UNIT 6 ASSIGNMENT 1
1
Unit 6 Assignment 1
Madhu Smita
IX540-Research Study
Department of Human Behavior, Purdue Global University
UNIT 6 ASSIGNMENT 1
2
Unit 6 Assignment 1
The first study presented by Hayward (2010), explores how does correction of homework
affect the student achievement in math students. Her literature review is extensive and has
looked at papers from when the research on the subject started. She has included studies both
supporting and contradicting her hypothesis. The hypothesis is not clearly defined in the study,
however it is clear from the arguments what the researcher’s hypothesis is. For this study, the
researcher has looked at students results from quizzes and tests and compared it to the
Homework score (which indicates the number of assignments submitted by the student). After
this intervention is administered where the students are made to do corrections of their
homework and again the test and quizzes results are compared to determine if doing corrections
on their homework actually improves academic achievement. This study was carried through in a
K-12 school where the researcher is a teacher. The focus group comprised of the students of
Math in 12th grade in two sections. The sample size was fairly small, 21.
The results show that the mean percent of HW assignment completed was 78% with a
standard deviation of 23.8%, which is very high. The average homework score shows a constant
improvement for all the students, which is in sync with the researcher’s expectations. Quiz scores
pre and post intervention are inconclusive, similarly percentage of homework completed and preintervention test scores have a weak correlation of 0.28. However, we see strong correlation (.92)
between pre-intervention and post-intervention test score. Hence, only thing that we can say for
sure based on this report is that doing corrections in Math assignments leads to higher scores in
class quizzes.
UNIT 6 ASSIGNMENT 1
3
The results on the face of it looks valid, however with such a small sample size I am not
sure if replicating this study in a different context will produce same results. The focus of
research is very narrow and hence may be valid for only similar conditions.
Annous (2017) credit report on “HOMEWORK IS ASSOCIATED WITH ANXIETY IN
STUDENTS,” she says, “This research was conducted to investigate the relationship between
homework and anxiety levels in working professionals”. This is ambiguous to me as these
professionals are giving data on assignments they did when they were students; which was as far
as 4 yrs. -11 yrs. ago. This study was conducted within a medical hospital and the focus group
was a group of 20 professional who were employed at the hospital. The literature review
predominantly cites papers that support the hypothesis that Homework leads to anxiety in
students.
The research results hugely corresponds to the researcher’s hypothesis that Homework
leads to anxiety, however there are serious threats to validity of these results. The sample size is
too small and the focus group is not appropriate for this survey. The researcher fails to take other
predictors of anxiety that may exist within the test subjects. Anxiety like academic achievement
is a function of so many external and internal factors that it is not possible to associate anxiety
with one predictor. Another issue with the second study was that the focus group was not
appropriate for this study. The staff of the medical college had long left the education system
long ago the pedagogy has changed a lot since then and hence their response may not reflect
upon the current education system.
UNIT 6 ASSIGNMENT 1
4
References
Annous, I. (2017). HOMEWORK IS ASSOCIATED WITH ANXIETY IN STUDENTS. [Master’s
thesis, Goucher College]. Maryland Shared Open Access Repository.
https://mdsoar.org/bitstream/handle/11603/3896/AnnousIbtissam_paper.pdf?sequence=1
&isAllowed=y
Hayward, J. M. (2010). The Effects of Homework on Student Achievement [Master’s thesis, The
College at Brockport]. Digital Commons @Brockport.
http://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/ehd_theses