The debate on whether homework is necessary at all is still raging among educationists. But assuming that it is a necessary evil, here are tips for making homework interesting to students:

For you, the teacher, the key to success in homework are three-fold: what you assign, what you do with the assignment and what guidance you give parents for assisting their children.

Here are some tips:

1. Assign only a reasonable amount of homework. Studies suggest that primary school students should have brief and undemanding work. Middle school students should have no more than 1-2 hours of homework a day. Homework for students in higher classes (class 9 and above) should depend more on what specific strengths or weakness each student displays rather than on time.

2. If students are given a choice, they tend to respond better. Therefore it makes sense to split homework into two components – ‘required’ and ‘voluntary’. Higher order learners might want to attempt voluntary homework and this may help avoid boredom for them.

3. For middle schoolers, if you assign a kind of homework that expects students to search for information sources online, mention at least a few key sources (URLs) and ask them to find a few more. Wikipedia is a great source for most topics but remember, the authenticity of information needs to be re-checked since anyone (not necessarily the experts) can contribute to it.

4. Make your policy clear to students on: what will be accepted, when it will be accepted and in what form the students should turn the homework in. Tip: Accept homework turned in late. If a student habitually turns in homework late, only then you may want to find out the reasons and talk to the student or parents.

5. Never use homework as punishment (“do this because you have behaved badly”). Or waiving of homework as a reward (“no homework today for you because…”). Such practices will diminish the value of homework.

6. The more innovative the homework, the better would be the reception among students and parents. Here are some examples of innovative ideas:

Compose five sentences summarizing the information discussed in class today (any subject).

• Develop five word problems and solve each one. The problems will be given to your classmates (math).
• Write a paragraph describing your activities after school today. Then write a paragraph about what you wish you could do tomorrow after school (language arts).
• Listen to the weather report on the TV or radio tonight and summarize in writing what the prevailing conditions are and what to expect tomorrow (science and language arts).

The learning experience of students in K-12 years can be enhanced if homework is made a part of many methods a teacher uses to foster learning with understanding of content. When planned carefully and well, homework surely adds value to the learning experience.