences on students’ academic grades was studied with 223 college students. Students’ self-efficacy for learning and perceived responsibility beliefs were included as mediating variables in this research. The students’ homework influenced their achievement indirectly via these two self-regulatory beliefs as well as directly. Self-efficacy for learning, although moderately correlated with perceptions of responsibility, predicted course grades more strongly than the latter variable. No gender differences were found for any of the variables, a finding that extends prior research based on high school girls. Educational implications about the importance of students’ homework completion and its relationship to college students’ development of self-regulation and positive self-efficacy beliefs is discussed from a social cognitive perspective.     

Students' Use of Time Outside of School: A Case for After School Programs for Urban Middle School Youth

Students in 4 inner-city middle schools serving mostly (90.9%) economically disadvantaged, minority youth were asked how they spend their time after school and on weekends. Analysis of responses from 1583 students revealed that the vast majority did not participate in after-school programs (77.2%) or lessons of any kind (86.5%). Students reported extensive time spent watching television or hanging out with friends. Weekends presented a similar pattern of unstructured social activity with even more television viewing and considerably less homework. Four-way ANOVAs of 13 composite time measures for a week revealed no significant school differences, only 2 significant grade differences, but several interesting and highly significant differences by sex and by race. Implications for designing after school programs are discussed in light of the students' highly unproductive use of time outside of school.     

Course grades and academic performance by university students: A two-stage least squares analysis

This study employs two-stage least squares to estimate an educational production function for university course grades. The dependent variable is grade for studenti in coursej. Explanatory variables include measures of student aptitude and ability, teacher and course characteristics, and student time allocations to academic endeavors. Results of the study suggest that (1) homework assignments, examinations, and use of a required text increase the time students allocate to a given course; (2) time allocated to a given course has a positive effect on course grade; (3) homework assignments, examinations, and required texts, while increasing time allocated to a given course, have negative effects on course grades; and (4) measures of high school performance, in the presence of controls for mathematical and verbal aptitude, are positively related to the time students allocate to university courses but have no significant independent effect on course grades.     

Resilient and Nonresilient Hispanic English Language Learners' Attitudes Toward Their Classroom Learning Environment in Mathematics

This study examines resilient and nonresilient characteristics in mathematics among Hispanic students in a major metropolitan city located in the south central region of the United States. The study examined data from semistructure interviews of 118 resilient and nonresilient English language learners (ELLs) in 4th and 5th grade. The interviews focused on a variety of factors including: (a) individual attributes (e.g., students’ motivation); (b) school and classroom factors (e.g., satisfaction, involvement, and affiliation); (c) family factors (e.g., parent involvement in academics); and (d) students’ use of time (e.g., doing homework). Additional indicators that were examined include help-seeking behaviors and skills that allow students to cope with academic difficulties. Overall, the findings indicate significant differences between resilient and nonresilient students on academic performance and their self-efficacy on perceived mathematical abilities. Significant differences were also found in the home learning environment, indicating that resilient students receive more assistance at home on academic tasks than non-resilient students.     

Newcomer Immigrant Students’ Perspectives on What Affects Their Homework Experiences

ABSTRACT

The author examined how characteristics related to individual, family, and school environments contribute to immigrant students’ homework completion. Participants were 192 newcomers in an urban high school designed to serve English language learners. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted with data compiled from a larger project on role of homework in immigrant adolescents’ academic lives. The author found that students’ homework completion is shaped by (a) gender, engagement in school, homework environment and learning styles; (b) parental homework support and family conflict; and (c) perceived school violence and school homework supports. The effect of perceived school violence on homework completion differed for boys and girls. Boys’ homework completion was more adversely affected by higher perceptions of violence at school than that of girls.     

高中英语课堂环境与学习成果的关系研究

课堂环境与学习成果的关系一直是西方课堂环境研究的热点。本研究运用《中学英语课堂环境量表》作为测量工具,测量了高中生对英语课堂环境的感知与其英语学习态度和学习成绩之间的关系。研究结果表明:课堂环境是影响二语学习成果的主要因素之一,积极的课堂环境可以改善和提高学生的二语学习成果。课堂环境通过直接效应和中介效应共同影响二语学习成果,其中任务取向对二语学习成果的预测力最大。     

School membership among students with learning disabilities and nondisabled students in a semirural high school

School reform proposals have urged that schools provide students with an enhanced sense of community, especially for at-risk youth belonging, is thought to be crucial. Given their high rate of school drop out, school membership holds special relevance for students with learning disabilities (LD). Thirty-seven mainstreamed students with LD and an equal number of nondisabled (ND) high school students were compared on five dependent variables: grades, time spent on homework, Scholastic Competence, Global Self-Worth, and school membership. School membership was assessed by Goodenow's (1993) Psychological Sense of School Membership (PSSM) scale. ND students reported higher grades and more favorable ratings of Scholastic Competence, while groups did not differ significantly on time on homework or Global Self-Worth. Also, contrary to the author's hypothesis, the groups did not differ on the PSSM. These findings are attributed to either the small size of the school in which the study was conducted or to the supportive nature of special education (i.e., resource room). Future studies are required to understand the development of school membership among students with LD. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

国内四省区普通中小学作业情况调查研究

以自编问卷调查北京、山西、四川、澳门四省市的1、3、5、8、11年级学生连续1周的课外作业情况、作息时间及课外活动安排。调查结果显示:学生作业时间严重超标;学生作业类型单一,以记忆、背诵为主的巩固类作业为主;作业主要集中于语文、数学等主要学科,副科几乎没有作业;学生睡眠时间严重不足;中学生每日在校时间大大超过国家规定时间;学生课外活动种类少,室外活动时间偏少,时间安排不合理;学生的作业时间及课外活动时间与地域、学校类型及年级有较大关联,与学生的性别无相关。     

Attitudes toward Study Hall as Related to Grades

Abstract

The relationship between some selected attitudes toward study hall and the criterion of self-reported grades was investigated in a sample of 981 boys and 1019 girls, representative of the national population of high school students. Less time spent in study hall and more time spent doing homework outside of school were associated with better grades. Moderate amounts of time spent doing homework at school tended to be associated with better grades. Unfavorable attitudes and perceived unfavorable attitudes toward study hall were associated with better grades. Preference for serious studying at home was associated with reports of better grades. It was concluded that the better students did more homework; but study hall was neither the time nor the place of their choosing.     

Perceptions of the relevance of mathematics and science: An Australian study

This study examined students from schools mostly in Sydney and Wollongong (New South Wales, Australia). While the private girls' school used in this survey has had a very good record of girls staying on in physics, some of the public schools surveyed have had very low retention rates (and not only in the science and mathematics areas). This paper attempts to describe student differences in perceptions and attitudes and how these are related to gender and type of school. Additionally, students' perceived reasons for not performing well in mathematics and science were investigated.     

中学生学校疏离感现状调查分析

国外对学校疏离感的研究已经比较深入,而国内对其关注还较少。文章采用自编的学校疏离感问卷对大量中学生进行调查,结论如下:不同性别、年级、生源、学校所在地的中学生学校疏离感存在差异,其中,男生学校疏离感显著高于女生;初一、高一较低,初三、高三较高;出生于县市的学生无意义感较强,而孤立感显著低于出生于村镇的学生。最后,我们提出建议和改善措施。     

Interactive Influences of Perceived Social Contexts on the Reading Achievement of Urban Middle Schoolers with Learning Disabilities

This study examined the effects of social influences in the lives of an ethnically diverse sample of fifth through eighth grade students with and without learning disabilities (LD) using survey data and academic achievement scores collected in 19 Chicago public schools from 1993–1997. Similarities and differences in student perceptions of school, family, and peer group contexts were examined. In addition, longitudinal data were analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to identify contextual influences on changes in student reading achievement over time. Comparisons of student responses confirm and extend existing findings in the literature concerning the perceptions of students with LD of their social environments. In particular, having a learning disability was associated with consistent, mostly negative, effects on social relations across the contexts of students’ lives, regardless of gender, race, grade, and socioeconomic status. In addition, student perceptions of their friendship groups were found to have small, but significant, effects on their growth in reading achievement over the course of middle school. While students with and without LD had somewhat different views of their social contexts, the processes working within these environments appeared to affect their reading achievement in similar ways. The results suggest that careful attention should be paid to the social contexts of students’ lives when planning academic interventions.     

BACKGROUND CHARACTERISTICS AS PREDICTORS OF ACADEMIC SELF-CONFIDENCE AND ACADEMIC SELF-EFFICACY AMONG GRADUATE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING STUDENTS

This study uses data from the 1995-96 Graduate Experience Project to explore differences among, and possible predictors of, academic self-confidence, academic self-efficacy, and outcome expectations of entering graduate students in science and engineering. The results suggest that at time of entry, women and U.S. minority graduate students entered with similar academic credentials and academic expectations as their Anglo male peers. Further, gender was not found to be a significant factor in predicting academic self-confidence, academic self-efficacy, or careerrelated outcome expectations. Rather, student perceptions of academic preparedness, status-related disadvantages, and expectations about faculty/student interactions emerged as significant predictors of academic self-efficacy and career-related outcome expectations.     

Homework practices and academic achievement: The mediating role of self-efficacy and perceived responsibility beliefs

The present study investigated the role of students’ homework practices in their self-efficacy beliefs regarding their use of specific learning processes (e.g., organizing, memorizing, concentrating, monitoring, etc.), perceptions of academic responsibility, and academic achievement. One hundred and seventy-nine girls from multi-ethnic, mixed socioeconomic status families residing in a major metropolitan area of the United States were studied in a parochial school that emphasized homework in the curriculum with more than 3 h of work assigned daily. Path analyses showed significant paths (a) from homework experiences to the girls’ self-efficacy for learning beliefs and their perception of student responsibility for academic outcomes, and (b) from these two academic beliefs to the girls’ academic grade point average at the end of the school term. The implications of these findings for future research and school policy will be discussed.