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How do teachers account for homework-related inequalities? Our longitudinal ethnographic study reveals that, despite awareness of structural inequalities in their students' lives, elementary- and middle-school teachers' practices centered the myth of meritocracy. They treat struggles with math homework as products of students' and (particularly in elementary grades) parents' insufficient responsibility, effort, and motivation. These interpretations then justify homework practices that reinforce inequalities, including assigning homework that exceeds what students can complete independently and rewarding/punishing students based on homework. We discuss implications for debates about homework and the dangers of meritocracy myths and offer recommendations for more equitable alternatives.

Historically, race and poverty have been contributing factors when considering gaps among students in their academic achievement. The purpose of this study was to determine how employability and homework scores within traditional points and percentages weighted grading models impact grades from an equity lens. This study analyzed 779 students' semester math grades at an urban high school to see if students' grades were inflated or deflated due to including homework and employability scores in the grade. Final grades which included homework and employability points were compared to each student's overall summative assessment scores to determine grade inflation or deflation. The study then analyzed if including homework and employability points in the grade helped or hurt student's grades based on race and socio-economic factors. In comparing grading results based on students' socio-economic statuses, there were statistically significant differences.

Homework as an essential component of the academic process supports teaching and learning by consolidating what the students learn in class and promoting their study skills and self-paced work capacities. While homework characteristics and its efficacy are reported to be interrelated, there is a lacuna in the research on the effectiveness of homework policy in learning outcomes in online classes, particularly under adverse conditions. As a result, the current study investigated the effects of homework policy (leniency vs. strictness) on EFL learners literacy (reading and writing) development, focusing on their academic self-regulation (ASR) level in a distance learning course amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were gathered from 36 K-10 students organized into homework packet and homework leniency groups. Their literacy skills and ASR were assessed before and after the study. Due to schools closure during the COVID-19 pandemic, both groups participated in distance learning courses delivered via the national mobile-based LMS. The results of the two-way Analysis of Variance primarily revealed a significant development in the reading and writing skills of the homework-packet group. Despite the marginal difference between the reading performance of high and low self-regulated participants of both homework conditions at the end of the study, a significant difference in the development of the writing skills of high self-regulated participants of the homework-packet condition was observed. The critical role of homework strictness in online courses and promoting learners' self-regulation skills to benefit from the assigned homework, particularly in teaching writing, is underscored.

This ethnographic case study, situated in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, examined the effects of full-scale provincial testing on families, its influences on homework, and familial accountability for teaching and learning. Data were drawn from family interviews, as well as letters and documents regarding homework. Teachers sensed a significant degree of pressure on student performance on province-wide tests. This sometimes resulted in narrowing of curricula in favour of more test-taking practice. Additionally, teachers sent home sample test items for students to practice with their families to increase test scores.

Engineering curriculum often fails to connect content and decisions to impacts on diverse, particularly marginalized, communities. Given that integration of social justice ideas into curriculum is currently uncommon among most faculty, we provide resources in the form of a workshop to help catalyze these efforts by teaching faculty how to incorporate social justice into homework and example problems. Through faculty and student surveys, we show the feasibility of this work and benefits on student learning.

This study took a mixed-methods approach to investigate family language planning (FLP) in Hungarian families raising children in Australia. The study aimed to explore the complex factors impacting FLP and how families responded to the rapidly changing social conditions during the outbreak of Covid-19. The pandemic highlighted the shifting spatiotemporal dynamics of the family domain. Therefore, the project sought a holistic insight into the shifting family ecology, incorporating language use patterns, motivations, language maintenance and learning strategies and family well-being. Data were collected through an online survey (N = 80) and parental interviews (N = 13). The findings provide empirical evidence of the translocal and transnational dimensions of intergenerational language maintenance. The paper argues for an ecological approach in FLP, which recognises the complex social, affective and ideological dimensions of the family domain and the translocal aspects of language planning. As the results demonstrate, Hungarian families experienced the impact of Covid-19 in contrastive ways: for some, new opportunities arose to establish the home domain as a dynamic multilingual space; for others, the social isolation further reduced the space afforded to the heritage language. Therefore, agency was crucial for responding to these shifting circumstances.

The recent emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) tools has significantly influenced different fields, including education. One notable example is ChatGPT, an AI-driven large language model (LLM) developed by OpenAI. This tool holds potential for supporting both teachers and students in the teaching and learning process. While some fields of education have benefitted from using ChatGPT to enhance learning, there is a gap in the literature concerning how physical education teachers can benefit from using tools such as ChatGPT. This article explores the capabilities and practicality of the generative AI chatbot for supporting teaching and learning in physical education. It also shares tips on how to thoughtfully and ethically use ChatGPT and discusses its limitations.

Although early childhood theorists agree on the importance of spending time in nature and the outdoors, it unfortunately appears that today's young children do not always have sufficient opportunities to experience and strengthen this connection. Lack of time spent in nature, combined with the health issues associated with large quantities of time spent in front of screens, raises concern about our children's wellbeing. Yet research indicates that most children, if given the choice, not only appreciate natural environments, but actually prefer them over artificial environments. We need to encourage our children to "unplug," teaching them about the joy that experiences, adventures, and time in nature can provide. Thus, I conceived an idea that combined the power of literature and the passion for nature and thereby encouraged students to spend more time outdoors. I decided my students would read books about nature and outdoor experiences. My hope was twofold: (1) they would enjoy the books and want to know more about the nature topic, and (2) they would want to explore, experience, and play more outdoors. Students were given a notepad to take home and were asked to go on a listening walk after school at their home, childcare, after-school program, etc. When they brought a list to school, we would share, write about, and illustrate what they found. Based on the results of these experiences, I am encouraged to pursue reading and sharing outdoor/nature books with my students to help them recognize their innate connection to nature.

Successful middle schools exhibit effective practices that engage families as valued partners. However, as at-home learning increasingly shifts to digital spaces, parents may have concerns with technology and how their role shifts in digital learning environments. This includes concerns about the balancing act for parents wishing to encourage students' independent learning, while also providing sufficient structure to make sure students are on-task in digital learning environments. Therefore, this article focuses on effective ways parent and family engagement can support students' autonomous learning through meaningful digital homework, cultivating students' self-regulated learning, and encouraging bi-directional communication that will assist parents as their role evolves in supporting students' at-home learning in online environments.

Physiological measures associated with emotional expressions have been used extensively in lab- and, more recently, digital-learning settings. However, the portable and ubiquitous nature of hardware that measures these physiological features makes them particularly useful in situations where you do not want the hardware to be too obtrusive, like in contexts of informal learning. In this proof-of-concept study, we apply skin conductance methods that measure Electrodermal Activity (EDA) to a family everyday activities context, in which a parent and their children, complete several science learning activities, while being recorded by both video and EDA hardware. We analyse the resulting data in three different ways: (i) a peak analysis in software recommended by the hardware provider, (ii) a conventional, qualitative microanalysis, and (iii) a method mainly used by econometricians to discover 'structural breaks' in time series data. We conclude that all three provide a piece of the overall puzzle, revealing up- and down-sides of each method.

Informed by multiple theoretical perspectives pertaining to academic procrastination, this investigation examined multilevel models aimed to predict homework procrastination using the data from 1,072 middle schoolers in China. Our model incorporated student gender, homework motivation, homework approach, homework behavior, and time allocated to extracurriculars outside of school. At the individual and class levels, homework procrastination was associated positively with homework cost and negatively with homework expectancy. Furthermore, at the individual level, homework procrastination was associated positively with surface approach and time on videogames, but negatively with homework effort. Implications for practice and further investigation (e.g. homework expectancy and surface approach) are discussed in relation to our findings.

The importance of parental involvement in children's education cannot be overemphasized. This study aimed to explore the role that parents play in the education of their children in the Giyani Municipality, Limpopo Province South Africa. The study followed Epstein's model of school-parent-community partnerships to understand the participation of parents in the education of their children. A qualitative approach was employed to guide the gathering and analysis of the data. Fifty-eight parents that were purposively selected from the four rural schools participated in the focus group discussions that were audio-recorded. Inductive qualitative thematic analysis was used, and the ethics were observed. The findings revealed the role of parental involvement in their children's education as working with schools, home-schooling, modelling positive attitudes, emotional support, and career counselling. This study has implications for policy and practice in a parent-teacher relationship in rural schools by suggesting that parents should be involved in policy development such as when the curriculum changes.

In this article, we discuss Micro Assignment Guided Inquiry and Collaboration (MAGIC), an active learning method that draws on the merits of inquiry-based learning in STEM courses. We describe the use of Micro Assignments (MAs) consisting of a series of short, instructive guiding questions that scaffold the course material. Students work through these questions and present solutions to the class. The instructor facilitates learning as well as collaboration among the students during face-to-face interactions, providing the Guided Inquiry and Collaboration (GIC). We present a qualitative discussion about this active learning approach that achieves some of the documented benefits, such as deep student engagement with the material and familiarity with communicating arguments. This method also helps students develop the skills they need as they move from lower- to upper-level courses, such as collaborating, active reading, and breaking down involved assignments and problems into manageable steps. Through GIC and use of the MAs, the instructor guides students to become more abstract thinkers who desire evidence, evaluate arguments, and no longer follow step-by-step formulas but rather produce logical thought processes.

This article reports a study on the impact of online spiritual lessons in improving self-regulation, emotion regulation, affect balance, peer relations, and well-being of high-ability college students of liberal arts disciplines. Compared to an online workshop on affect management, the online spiritual lessons were effective. Moderate effects were observed on the cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression facets of emotion regulation and autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations, purpose in life, and self-acceptance subscales of well-being. Fairly high effects were observed on peer relations, self-regulation, affect balance, and general/overall well-being outcomes. Gender, economic class, study subject, primary caregivers, living arrangements, attending extra lessons/having club memberships for advanced studies, and intervention compliance were significant predictors of intervention impact. Latent class analyses revealed eight classes/subgroups of participants reporting maximum posttest (T2) gains: male students, middle class, students of mathematics, literature, philosophy, who were attending extra lessons/having club memberships for advanced studies, who attended above threshold (51-90 or > 56%) online spiritual lessons, and who did above threshold homework lessons. Male students and those with high intervention compliance reported gains on all outcomes. Online spiritual lessons can be incorporated into socio-emotional leaning for high-ability collegians.

This investigation examined the role of students' social-emotional need satisfaction in relation to academic engagement and social-emotional skills. Among a sample of 501 secondary school students (and their parents/carers), several need satisfaction variables were examined: perceived social-emotional autonomy, perceived social competence, perceived emotional competence, perceived relatedness with students, and perceived relatedness with teachers. The hypothesised outcomes were student-reported behavioural disaffection, and parent reports of students' homework practices, expressive skill, and perspective-taking skill. Results demonstrated that perceived social competence was associated with lower behavioural disaffection. Perceived emotional competence was associated with more positive homework practices, greater expressive skill, and greater perspective-taking skill. Perceived relatedness with teachers was associated with lower behavioural disaffection and more positive homework practices. Findings have implications for supporting students' positive adjustment in school and beyond.

Background: Academic challenges such as losing/not turning in assignments, misplacing materials, and inefficient studying are common in middle-school students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) without intellectual disability. Deficits in organization, planning, prioritizing, memory/materials management, and studying skills [i.e. academic executive functioning (EF) deficits] contribute to these challenges. Objectives: To assess the feasibility, satisfaction, and initial efficacy of the school-based version of the Achieving Independence and Mastery in School (AIMS) intervention in a proof-of-concept trial with 6 students with ASD. Methods: 6 middle-schoolers with ASD without ID participated in AIMS. Parents and teachers rated academic EFs and functioning. Results: Results suggest high feasibility, youth satisfaction, and improved EF skills and academic behaviors by parent and teacher report. Conclusion: These promising results support further intervention development and suggest that academic EF skills are malleable in students with ASD.

Family engagement in children's learning is an evidence-based approach supporting student learning. This study examines four primary school teachers' family engagement practice, within a non-dominant community. Utilising the framework of Critical Participatory Action Research (CPAR), the teachers examined their partnerships with families, identifying barriers to family engagement. The teachers began to act as cultural workers as they changed their homework practice to strengthen non-dominant families' connection to their children's school learning. Through the theory of practice architectures, the teachers' language (sayings), activities and resources (doings) and relationships (relatings) with families were considered. Data were collected through transcripts from reflective practice meetings, reflective practice tools and semi-structured interviews undertaken throughout the CPAR process. The theory of practice architectures underpinned data analysis, identifying practice conditions which support teachers to (re)frame family engagement as cultural work. The resulting practice framework scaffolds how schools can critically examine their own family engagement practices.

Inspired by complex system theory, this study adopts a multilevel piecewise regression model to examine the relationship between homework time and the development of students in different grades using a large-scale testing database in China. The results indicate that the relationship between homework time and students' performance is positive when homework time is less than the cut-off values and becomes negative when homework time is greater than the cut-off values. For different dependent variables, the cut-off values of homework time differ but are all within a range (1-1.2 h for grade 4 and 1.7-2 h for grade 8). The reasons for the difference in cut-off values among students in different grades are discussed.

Background: Mathematics homework is highly prevalent in East Asia. Teachers and parents expect mathematics homework to improve students' performance; however, studies have not clearly defined the effectiveness of the assignment of different amounts of homework. Aims: This study analyses the differential effect of homework amount on various facets of Chinese students' mathematics achievement using a longitudinal design. It aims, thereby, to contribute to the existing knowledge of homework effectiveness and mathematics learning and to provide insights for student development. Sample: The sample included 2383 grade 9 students from a mid-sized city with a moderate level of economic and educational development in central China. Methods: We administered a student-reported questionnaire, collected school reports of mathematics achievements to track retrospective longitudinal variations in mathematics over half a year and analysed the differential effectiveness of homework on mathematics achievement at four hierarchical cognitive levels with Hierarchical Linear Model. Results: The results indicated that assigning more homework at the class level could enhance students' mathematics achievement at a low cognitive level, although this effectiveness tended to disappear when the set homework time reached about 1.5-2 h. We did not find evidence that assigning more homework enhances students' mathematics achievement at higher cognitive levels. Conclusions: Overall, this study provides evidence on the effectiveness of homework and offers implications for educational practice and future research.

The present paper aims at investigating the relationship between students' attitudes toward online homework use and mathematics anxiety among secondary school students. In this study, a model has been proposed by integrating the technology acceptance model (TAM) with mathematics anxiety theory. Three hundred and forty-five secondary school students participated in the instrument of the study that included 20-item based on a 5-point Likert scale. The subsequent analysis using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) supported the negative relationship between attitude toward an online homework (OHW) tool and mathematics anxiety. The results revealed that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are predictors of attitude toward the use of OHW. This study maximized the capability of acceptance of the OHW tool in mathematics learning. The findings provided by the study will encourage mathematics educators to implement mathematics OHW tools in the learning process.

Large Language Model (LLM) artificial intelligence tools present a unique challenge for educators who teach programming languages. While LLMs like ChatGPT have been well documented for their ability to complete exams and create prose, there is a noticeable lack of research into their ability to solve problems using high-level programming languages. Like many other university educators, those teaching programming courses would like to detect if students submit assignments generated by an LLM. To investigate grade performance and the likelihood of instructors identifying code generated by artificial intelligence (AI) tools, we compare code generated by students and ChatGPT for introductory Python homework assignments. Our research reveals mixed results on both counts, with ChatGPT performing like a mid-range student on assignments and seasoned instructors struggling to detect AI-generated code. This indicates that although AI-generated results may not always be identifiable, they do not currently yield results approaching those of diligent students. We describe our methodology for selecting and evaluating the code examples, the results of our comparison, and the implications for future classes. We conclude with recommendations for how instructors of programming courses can mitigate student use of LLM tools as well as articulate the inherent value of preserving students' individual creativity in producing programming languages.

This qualitative study aimed to examine Iranian language teachers' mindsets about language learning and teaching, and the ways in which their mindsets influenced their educational practices. The participants of this study were 20 Iranian language teachers who taught general English courses at private language institutes in a city in central Iran. The data were collected through conducting semi-structured interviews with the participants. The qualitative content analysis was conducted, and the main themes and categories were extracted. The results revealed that teachers had categorical (fixed or growth) or mixed mindsets (both fixed and growth mindsets). Moreover, the results showed that teachers' mindsets influenced teachers' pedagogical strategies, homework assignment, and their praise type. The findings show that it is important to raise teachers' awareness about their mindsets and the effects they might have on their teaching strategies and the feedback/praise they give to their students.

Exercise is essential for mastering mathematics, but it faces two major hurdles. First, students are often not motivated to do their homework. Second, checking traditional homework is a manual and labor-intensive process that becomes harder to support as the number of students increases. We argue that computer games could alleviate both problems. In contrast to homework, students are willing to spend many hours playing video games. And because video games keep track of the gamers' performance, they offer a scalable solution to the problem of checking the homework. We describe an experiment to augment traditional homework with a computer game that we have developed for exercising the topics of symmetry groups in an undergraduate college course. We describe the mathematical background of the subject matter, how we have embedded the mathematics into the game, the empirical results of playing the game, and the insights we have gained from this experiment.

Machine learning models were constructed to predict student performance in an introductory mechanics class at a large land-grant university in the United States using data from 2061 students. Students were classified as either being at risk of failing the course (earning a D or F) or not at risk (earning an A, B, or C). The models focused on variables available in the first few weeks of the class which could potentially allow for early interventions to help at-risk students. Multiple types of variables were used in the model: in-class variables (average homework and clicker quiz scores), institutional variables [college grade point average (GPA)], and noncognitive variables (self-efficacy). The substantial imbalance between the pass and fail rates of the course, with only about 10% of students failing, required modification to the machine learning algorithms. Decision threshold tuning and upsampling were successful in improving performance for at-risk students. Logistic regression combined with a decision threshold tuned to maximize balanced accuracy yielded the strongest classifier, with a DF accuracy of 83% and an ABC accuracy of 81%. Measures of variable importance involving changes in balanced accuracy identified homework grades, clicker grades, college GPA, and the fraction of college classes successfully completed as the most important variables in predicting success in introductory physics. Noncognitive variables added little predictive power to the models. Classification models with performance near the best-performing models using the full set of variables could be constructed with very few variables (homework average, clicker scores, and college GPA) using straightforward to implement algorithms, suggesting the application of these technologies may be fairly easy to include in many physics classes.

Economics has become increasingly empirical and, alongside this shift, has come more demand for improved transparency and reproducibility in empirical economic research. In this article, we distribute a survey to almost 1500 economics faculty from the top 161 liberal arts colleges with an economics major (according to U.S. News & World Report) in the United States to determine the prevalence of teaching reproducible methods in undergraduate economics, summarize the most-common methods of instruction, and determine the intended student learning objectives. We find that of the economics faculty at liberal arts colleges who teach these reproducible methods, most do so in advanced upper-level (42%) and basic econometrics (31%) courses. Those faculty report teaching reproducibility using the following methods: transparent coding (85%), organizational skills (78%), and producing replication documentation (47%) through individual research projects (82%), homework assignments (55%), and/or workshops (33%). We conclude with some qualitative text analysis to shed light on the intended learning objectives and find that research skills (59%) and the importance of reproducibility (37%) are the most common reasons cited for teaching these methods.

The "optimism hypothesis" claims that immigrant students do better in the Norwegian education system than their socioeconomic status would suggest, due to the strong educational aspirations that immigrant parents might have for their children. Grounded in an educational equity paradigm, this study aims to test this hypothesis by investigating direct and indirect influences on students' reading achievement, assessing both how often the students speak the language of instruction, Norwegian, at home; and the effect for students of parents' educational levels that affect parents' academic expectations and parents' help with homework. Using PIRLS 2016 data from Norway (n = 4,232, mean age 10.8), path analysis provided evidence that both students' home language and parents' educational level directly influence reading achievement. The mediating roles of parents' academic expectations and parents' help with homework on these relationships fluctuated. Thus, the data provided evidence that only partially supports the optimism hypothesis.

A wide range of reforms to improve the teaching capacities of pre-service and in-service teachers have been carried out in Kosovo. In assessing the success of these previous interventions, large-scale assessment data is invaluable. In 2019, 4754 students from 145 schools participated in the TIMSS assessment. Results reveal that student's performance, in mathematics and science, is significantly higher when teachers are clear in their instructions, satisfied with their job, and have more teaching experience. Teacher qualifications also impact achievement, with students performing higher when the teacher only has a secondary education without a bachelor's degree. Students' higher readiness for instruction, preferences for the subjects, and confidence in their abilities are linked to higher literacy levels. Finally, TIMSS data of the 2019 study also raise questions regarding the type of homework assigned to students, the importance of experience over qualifications, and the academization of teacher preparation programs that may hinder practice.

In July 2021 the Chinese Government unexpectedly released what has become known colloquially as the 'Double-Reduction' policy. The policy decreed the reduction of homework pressure on students and greater control of private tutorial companies. In this paper, we set out to understand why the Chinese central government launched the 'Double-Reduction' policy in mid-2021 by using narratives to analyse the three most circulated explanations for the policy and its timing. We use data from a range of formal and informal policy texts. The three narratives, including one policy narrative dominant in the official discourse and two alternative ones, constructed the causal stories about the policy's rationale from multiple perspectives. The combination of multiple perspectives and a narrative approach helps reveal the policy event's complexity and lays a foundation for researchers interested in tracking the development trajectory of this new policy.

In most mathematics textbooks, each lesson is followed by a set of homework problems in one of two ways -- blocked practice and mixed practice. Additionally, most mathematics textbooks rely on a common learning strategy called overlearning, that is, mastering a skill and continuing to practice this same skill. This study investigated the effects of blocked practice versus mixed practice and the overlearning strategy on student performance in a university-level Calculus I classroom using an online homework system. Data collection took place throughout the semester and included student scores on homework and exams. An ANCOVA was used to analyze the data and the results indicated that there were no statistically significant differences on final exam scores between the participants in the blocked and mixed practice groups. Additionally, the 50% increase in the number of homework problems per set (i.e. overlearning) did not show statistically significant differences in student performance as measured on final exam scores.

Researchers strive to create learning environments where they can apply technology and different teaching methods together. Flipped learning has been a popular approach in recent years because it offers opportunities for both online and offline learning. The present study aims to conduct a thematic analysis of articles on the use of the flipped learning model in mathematics courses. Meta-thematic analysis was adopted as the research method. In this context, for the study, 69 articles were selected from among those published between 2015 and June 2020. As a result, it was found that these studies on flipped learning in mathematics education were conducted primarily with undergraduate students, whereas insufficient numbers of studies have been conducted with primary school, middle school, and high school students and pre-service teachers. Researchers have often preferred the subject of analysis while implementing the model. Studies on the flipped learning model in mathematics have mainly aimed to examine academic performance and students' perceptions regarding the model. Although it can be argued that the flipped learning model positively affects the mathematical performance of students, studies have also reported that it had no effect on performance compared to traditional teaching methods. In addition, the present study provides comprehensive data on the positive and negative aspects of the use of the flipped learning model in mathematics courses. However, comprehensive, extensive, and long-term studies are needed to provide more clear results on the implementation of flipped learning in mathematics courses.

The emergent COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019 has affected the whole world in a short time. Therefore, schools have been closed worldwide, and online learning opportunities have been exploited. Although lessons are taught online, problems have been experienced about measuring and evaluating lessons. This quasi-experimental study with a quantitative method was conducted to offer suggestions for the measurement problems. The present study examined the relationship between the measures of academic achievement obtained through different approaches from the students studying at a university. According to the results, the achievement points earned by the students through weekly blogs had a high level of correlation with the traditional final scores. However, the scores of the practices such as online exams and term papers were not an acceptable fit with the final exams. Therefore, the scores of online missions extended over time can be claimed to be the approach that best substitutes the final exams.

Parental involvement in school is an undoubtedly important element of a student's educational experience and outcomes. Students with elevated emotional and behavioral risks (EBR) tend to experience poor educational outcomes, and research suggests varying levels of parental involvement across domains for these at-risk students. However, there is minimal research on the links between elevated EBR, parental involvement, and academic achievement for high school students. The purpose of this study was to examine the degree to which (a) parental involvement differed between high school students with elevated EBR and students without EBR, (b) parental involvement was related to academic outcomes, and (c) the gap in academic achievement between students with elevated EBR and students without EBR could be attributed to differences in parental involvement. To address these questions, we fit a structural equation model using data from the High School Longitudinal Survey of 2009. The results demonstrated that (a) parental involvement was significantly lower in multiple domains for students with elevated EBR, (b) was significantly associated with academic outcomes, and (c) differences in parental involvement could account for a significant proportion of the achievement gap. Research limitations, directions for future research directions, and implications are discussed.

Student perceptions toward homework assigned in general chemistry courses was investigated in this study. The study participants were required to complete homework assignments using two different online systems, ALEKS (adaptive-responsive system) and Sapling (traditional-responsive system). An online survey investigating their general perceptions of homework was administered at the beginning of the semester, and after the participants had completed most of the course, another survey was administered toward the end of the semester exploring their perceptions of both homework systems used in the course. We found that most students believed homework was important to their performance in the course. Our results also showed that students' prior experience in high school science classes had an impact on their perceptions of the amount and the frequency of homework they expected in their general chemistry course. In general, students perceived ALEKS to be a more effective tool for preparing exams, however they also complained that the system was more time-consuming compared to Sapling. For CHEM 1, we did not see a significant change in students' performance based on their homework system preference. In conclusion, students believed homework was a tool to help them learn the subject matter better, and they generally had positive perceptions toward both online homework systems.

The current investigation examined models of homework interest according to the data from middle school students in China. Homework interest was positively related to homework favorability, feedback quality, deep approach, monitoring motivation, peer interest, self-concept, teacher control, and family homework help. Additionally, homework interest was negatively associated with the surface approach. At the class level, homework interest was related positively to feedback quality, yet negatively to parent education. Thus, the current study extended prior research on homework, by indicating that student interest in homework was further associated with peer interest and homework approaches. Implications for further investigation and practice are discussed based on these findings.

This article explores issues that had to be confronted over a three-year period in terms of two New York State funded grants for which I was the evaluator. Major, critical challenges are presented, described, and discussed. Specifically, the paper addresses issues related to lack of planning at the grant design stage that resulted in challenges and problems with conducting targeted and meaningful assessments to complete evaluations. This article promotes the concept that evaluators have expertise and competencies that are valuable to grant design and that if an evaluator is involved at the planning/ design stage, many challenges confronted throughout evaluation processes might be prevented or mitigated. The inquiries that were conducted as part of these grants can be regarded as case studies. In the example of one investigation, it was a single-case study of an intervention in a Long Island, New York, district; in the case of the other, it was a multiple-case study wherein a Charter School disseminated an intervention to three New York City schools. Mixed methods were used for data collection. Following my work with these two funded grants, with lessons learned from my experiences with these two grants, I embarked on another journey with another agency where lessons learned from the two previous grants informed my approach to evaluating school programs. Thus, while I was not part of the original design team, we were able to discuss relevant evaluation issues early in the process. My latest experiences will also be briefly discussed at the end of the article in a Postscript.

Culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP) considers the impacts of schools on communities, explicitly calling upon schools to sustain the cultural modalities of communities of color (Paris, 2012). In this paper, we argue that one important influence schools should have on families is the awareness and knowledge that families' culture are sustained and viewed as official knowledge (Ladson-Billings, 1995) in the education system. We do so by including a perspective found in the disciplines of developmental science, family science, and education, Bronfenbrenner's bioecological theory. Specifically, we examine the principles of CSP from the Person-Process-Context-Time (PPCT) model within bioecological theory. Furthermore, we problematize the traditional practice of assigning homework and offer an implication for reimagining homework from a CSP lens.

This study focused on teacher responses during COVID-19 in the 2020-2021 academic year about homework assignments, their preparedness, internet use, resources used, measurement and evaluation methods. The study is qualitative using content analysis and the N-Vivo program. Ten teachers in different types of high schools in different socio-economic regions in Adana/Turkey participated in this research. The results showed that the opinions of the teachers did not vary according to school type and socio-economic environment. They made creative efforts for effective instruction by integrating different types of evaluation, homework, and methodology. Based on the results, it is suggested that distance educational planning should be made preparing teachers for such unexpected events; it includes the development of software, alternative teaching platforms, providing government support for internet and access to equipment and technology. Additionally, it is noted that teachers may experience a lack of motivation during the pandemic and should be supported psychologically during such unexpected events. [This study was presented at the International Professional Education Conference (IPEC) held on 23-29 August 2021 at Nevsehir Haci Bektas Veli University/Turkey.]

The purpose of this study is to investigate the views of instructors teaching Turkish language literacy to foreigners about the homework. For data collection, 175 instructors teaching at the Turkish Teaching Centers in Turkey in the 2021-2022 academic year participated. For the study group, the scale system in the "Google forms" software was utilized. Data were collected in 8 weeks. "The Scale of the Opinions of instructors Teaching Turkish Literacy to Foreigners about Homework" was a 3-point Likert type that consisted of 48 items. SPSS 24.0 program was used for analysis of the data. Together with descriptive statistical methods, t test was used for the comparisons of two groups with normal distribution and the ANOVA test was used for group comparisons of 3 and above. The instructors stated that the homework should be evaluated both as a process and as a content, that homework should be given for authentic as it would attract more attention of students, and that homework improved the reading and writing skills. While there was no statistically significant difference between the views of the instructors about homework by gender (p>0.05), significant differences were found by graduation status (p<0.05) and professional seniority (p<0.05).

Pedagogical methods for graduate-level statistics courses have rarely focused on the pursuit of conditional knowledge or the ability to choose which concepts/procedures are relevant given a specific research situation. However, utilization of an innovative approach called decision-based learning (DBL) not only provides students with the conceptual, declarative, and procedural knowledge of traditional statistics courses, it also demystifies the process of gaining conditional knowledge; thus decreasing "statistics anxiety." This study examined the impact of a DBL course on students' ability to select appropriate statistical methods based on the wording of story problems, and specifically looked at pre-post differences. Participants were graduate students enrolled in an introductory statistics course who completed a combination of a pre, and post, and follow-up interviews. Interviews were coded and scored based on students' ability to correctly identify statistical methods, run and interpret statistical output. Results indicated that students' conditional knowledge increased significantly from pre- to post- to follow-up (effect sizes of 0.63 to 0.64). This compares favorably with the range of effect size increase from published studies of other innovative approaches (0.21 to 0.52). Results also showed nominal conditional knowledge decay, suggesting that DBL can be an effective and efficient means of teaching introductory graduate-level statistics. Implications for other disciplines are noted.

Spreadsheets are a core computational tool for practicing engineers and engineering students. While Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, and other spreadsheet tools have some differences, numerous formulas, functions, and other tasks are common across versions and platforms. Building upon learning science frameworks showing that interactive activities are advantageous, an interactive textbook from zyBooks was created to provide students the opportunity to acquire spreadsheet skills by doing. Interactive components include stepping through animations, completing multiple choice and matching questions, and evaluating spreadsheet formulas and functions using 100+ auto-graded, randomized questions. While the interactive reading participation was discussed in previous work, the focus here is on auto-graded questions, sometimes called online homework. Fraction correct regardless of attempts, number of attempts before correct, and number of attempts after correct provided metrics to examine deliberate practice across three cohorts encompassing over 250 students. Sections grouped as General spreadsheet skills or Functions generally showed greater median correct, ranging from 76 to 90%, than sections categorized as Advanced spreadsheet skills, which led to median correct of 68 to 81%. Median correct also varied between different question types and decreased with question order, which aligns with questions being scaffolded. Finally, a hypothesis was tested: Adding a Copy sheet feature to the auto-graded questions would encourage deliberate practice and improve fraction correct between cohorts. Over 80% of students used the new Copy sheet button, and a statistically significant increase with large effect size in fraction correct between cohorts was found, which supports the hypothesis.

One of families' roles and responsibilities for their children is participation in their education. Family participation in the educational processes of their children can sometimes be helping the children with their homework. The purpose of this study is to determine the opinions of parents living in rural areas about their children's homework. This research is a case study, one of the qualitative research designs. The data have been collected from 27 parents living in rural areas of Konya in May 2021. The data, collected through the semi-structured interview form, have been analysed using the descriptive analysis method. According to the findings, parents believe that homework reinforces learning, encourages study, and ensures that knowledge is retained. They also think that homework is useful because it increases student success in courses, and reinforces learning. While the majority of parents state that their children do not spend more time on homework than necessary, a significant number of parents are of the opposite opinion. Most of the parents stated that they check their children's homework. While some parents stated that they did not have problems with their children as far as their homework was concerned, some parents stated that they had problems with their children about the homework. According to parents, children are bored and reluctant because they do not like homework, they think it is unnecessary and excessive.

Badges in education are an increasingly popular phenomenon, and a variety of questions exists as to the abilities and effectiveness of badges. In this study, the effect of digital badges within a Moodle-based online homework system was studied for an undergraduate general physics course at a large research-based university in northeast Taiwan. One hundred and sixty-two participants from two General Physics sessions were involved in this study and divided into two groups through self-selected options. Sixty-eight students in the treatment group could use digital badges in the online homework system, being able to earn one badge per assignment for turning their assignments in earlier than the assignment deadline, while the other students in the control group had no digital badges in the online homework system. The results showed that students in the treatment group turned in their assignments earlier than students in the control group did, and this difference was statistically significant. Further analysis showed that students in the treatment group spaced out their assignment practice more than students in the control group did, and the difference was statistically significant. Additionally, students in the treatment group actively attempted to earn badges, as there was a statistically significant increase in the number of badges earned by students in the treatment group over those in the control group. Based on a questionnaire given to study participants towards the conclusion of the study, the study found that students' perception of badges was positive. These findings corroborate earlier findings by other researchers that badges can be used to motivate specific behaviors in students whilst requiring minimal changes to the course structure. However, further corroborating earlier research is the finding that badges may not be particularly useful to motivate students towards challenging tasks. An earlier study of this course in a preceding academic year found that students are appreciative of the online homework system, and it appears from this study that the primary function of badges within the system is to enhance the experience of students, as well as to motivate timely engagement with assignments.