Increasing homework duration beyond fifteen minutes shows no clear benefit for mathematics or science achievement¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2023 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? All credible intervals for duration treatment effects in Table 2 include zero, so the study cannot be confident that increasing homework duration increases achievement in either subject. → Nathan McJames 2023

Evidence¶

Nathan McJames 2023¶

Nathan McJames, Andrew Parnell, and Ann O'Shea. (2023). Little and Often: Causal Inference Machine Learning Demonstrates the Benefits of Homework for Improving Achievement in Mathematics and Science. https://timssandpirls.bc.edu/timss2019/international-results

q2 · i? · associational · r3

Duration results from the multivariate Bayesian Causal Forests analysis of the TIMSS 2019 Irish eighth-grade sample, relative to a baseline of up to fifteen minutes per assignment. Table 2 prints mathematics effects of -0.42 (-3.22, 2.48) for 16-30 minutes and 0.23 (-3.11, 3.53) for more than 30 minutes; science intervals are mostly positive but small.

"Notice that all credible intervals in the duration section of Table 2 include zero within their range, meaning we can not be confident that increasing homework duration will increase achievement."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Daily mathematics homework raises eighth-grade mathematics achievement by about 7.36 TIMSS units relative to homework up to one or two times per week — related
• Homework frequency is more important than homework duration for improving eighth-grade mathematics and science achievement — a broader claim this one bears on
• The optimal homework frequency in science is three or four times per week, with daily science homework showing no significant benefit over the baseline — related
• Students from advantaged socioeconomic backgrounds do not benefit significantly more from homework than their peers in eighth grade — related