no homework graph

• Teaching Resources
• Accessing Math Content with JAWS and Fusion
• Using the Amazon Kindle App with JAWS

Desmos Online Graphing Calculator

The Desmos Graphing Calculator is a free online math tool widely used by teachers and students to plot equations and learn math concepts. Use it to plot data, graph functions, evaluate equations, and create classroom activities. Additional information can be found on the Learn Desmos page.

Desmos is accessible with the JAWS screen reader and can be used with refreshable braille displays. Visit the Desmos Accessibility page to learn about the built-in accessibility settings and to configure JAWS and Fusion .

Graphing Functionality

The Desmos Graphing Calculator is a versatile tool with extensive graphing functionality. Here are a few examples of tasks you can perform and the steps to complete them. Visit the Learn Desmos Graphing page for additional details and resources.

Create and Explore a Graph

For a smoother experience, Desmos suggests turning off character echo and setting forms mode to “semi”. Settings may change with future JAWS updates.

To create and trace a graph, do the following:

• Visit the Desmos website then locate the graphing calculator .
• Write one equation per line in the edit boxes provided— “expression 1”, “expression 2”, etc. The graphs will be immediately displayed.
• Press ALT+T , then H to trace a graph. An audio trace indicator will play.
• Use the arrow keys to explore the graph.
• Press ALT+S for a summary of the points of interest. This summary is available either within or outside of trace mode.
• While in trace mode, press TAB to navigate through those points of interest. Sometimes you will need to press SHIFT+TAB to hear them.
• Press ESC to exit trace mode.

To Adjust Graph Settings, do the following:

• From the edit box, press TAB twice to navigate to the graph settings menu, then press the SPACEBAR to activate it. Available adjustments include:
• Display size
• Reverse contrast
• Braille mode
• Grid or no grid
• Cartesian grid
• Axis numbers
• Minor grid lines
• Show or hide x-axis
• X-axis label
• X-axis minimum
• X-axis maximum
• X-axis step size
• Same options for y-axis
• Angles radian or degree measure
• Press ESC to exit graph settings.
• Press TAB to zoom in/out if needed.

To create a Table of Values, do the following:

• Navigate to edit boxes.
• Press SHIFT+TAB twice to navigate to the “edit expression list button” and execute it by pressing the SPACEBAR . JAWS should indicate “edit list mode” is on.
• Press TAB three times to locate “convert to table” and press the SPACEBAR .
• Press TAB to navigate through the table values. Do not use table commands.
• To find a specific value, press TAB or DOWN ARROW to a row with a blank edit box and type the value you wish to find. Press TAB to hear the resulting value.
• To return to the graph, press SHIFT+TAB until JAWS speaks “undo.” Press the SPACEBAR to activate the button.
• Clear the graph and all expressions by pressing CTRL+O . You are now ready to start a new graph.

Create and Explore a Graph Video Tutorial

Compare Graphs

Understanding the properties of graphs is critical because it will make problem solving easier both in advanced course work and in employment. Desmos allows for comparing graphs in sequence or analyzing a single graph with changing parameters.

Compare graphs using the list method:

• Consider y=ax^2.
• Type the list of values you wish to display for the letter an enclosing item in square brackets. Separate list elements with comma. Example: a = [1,2, 3, -3, -5]
• Press ENTER .
• In expression 2 type the equation you wish to graph. Example: y=ax^2
• Trace by pressing ALT+T , then H . You will hear the graphs traced in sequence.

To compare graphs using sliders, do the following:

• Clear the graph by pressing CTRL+O , followed by ENTER .
• Type equation in expression 1: y=ax^2.
• In expression 2, set a single value for a. Example: a = 3. If there is a default value there, delete it and replace it with your value. The graph of y=3x^2 will be displayed.
• Press ALT+T , then H to hear the graph.
• Press S while in trace mode to activate the “slider trace mode”.
• Press RIGHT ARROW or LEFT ARROW to change the value of the slider a.
• Press H to hear the graph.
• Repeat the last two steps to hear the graph using different values of the slider a.

Compare Graphs Video Tutorial

Export a Graph

Communicating graphs to peers or colleagues is imperative today. The ability to export a clear graph allows for proper homework submission. In the workplace, this kind of communication adds to your ability to work with colleagues especially now that teamwork is so prevalent. Communication is key to success.

After graphing a function, export the graph into Word:

• Press SHIFT+TAB to locate “share” and press ENTER .
• Press the TAB key several times until you locate the Download button.
• Alternatively, press INSERT+F5 for a list of form fields, then press the letter I to locate “image download.” Press ENTER twice. This will place focus near the Download button and will require fewer presses of the TAB key to locate it.
• Navigate to your Word document.
• Insert a picture by pressing ALT+N , followed by P , then ENTER .
• Navigate to the address bar by pressing ALT+D and type the first few letters of the word “download.”
• Press DOWN ARROW once to locate the downloads folder and press ENTER .
• Execute the Find file command by pressing ALT+N and type “des” to locate the Desmos files.
• Press DOWN ARROW until you locate the correct file, then press ENTER . Focus will be on the graph. If you lose that focus, press CTRL+SHIFT+O to access a list of objects and select the graph by pressing ENTER .
• Press the APPLICATIONS key followed by Z to navigate to the size tab.
• Press ALT+A to verify “lock aspect ratio” is checked.
• Press TAB to navigate through the fields until you locate absolute Height and type 2.5
• Press TAB to navigate to the width to ensure it changed. If it did not, navigate to lock aspect ratio again to check that box for the correct width and height. Press ENTER to close the dialogue box.

To add and edit alt text, do the following :

• Press the APPLICATIONS key followed by A to navigate to the alt text field. If there is text in that field, press CTRL+A to select the text and either delete it or type new alt text to replace the existing content.
• Press CTRL+SPACEBAR , followed by C to close the navigation menu. Closing the navigation menu is critical to adding alt text to the image. If you forget to close the navigation menu, you will experience difficulty adding alt text to the image for the next graph. Should that occur, press F6 to switch to the Alt Text pane.
• Press CTRL+END , followed by ENTER to continue writing your document on a new line.

Export a Graph Video Tutorial

Quickly Export a Graph into Word Using Print Screen

Print screen works best when a student is doing homework and needs to produce a lot of graphs.

After creating a graph, do the following:

• Press PRINT SCREEN to copy the graph to the clipboard.
• Type “1.” (or a # applicable to the graph). Type the math problem then press ENTER .
• Paste the graph into Word by pressing CTRL+V .
• Your cursor will be placed at the end of the pasted material. Press SHIFT+LEFT ARROW to select the graph. You can also press CTRL+SHIFT+O to navigate to the list of objects and navigate to the end of the list to locate your graph. Once there, press ENTER .
• Press the APPLICATIONS key, then press UP ARROW to locate “size and position.” Press ENTER to select this option. Alternately, press Z after pressing the APPLICATIONS key to open this dialog box.
• Press ALT+A to verify “lock aspect ratio” is checked. Press TAB to navigate through the fields to locate absolute Height and type “2.5” then press TAB to the width field. Verify it changed. If it did not, navigate to lock aspect ratio again to check that box for the correct width and height. Press ENTER to close the dialogue box.

To add and edit alt text, do the following:

• Press the APPLICATIONS key followed by A to navigate to the alt text field. If there is text in that field, press CTRL+A to select it and either delete the text or type new alt text to replace the existing content.

Make your own Graphs

Explore the wonderful world of graphs. Create your own, and see what different functions produce. Get to understand what is really happening. What type of Graph do you want?

You can explore ...

... the properties of a Straight Line Graph

... the properties of a Quadratic Equation Graph

... Cartesian Coordinates

Is Homework Good for Kids? Here’s What the Research Says

A s kids return to school, debate is heating up once again over how they should spend their time after they leave the classroom for the day.

The no-homework policy of a second-grade teacher in Texas went viral last week , earning praise from parents across the country who lament the heavy workload often assigned to young students. Brandy Young told parents she would not formally assign any homework this year, asking students instead to eat dinner with their families, play outside and go to bed early.

But the question of how much work children should be doing outside of school remains controversial, and plenty of parents take issue with no-homework policies, worried their kids are losing a potential academic advantage. Here’s what you need to know:

For decades, the homework standard has been a “10-minute rule,” which recommends a daily maximum of 10 minutes of homework per grade level. Second graders, for example, should do about 20 minutes of homework each night. High school seniors should complete about two hours of homework each night. The National PTA and the National Education Association both support that guideline.

But some schools have begun to give their youngest students a break. A Massachusetts elementary school has announced a no-homework pilot program for the coming school year, lengthening the school day by two hours to provide more in-class instruction. “We really want kids to go home at 4 o’clock, tired. We want their brain to be tired,” Kelly Elementary School Principal Jackie Glasheen said in an interview with a local TV station . “We want them to enjoy their families. We want them to go to soccer practice or football practice, and we want them to go to bed. And that’s it.”

A New York City public elementary school implemented a similar policy last year, eliminating traditional homework assignments in favor of family time. The change was quickly met with outrage from some parents, though it earned support from other education leaders.

New solutions and approaches to homework differ by community, and these local debates are complicated by the fact that even education experts disagree about what’s best for kids.

The research

The most comprehensive research on homework to date comes from a 2006 meta-analysis by Duke University psychology professor Harris Cooper, who found evidence of a positive correlation between homework and student achievement, meaning students who did homework performed better in school. The correlation was stronger for older students—in seventh through 12th grade—than for those in younger grades, for whom there was a weak relationship between homework and performance.

Cooper’s analysis focused on how homework impacts academic achievement—test scores, for example. His report noted that homework is also thought to improve study habits, attitudes toward school, self-discipline, inquisitiveness and independent problem solving skills. On the other hand, some studies he examined showed that homework can cause physical and emotional fatigue, fuel negative attitudes about learning and limit leisure time for children. At the end of his analysis, Cooper recommended further study of such potential effects of homework.

Despite the weak correlation between homework and performance for young children, Cooper argues that a small amount of homework is useful for all students. Second-graders should not be doing two hours of homework each night, he said, but they also shouldn’t be doing no homework.

Not all education experts agree entirely with Cooper’s assessment.

Cathy Vatterott, an education professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, supports the “10-minute rule” as a maximum, but she thinks there is not sufficient proof that homework is helpful for students in elementary school.

“Correlation is not causation,” she said. “Does homework cause achievement, or do high achievers do more homework?”

Vatterott, the author of Rethinking Homework: Best Practices That Support Diverse Needs , thinks there should be more emphasis on improving the quality of homework tasks, and she supports efforts to eliminate homework for younger kids.

“I have no concerns about students not starting homework until fourth grade or fifth grade,” she said, noting that while the debate over homework will undoubtedly continue, she has noticed a trend toward limiting, if not eliminating, homework in elementary school.

The issue has been debated for decades. A TIME cover in 1999 read: “Too much homework! How it’s hurting our kids, and what parents should do about it.” The accompanying story noted that the launch of Sputnik in 1957 led to a push for better math and science education in the U.S. The ensuing pressure to be competitive on a global scale, plus the increasingly demanding college admissions process, fueled the practice of assigning homework.

“The complaints are cyclical, and we’re in the part of the cycle now where the concern is for too much,” Cooper said. “You can go back to the 1970s, when you’ll find there were concerns that there was too little, when we were concerned about our global competitiveness.”

Cooper acknowledged that some students really are bringing home too much homework, and their parents are right to be concerned.

“A good way to think about homework is the way you think about medications or dietary supplements,” he said. “If you take too little, they’ll have no effect. If you take too much, they can kill you. If you take the right amount, you’ll get better.”

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August 16, 2021

Is it time to get rid of homework? Mental health experts weigh in

by Sara M Moniuszko

It's no secret that kids hate homework. And as students grapple with an ongoing pandemic that has had a wide-range of mental health impacts, is it time schools start listening to their pleas over workloads?

Some teachers are turning to social media to take a stand against homework .

Tiktok user @misguided.teacher says he doesn't assign it because the "whole premise of homework is flawed."

For starters, he says he can't grade work on "even playing fields" when students' home environments can be vastly different.

"Even students who go home to a peaceful house, do they really want to spend their time on busy work? Because typically that's what a lot of homework is, it's busy work," he says in the video that has garnered 1.6 million likes. "You only get one year to be 7, you only got one year to be 10, you only get one year to be 16, 18."

Mental health experts agree heavy work loads have the potential do more harm than good for students, especially when taking into account the impacts of the pandemic. But they also say the answer may not be to eliminate homework altogether.

Emmy Kang, mental health counselor at Humantold, says studies have shown heavy workloads can be "detrimental" for students and cause a "big impact on their mental, physical and emotional health."

"More than half of students say that homework is their primary source of stress, and we know what stress can do on our bodies," she says, adding that staying up late to finish assignments also leads to disrupted sleep and exhaustion.

Cynthia Catchings, a licensed clinical social worker and therapist at Talkspace, says heavy workloads can also cause serious mental health problems in the long run, like anxiety and depression.

And for all the distress homework causes, it's not as useful as many may think, says Dr. Nicholas Kardaras, a psychologist and CEO of Omega Recovery treatment center.

"The research shows that there's really limited benefit of homework for elementary age students, that really the school work should be contained in the classroom," he says.

For older students, Kang says homework benefits plateau at about two hours per night.

"Most students, especially at these high-achieving schools, they're doing a minimum of three hours, and it's taking away time from their friends from their families, their extracurricular activities. And these are all very important things for a person's mental and emotional health."

Catchings, who also taught third to 12th graders for 12 years, says she's seen the positive effects of a no homework policy while working with students abroad.

"Not having homework was something that I always admired from the French students (and) the French schools, because that was helping the students to really have the time off and really disconnect from school ," she says.

The answer may not be to eliminate homework completely, but to be more mindful of the type of work students go home with, suggests Kang, who was a high-school teacher for 10 years.

"I don't think (we) should scrap homework, I think we should scrap meaningless, purposeless busy work-type homework. That's something that needs to be scrapped entirely," she says, encouraging teachers to be thoughtful and consider the amount of time it would take for students to complete assignments.

The pandemic made the conversation around homework more crucial

Mindfulness surrounding homework is especially important in the context of the last two years. Many students will be struggling with mental health issues that were brought on or worsened by the pandemic, making heavy workloads even harder to balance.

"COVID was just a disaster in terms of the lack of structure. Everything just deteriorated," Kardaras says, pointing to an increase in cognitive issues and decrease in attention spans among students. "School acts as an anchor for a lot of children, as a stabilizing force, and that disappeared."

But even if students transition back to the structure of in-person classes, Kardaras suspects students may still struggle after two school years of shifted schedules and disrupted sleeping habits.

"We've seen adults struggling to go back to in-person work environments from remote work environments. That effect is amplified with children because children have less resources to be able to cope with those transitions than adults do," he explains.

'Get organized' ahead of back-to-school

In order to make the transition back to in-person school easier, Kang encourages students to "get good sleep, exercise regularly (and) eat a healthy diet."

To help manage workloads, she suggests students "get organized."

"There's so much mental clutter up there when you're disorganized... sitting down and planning out their study schedules can really help manage their time," she says.

Breaking assignments up can also make things easier to tackle.

"I know that heavy workloads can be stressful, but if you sit down and you break down that studying into smaller chunks, they're much more manageable."

If workloads are still too much, Kang encourages students to advocate for themselves.

"They should tell their teachers when a homework assignment just took too much time or if it was too difficult for them to do on their own," she says. "It's good to speak up and ask those questions. Respectfully, of course, because these are your teachers. But still, I think sometimes teachers themselves need this feedback from their students."

©2021 USA Today Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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11 Surprising Homework Statistics, Facts & Data

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

Learn about our Editorial Process

The age-old question of whether homework is good or bad for students is unanswerable because there are so many “ it depends ” factors.

For example, it depends on the age of the child, the type of homework being assigned, and even the child’s needs.

There are also many conflicting reports on whether homework is good or bad. This is a topic that largely relies on data interpretation for the researcher to come to their conclusions.

To cut through some of the fog, below I’ve outlined some great homework statistics that can help us understand the effects of homework on children.

Homework Statistics List

1. 45% of parents think homework is too easy for their children.

A study by the Center for American Progress found that parents are almost twice as likely to believe their children’s homework is too easy than to disagree with that statement.

Here are the figures for math homework:

• 46% of parents think their child’s math homework is too easy.
• 25% of parents think their child’s math homework is not too easy.
• 29% of parents offered no opinion.

Here are the figures for language arts homework:

• 44% of parents think their child’s language arts homework is too easy.
• 28% of parents think their child’s language arts homework is not too easy.
• 28% of parents offered no opinion.

These findings are based on online surveys of 372 parents of school-aged children conducted in 2018.

2. 93% of Fourth Grade Children Worldwide are Assigned Homework

The prestigious worldwide math assessment Trends in International Maths and Science Study (TIMSS) took a survey of worldwide homework trends in 2007. Their study concluded that 93% of fourth-grade children are regularly assigned homework, while just 7% never or rarely have homework assigned.

3. 17% of Teens Regularly Miss Homework due to Lack of High-Speed Internet Access

A 2018 Pew Research poll of 743 US teens found that 17%, or almost 2 in every 5 students, regularly struggled to complete homework because they didn’t have reliable access to the internet.

This figure rose to 25% of Black American teens and 24% of teens whose families have an income of less than $30,000 per year.

4. Parents Spend 6.7 Hours Per Week on their Children’s Homework

A 2018 study of 27,500 parents around the world found that the average amount of time parents spend on homework with their child is 6.7 hours per week. Furthermore, 25% of parents spend more than 7 hours per week on their child’s homework.

American parents spend slightly below average at 6.2 hours per week, while Indian parents spend 12 hours per week and Japanese parents spend 2.6 hours per week.

5. Students in High-Performing High Schools Spend on Average 3.1 Hours per night Doing Homework

A study by Galloway, Conner & Pope (2013) conducted a sample of 4,317 students from 10 high-performing high schools in upper-middle-class California. 

Across these high-performing schools, students self-reported that they did 3.1 hours per night of homework.

Graduates from those schools also ended up going on to college 93% of the time.

6. One to Two Hours is the Optimal Duration for Homework

A 2012 peer-reviewed study in the High School Journal found that students who conducted between one and two hours achieved higher results in tests than any other group.

However, the authors were quick to highlight that this “t is an oversimplification of a much more complex problem.” I’m inclined to agree. The greater variable is likely the quality of the homework than time spent on it.

Nevertheless, one result was unequivocal: that some homework is better than none at all : “students who complete any amount of homework earn higher test scores than their peers who do not complete homework.”

7. 74% of Teens cite Homework as a Source of Stress

A study by the Better Sleep Council found that homework is a source of stress for 74% of students. Only school grades, at 75%, rated higher in the study.

That figure rises for girls, with 80% of girls citing homework as a source of stress.

Similarly, the study by Galloway, Conner & Pope (2013) found that 56% of students cite homework as a “primary stressor” in their lives.

8. US Teens Spend more than 15 Hours per Week on Homework

The same study by the Better Sleep Council also found that US teens spend over 2 hours per school night on homework, and overall this added up to over 15 hours per week.

Surprisingly, 4% of US teens say they do more than 6 hours of homework per night. That’s almost as much homework as there are hours in the school day.

The only activity that teens self-reported as doing more than homework was engaging in electronics, which included using phones, playing video games, and watching TV.

9. The 10-Minute Rule

The National Education Association (USA) endorses the concept of doing 10 minutes of homework per night per grade.

For example, if you are in 3rd grade, you should do 30 minutes of homework per night. If you are in 4th grade, you should do 40 minutes of homework per night.

However, this ‘rule’ appears not to be based in sound research. Nevertheless, it is true that homework benefits (no matter the quality of the homework) will likely wane after 2 hours (120 minutes) per night, which would be the NEA guidelines’ peak in grade 12.

10. 21.9% of Parents are Too Busy for their Children’s Homework

An online poll of nearly 300 parents found that 21.9% are too busy to review their children’s homework. On top of this, 31.6% of parents do not look at their children’s homework because their children do not want their help. For these parents, their children’s unwillingness to accept their support is a key source of frustration.

11. 46.5% of Parents find Homework too Hard

The same online poll of parents of children from grades 1 to 12 also found that many parents struggle to help their children with homework because parents find it confusing themselves. Unfortunately, the study did not ask the age of the students so more data is required here to get a full picture of the issue.

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Interpreting the Data

Unfortunately, homework is one of those topics that can be interpreted by different people pursuing differing agendas. All studies of homework have a wide range of variables, such as:

• What age were the children in the study?
• What was the homework they were assigned?
• What tools were available to them?
• What were the cultural attitudes to homework and how did they impact the study?
• Is the study replicable?

The more questions we ask about the data, the more we realize that it’s hard to come to firm conclusions about the pros and cons of homework .

Furthermore, questions about the opportunity cost of homework remain. Even if homework is good for children’s test scores, is it worthwhile if the children consequently do less exercise or experience more stress?

Thus, this ends up becoming a largely qualitative exercise. If parents and teachers zoom in on an individual child’s needs, they’ll be able to more effectively understand how much homework a child needs as well as the type of homework they should be assigned.

Related: Funny Homework Excuses

The debate over whether homework should be banned will not be resolved with these homework statistics. But, these facts and figures can help you to pursue a position in a school debate on the topic – and with that, I hope your debate goes well and you develop some great debating skills!

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 101 Class Group Name Ideas (for School Students)
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 19 Top Cognitive Psychology Theories (Explained)
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 119 Bloom’s Taxonomy Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ All 6 Levels of Understanding (on Bloom’s Taxonomy)

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Is Homework Necessary? Education Inequity and Its Impact on Students

The Problem with Homework: It Highlights Inequalities

How much homework is too much homework, when does homework actually help, negative effects of homework for students, how teachers can help.

Schools are getting rid of homework from Essex, Mass., to Los Angeles, Calif. Although the no-homework trend may sound alarming, especially to parents dreaming of their child’s acceptance to Harvard, Stanford or Yale, there is mounting evidence that eliminating homework in grade school may actually have great benefits , especially with regard to educational equity.

In fact, while the push to eliminate homework may come as a surprise to many adults, the debate is not new . Parents and educators have been talking about this subject for the last century, so that the educational pendulum continues to swing back and forth between the need for homework and the need to eliminate homework.

One of the most pressing talking points around homework is how it disproportionately affects students from less affluent families. The American Psychological Association (APA) explained:

“Kids from wealthier homes are more likely to have resources such as computers, internet connections, dedicated areas to do schoolwork and parents who tend to be more educated and more available to help them with tricky assignments. Kids from disadvantaged homes are more likely to work at afterschool jobs, or to be home without supervision in the evenings while their parents work multiple jobs.”

[RELATED] How to Advance Your Career: A Guide for Educators >> 

While students growing up in more affluent areas are likely playing sports, participating in other recreational activities after school, or receiving additional tutoring, children in disadvantaged areas are more likely headed to work after school, taking care of siblings while their parents work or dealing with an unstable home life. Adding homework into the mix is one more thing to deal with — and if the student is struggling, the task of completing homework can be too much to consider at the end of an already long school day.

While all students may groan at the mention of homework, it may be more than just a nuisance for poor and disadvantaged children, instead becoming another burden to carry and contend with.

Beyond the logistical issues, homework can negatively impact physical health and stress — and once again this may be a more significant problem among economically disadvantaged youth who typically already have a higher stress level than peers from more financially stable families .

Yet, today, it is not just the disadvantaged who suffer from the stressors that homework inflicts. A 2014 CNN article, “Is Homework Making Your Child Sick?” , covered the issue of extreme pressure placed on children of the affluent. The article looked at the results of a study surveying more than 4,300 students from 10 high-performing public and private high schools in upper-middle-class California communities.

“Their findings were troubling: Research showed that excessive homework is associated with high stress levels, physical health problems and lack of balance in children’s lives; 56% of the students in the study cited homework as a primary stressor in their lives,” according to the CNN story. “That children growing up in poverty are at-risk for a number of ailments is both intuitive and well-supported by research. More difficult to believe is the growing consensus that children on the other end of the spectrum, children raised in affluence, may also be at risk.”

When it comes to health and stress it is clear that excessive homework, for children at both ends of the spectrum, can be damaging. Which begs the question, how much homework is too much?

The National Education Association and the National Parent Teacher Association recommend that students spend 10 minutes per grade level per night on homework . That means that first graders should spend 10 minutes on homework, second graders 20 minutes and so on. But a study published by The American Journal of Family Therapy found that students are getting much more than that.

While 10 minutes per day doesn’t sound like much, that quickly adds up to an hour per night by sixth grade. The National Center for Education Statistics found that high school students get an average of 6.8 hours of homework per week, a figure that is much too high according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It is also to be noted that this figure does not take into consideration the needs of underprivileged student populations.

In a study conducted by the OECD it was found that “after around four hours of homework per week, the additional time invested in homework has a negligible impact on performance .” That means that by asking our children to put in an hour or more per day of dedicated homework time, we are not only not helping them, but — according to the aforementioned studies — we are hurting them, both physically and emotionally.

What’s more is that homework is, as the name implies, to be completed at home, after a full day of learning that is typically six to seven hours long with breaks and lunch included. However, a study by the APA on how people develop expertise found that elite musicians, scientists and athletes do their most productive work for about only four hours per day. Similarly, companies like Tower Paddle Boards are experimenting with a five-hour workday, under the assumption that people are not able to be truly productive for much longer than that. CEO Stephan Aarstol told CNBC that he believes most Americans only get about two to three hours of work done in an eight-hour day.

In the scope of world history, homework is a fairly new construct in the U.S. Students of all ages have been receiving work to complete at home for centuries, but it was educational reformer Horace Mann who first brought the concept to America from Prussia. 

Since then, homework’s popularity has ebbed and flowed in the court of public opinion. In the 1930s, it was considered child labor (as, ironically, it compromised children’s ability to do chores at home). Then, in the 1950s, implementing mandatory homework was hailed as a way to ensure America’s youth were always one step ahead of Soviet children during the Cold War. Homework was formally mandated as a tool for boosting educational quality in 1986 by the U.S. Department of Education, and has remained in common practice ever since.  

School work assigned and completed outside of school hours is not without its benefits. Numerous studies have shown that regular homework has a hand in improving student performance and connecting students to their learning. When reviewing these studies, take them with a grain of salt; there are strong arguments for both sides, and only you will know which solution is best for your students or school. 

Homework improves student achievement.

• Source: The High School Journal, “ When is Homework Worth the Time?: Evaluating the Association between Homework and Achievement in High School Science and Math ,” 2012. 
• Source: IZA.org, “ Does High School Homework Increase Academic Achievement? ,” 2014. **Note: Study sample comprised only high school boys. 

Homework helps reinforce classroom learning.

• Source: “ Debunk This: People Remember 10 Percent of What They Read ,” 2015.

Homework helps students develop good study habits and life skills.

• Sources: The Repository @ St. Cloud State, “ Types of Homework and Their Effect on Student Achievement ,” 2017; Journal of Advanced Academics, “ Developing Self-Regulation Skills: The Important Role of Homework ,” 2011.
• Source: Journal of Advanced Academics, “ Developing Self-Regulation Skills: The Important Role of Homework ,” 2011.

Homework allows parents to be involved with their children’s learning.

• Parents can see what their children are learning and working on in school every day. 
• Parents can participate in their children’s learning by guiding them through homework assignments and reinforcing positive study and research habits.
• Homework observation and participation can help parents understand their children’s academic strengths and weaknesses, and even identify possible learning difficulties.
• Source: Phys.org, “ Sociologist Upends Notions about Parental Help with Homework ,” 2018.

While some amount of homework may help students connect to their learning and enhance their in-class performance, too much homework can have damaging effects. 

Students with too much homework have elevated stress levels. 

• Source: USA Today, “ Is It Time to Get Rid of Homework? Mental Health Experts Weigh In ,” 2021.
• Source: Stanford University, “ Stanford Research Shows Pitfalls of Homework ,” 2014.

Students with too much homework may be tempted to cheat. 

• Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education, “ High-Tech Cheating Abounds, and Professors Bear Some Blame ,” 2010.
• Source: The American Journal of Family Therapy, “ Homework and Family Stress: With Consideration of Parents’ Self Confidence, Educational Level, and Cultural Background ,” 2015.

Homework highlights digital inequity. 

• Sources: NEAToday.org, “ The Homework Gap: The ‘Cruelest Part of the Digital Divide’ ,” 2016; CNET.com, “ The Digital Divide Has Left Millions of School Kids Behind ,” 2021.
• Source: Investopedia, “ Digital Divide ,” 2022; International Journal of Education and Social Science, “ Getting the Homework Done: Social Class and Parents’ Relationship to Homework ,” 2015.
• Source: World Economic Forum, “ COVID-19 exposed the digital divide. Here’s how we can close it ,” 2021.

Homework does not help younger students.

• Source: Review of Educational Research, “ Does Homework Improve Academic Achievement? A Synthesis of Researcher, 1987-2003 ,” 2006.

To help students find the right balance and succeed, teachers and educators must start the homework conversation, both internally at their school and with parents. But in order to successfully advocate on behalf of students, teachers must be well educated on the subject, fully understanding the research and the outcomes that can be achieved by eliminating or reducing the homework burden. There is a plethora of research and writing on the subject for those interested in self-study.

For teachers looking for a more in-depth approach or for educators with a keen interest in educational equity, formal education may be the best route. If this latter option sounds appealing, there are now many reputable schools offering online master of education degree programs to help educators balance the demands of work and family life while furthering their education in the quest to help others.

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Mind Your Decisions

Math Videos, Math Puzzles, Game Theory. By Presh Talwalkar

A Good Graph Homework Problem

If you buy from a link in this post, I may earn a commission. This does not affect the price you pay. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Learn more.

Posted July 10, 2023 By Presh Talwalkar. Read about me , or email me .

Thanks to Xavier for the suggestion! This is adapted from the Cambridge IGSCE Additional Paper. It is a no calculator question.

The line 2 x – y + 1 = 0 intersects the curve x 2 + 3 y = 19 at the points A and B . The perpendicular bisector of AB intersects the x -axis at the point C . Find the area of triangle ABC .

As usual, watch the video for a solution.

"All will be well if you use your mind for your decisions, and mind only your decisions." Since 2007, I have devoted my life to sharing the joy of game theory and mathematics. MindYourDecisions now has over 1,000 free articles with no ads thanks to community support! Help out and get early access to posts with a pledge on Patreon .

(Pretty much all posts are transcribed quickly after I make the videos for them–please let me know if there are any typos/errors and I will correct them, thanks).

The line 2 x – y + 1 = 0 can be re-written as y = 2 x + 1, so it has a slope of 2 and a y -intercept of 1. The curve x 2 + 3 y = 19 can be re-written as y = 19/3 – x 2 /3. This is a parabola with a vertex at its maximum value of (0, 19/3) and the parabola points downward. So let’s sketch the curves, their intersection points, and the perpendicular bisector of AB .

Let’s work step by step. First we will solve for points A and B . This is where the two equations are equal to each other. So we have:

2 x + 1 = 19/3 – x 2 /3 6 x + 3 = 19 – x 2 x 2 + 6 x – 16 = 0 ( x + 8)( x – 2) = 0 x = -8 x = 2

Since y = 2 x + 1, we can solve for the corresponding y values to get the two points (-8, -15) and (2, 5). The perpendicular bisector of this line segment will go through the midpoint, which is (-8 + 2, -15 + 5)/2 = (-3, -5). Call this point M . The perpendicular bisector’s slope is the negative reciprocal of 2, so it is -1/2. We can use the slope and point to find an equation for the perpendicular bisector.

y – (-5) = (-1/2)( x – (-3)) y + 5 = (-1/2)( x + 3)

Point C has y = 0, so we have:

0 + 5 = (-1/2)( x + 3) -10 = x + 3 x = -13

Finally we need the area of ABC with points A (-8, -15), B (2, 5), and C (-13, 0). We know that CM and AB are perpendicular, so the area of the triangle can be calculated as | AB | CM |/2. It only remains to calculate the length of these line segments using the distance formula.

| AB | = √((2 + 8) 2 + (5 + 15) 2 ) = √(10 2 + 20 2 ) = √500 = 10√5

| CM | = √((-3 + 13) 2 + (-5 – 0) 2 ) = √(10 2 + 5 2 ) = √125 = 5√5

Thus we arrive at the answer:

| AB | CM |/2 = (10√5)(5√5)/2 = 50(5)/2 = 125

Published by

Presh talwalkar.

I run the MindYourDecisions channel on YouTube , which has over 1 million subscribers and 200 million views. I am also the author of The Joy of Game Theory: An Introduction to Strategic Thinking , and several other books which are available on Amazon .

(As you might expect, the links for my books go to their listings on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This does not affect the price you pay.)

By way of history, I started the Mind Your Decisions blog back in 2007 to share a bit of math, personal finance, personal thoughts, and game theory. It's been quite a journey! I thank everyone that has shared my work, and I am very grateful for coverage in the press , including the Shorty Awards, The Telegraph, Freakonomics, and many other popular outlets.

I studied Economics and Mathematics at Stanford University.

People often ask how I make the videos. Like many YouTubers I use popular software to prepare my videos. You can search for animation software tutorials on YouTube to learn how to make videos. Be prepared--animation is time consuming and software can be expensive!

Feel free to send me an email [email protected] . I get so many emails that I may not reply, but I save all suggestions for puzzles/video topics.

If you purchase through these links, I may be compensated for purchases made on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This does not affect the price you pay.

Book ratings are from January 2023.

Mind Your Decisions is a compilation of 5 books:

The Joy of Game Theory shows how you can use math to out-think your competition. (rated 4.3/5 stars on 290 reviews)

40 Paradoxes in Logic, Probability, and Game Theory contains thought-provoking and counter-intuitive results. (rated 4.2/5 stars on 54 reviews)

The Irrationality Illusion: How To Make Smart Decisions And Overcome Bias is a handbook that explains the many ways we are biased about decision-making and offers techniques to make smart decisions. (rated 4.1/5 stars on 33 reviews)

The Best Mental Math Tricks teaches how you can look like a math genius by solving problems in your head (rated 4.3/5 stars on 116 reviews)

Multiply Numbers By Drawing Lines This book is a reference guide for my video that has over 1 million views on a geometric method to multiply numbers. (rated 4.4/5 stars on 37 reviews)

Mind Your Puzzles is a collection of the three "Math Puzzles" books, volumes 1, 2, and 3. The puzzles topics include the mathematical subjects including geometry, probability, logic, and game theory.

Math Puzzles Volume 1 features classic brain teasers and riddles with complete solutions for problems in counting, geometry, probability, and game theory. Volume 1 is rated 4.4/5 stars on 112 reviews.

Math Puzzles Volume 2 is a sequel book with more great problems. (rated 4.2/5 stars on 33 reviews)

Math Puzzles Volume 3 is the third in the series. (rated 4.2/5 stars on 29 reviews)

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Teachers and students around the world often email me about the books. Since education can have such a huge impact, I try to make the ebooks available as widely as possible at as low a price as possible.

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