Learning style is broadly defined as a learner’s perceptions of his or her own preferences for different types of learning conditions, including instructional materials and activities and learning environments. These styles are usually measured by self-report instruments that ask individuals how they prefer to learn. Cognitive styles, on the other hand, focus specifically on the way learners perceive, acquire, and process information that is more closely related to mental work. Cognitive style is assessed by means of task-specific measures of actual mental skills or tendencies in performing those skills (homework helper math).
 
Neither learning style nor cognitive style instruments were designed to measure home learning. Accordingly, we developed an instrument to serve that purpose. In defining home learning preferences, we adopted the broad definition of learning style just cited. The current instrument does not attempt to measure underlying information-processing mechanisms or how these mechanisms are related to home learning preferences. The instrument that we developed can be used in determining the differences in learning preferences in various groups (e.g., high vs. low achievers) but it does not provide information on the reasons (e.g., learners’ specific skills) that enable students in these groups to use certain preferred modes of learning (homework helper math).

Numerous investigators addressed the issue of whether self-report learning style inventories are of sufficient psychometric quality to justify their continued use for research or educational practices. It was reported, for example, that a number of widely used learning style tests are not good predictors of academic performance. However, other studies that employed information from learning style inventories found that matching learning activities and environments to individual learning style preferences resulted in increased student achievement.  These conflicting findings are not unexpected because of the wide variety of other factors that affect educational achievement (e.g., learner traits such as ability, prior knowledge; external factors such as socioeconomic status of the family, peer influence). The effect or predictive value of learning style information is probably quite modest, even when learning preferences have significant impacts on student learning (homework helper math).

 It is a difficult but worthwhile challenge for creative teachers to individualize homework in terms of the perceptual-physical preferences of the learners. It is less difficult but equally valuable for parents to make arrangements for doing homework that meet the student’s physical needs (homework hotline).

(1) Auditory. Some children prefer homework assignments that require them to listen to tapes or CDs that contain material to be used in doing the homework, and also prefer to hear homework instructions (homework hotline).

(2) Visual. Other learners prefer assignments that involve reading or watching films, and prefer to see written homework instructions (homework hotline).

(3) Tactile. Some children prefer the “hands-on” type of homework. They enjoy preparing exhibits to display for their classmates, building things and similar homework activities that require them to actually touch and manipulate materials (homework hotline).

(4) Kinesthetic. Some learners like homework that involves firsthand experience and active participation in events or activities that lead to the accumulation of knowledge: observing a phenomenon, interviewing an interesting person, or conducting an experiment. A learner, for example, could be assigned to use a computer to go on a virtual trip to a certain country studied in school, and the homework could be to report on a specific aspect of life there (homework hotline).

Homework helpers:  In this opening blog, we have focused on understanding homework and suggested a conceptual model to explain the phenomenon. We developed the theory of homework performance in order to provide a rationale, general principles, general concepts and their respective components and to improve homework as an educational tool. In order to succeed in improving homework, the close cooperation of three distinct groups is required: the teachers who give the homework and afterwards grade it; the students who do the homework, derive benefits from doing it and from the feedback about their homework performance from their teachers; and the parents who largely control the physical and psychological surroundings in which their children do their homework and enjoy a more serene and conflict-free home environment if their children do their homework in an efficient and personally gratifying (homework helpers) .

Homework helpers:  The role of homework helpers in homework is not to be underestimated. Teachers have a major role to play in improving homework because teacher instructions determine its content, scope, and specific requirements. It has been clearly established that higher academic achievement and improved attitudes result from tailoring the learning experiences to the cognitive and personal–social characteristics of the learner. Individualizing learning at school and at home is a difficult but not impossible challenge. In suggesting intervention strategies in the coming chapters, we discuss how teachers’ practice in the classroom affects homework (homework helpers).

Math homework helper:  A recent study found that it was not the amount of homework assigned but rather the amount of homework completed that is associated with student achievement, especially at the upper grades. They also reported that about one third of the students do not finish their homework. These findings serve as a warning sign that an important influence on the homework –achievement relationship has been ignored and merits systematic investigations.

Math homework helper:  If degree of compliance is a major determinant of the efficacy of homework in enhancing achievement, questions of what increases the degree of compliance merit high priority in future research. Considerable evidence indicates that allowing children to learn in school under conditions that match their individual preferences yield higher achievement and improved attitudes toward school. Unfortunately, there have been no studies about whether matching individual out-of-school learning preferences with the conditions under which homework is done increases compliance with these assignments, raises homework achievement, or both. One of the major reasons why this question has not been investigated is the lack of a theoretical framework that provides a heuristic conceptual model to stimulate research on homework, in general, and the lack of a reliable instrument to assess individual homework behavior, in particular.

Math homework helper:  Research studies on the intrapersonal and interpersonal characteristics of the person doing the homework (e.g., source and level of motivation, individual preferences of time, place, conditions, etc.) have been conducted even less frequently than research on homework assignment characteristics and their effects on academic achievement. School administrators, teachers, parents, and researchers in the field are acutely aware of individual personality characteristics of children in the school learning process. They recognize that it is not enough to be able to learn, that is, to have the intellectual ability to master the material, but that a person must want to learn and be able to persevere until an academic assignment is completed or an academic goal is achieved. This understanding has led to continuing efforts to understand motivation, in general, and to investigate the personal–social characteristics that affect learning in school, in particular. The time has come to expand this understanding to out-of-school learning. This book is a first step in that direction.

Method

The participants were 220 Korean seventh graders (114 males and 106 females). These participants were from six randomly chosen classes from two public junior high schools in the capital of Korea. All students who were present on the day the investigation was conducted participated. The revised HPQ (HPQ-2) was the 83-item questionnaire, which was group administered to students in their classrooms (English homework help).

Results

We examined the factor structure with the criteria of 15 factors derived from Study 2 first, with the intention of continuing the analyses in the event that the finding was not deemed appropriate. The 15-factor solution accounted for 51% of the variance. In general, the current findings were consistent with those of Study 2; thus, no further EFA was conducted. The findings are summarized to compare with those of Study 2. The eigen-values of the 15 factors ranged from 1.66 to 5.00 (English homework help).

Internal Consistency and Item Selection

The item retention criteria were the same as those used in Study 2. The coefficient alpha and recommendations for the questionnaire revision are as follows (English homework help):

a.  Environmental: sound .82, light .88, temperature .90, design .81, place .72. Factor loadings were all greater than .35 and each item loaded on only one factor. All original items were to be retained.
b.  Organizational: structure .65, order .76. With one item eliminated from each component, the internal consistency estimates were improved. Although some of the structure items had relatively small loading sizes, the content of items were consistent. Thus, we retained these items for further examination.
c.  Motivational: self-motivated .66, parent-motivated .69, teacher-motivated .78, persistence .58, responsibility .56. The internal consistency estimate of the persistence component in the Korean sample were lower than those of the U.S. sample (English homework help). However, because of the inconsistency in alpha across the two samples, and the relevance and quality of item composition were reasonable, we decided to retain the four items for further examination.

Chemistry homework help:  The category of motivation in the homework Performance model may be further divided into two subcategories, sources and strength. Three sources of motivation to perform homework are formulated. A learner may be self-motivated, parent-motivated, and/or teacher-motivated. These three components are not mutually exclusive. A learner’s motivation to perform homework may be influenced by one, two, or three sources in degrees.
1) Self-motivated refers to an individual’s personal and intrinsic willingness to learn at home.
(2) Parent-motivated refers to the efforts of learners to do their homework in order to satisfy their parents.

Chemistry homework help:  The degree to which parents motivate their children to do homework is frequently a consequence of parental intervention and involvement. Parents who demonstrate interest in homework, offer reasonable help as required, and provide appropriate rewards and reinforcement for consistent and successful homework performance, can increase motivation to do homework. Conversely, parents who give no attention to homework performance and give the impression that they do not consider it important can lower homework motivation. Finally, parents who are over-involved with their children’s homework may produce a conflict situation that negatively affects the parent–child relationship as well as the child’s homework motivation (Chemistry homework help).

(3) Teacher-motivated refers to students devoting time and effort to the homework tasks in order to satisfy their teachers. High motivation to perform homework may reflect the overall teacher–pupil relationship. If the relationship is highly positive in a variety of ways, doing the homework that that teacher assigns is one way to express regard and respect for the teacher and to earn the respect of the teacher. Conversely, teachers may be responsible for low motivation to perform homework (Chemistry homework help).

It is a challenge to correctly identify the optimal conditions that will help students do their homework successfully and enjoyably, on one hand, and to recognize the reasons for student homework difficulties, on the other. In order to meet the challenge, it is important to have correct information about homework motivation and preference. To obtain correct information, a reliable and valid assessment instrument is needed. Because the information we seek is the pattern of self-perceived preferences, a self-report measure can be used in the assessment process. Whether the preferences for doing homework are the same as those actually used is an interesting and important question that is discussed in depth in the next section (help with homework).

As with all self-report instruments, the validity of the assessment of homework motivation and preference is based on the assumption that learners are aware of, perceive, and can report their own preferences accurately. Because one can never be sure that the data gathered is completely accurate, it is especially important to provide evidence that the instrument used to collect data demonstrates a reasonable degree of reliability and validity. As with other instruments, some students may be tired during the administration, not focused on the task at hand, or reluctant to share their views on homework. Accordingly, they may not respond to the questionnaire in complete sincerity. Additionally, a student may misinterpret one or more of the items and thus distort the assessment. The homework Motivation and Preference Questionnaire (HMPQ) is designed to yield a profile of each student’s homework motivation and preference and to serve as a guide for adjusting homework assignments for individual learners. Accordingly, users should exercise particular caution to establish the reliability of responses not only for the entire group but for individual students as well (help with homework).

This blog presents the background and history of the development and validation of the HMPQ and describes the modification and revision process that has taken place. The instrument is ready to be used for student assessment; however, the process of modification and validation will progress (help with homework).

Method

Four steps were employed to identify the components and categories of home learning preferences and to construct items for a homework preference questionnaire (live homework help).

1. The purposes of the questionnaire development were thoroughly considered to determine whether an adoption and modification of existing instruments would be feasible.
2. The literatures on learning styles and homework were reviewed and analyzed.
3. Previously published learning style scales were examined.
4. A decision was made on whether to develop an entirely new questionnaire or to adopt and modify existing ones.

It was decided that the models that support the goal of the current questionnaire development were the learning style models. These multidimensional models share certain conceptual similarities with those that we aim to assess, and have been widely accepted and used in elementary and secondary schools. Thus, it was decided that we adopt and modify these models and inventories  for the development of a homework preference questionnaire. Next, some of the items were selected from the existing inventories and some new items were constructed. The initial pool of items was then reviewed (live homework help). We eliminated and modified redundant and overly simple or confusing items, ensured proper grammatical structure and readability level for school-aged children, varied directionality by providing positive and negative statements where applicable, and ensured that each category had adequate coverage and that each item reflected only one homework preference component. In the process of item development, we considered the length of the questionnaire, thus, trying to limit each component to as small number of items as possible without compromising the psychometric quality of the inventory (live homework help).

Biology homework help:  Homework by definition takes place without concomitant teacher direction. In school, the learner is part of a class group and learns in a certain way usually determined by the teacher, occasionally by a group of students and only rarely by the individual student. By contrast, when it comes to homework, learners have choices. First of all, they can decide whether to do the homework at all and how much time and effort to invest in doing the assigned tasks. Once they have made these decisions, they can choose to do homework in a variety of ways and presumably do it the way they like. There are a wide variety of individual differences in homework performance among learners both in the source and strength of motivation to do homework, and in preferences about what, when, where, how, and with whom they like to do it. We developed a conceptual model designed to comprehend, explain, and improve the homework process for the benefit of learners, teachers, and parents.

Biology homework help:  Until now, our research on homework has used a bottom–up or inductive approach. Our studies that focus on the personal–social characteristics of the child doing the homework are described in detail in the chapters that follow. We first established that in-school learning style and out-of-school homework style are empirically distinguishable. We examined homework preferences in children of three age groups and in four different cultures. We investigated whether children’s preferred home learning styles differ from their actual homework learning styles. We also examined the homework preferences of children who were intellectually gifted or highly creative in their thinking. In each study, we investigated the validity and reliability of the measure used to assess individual homework motivation and preferences and improved its psychometric characteristics. As you read these chapters, please bear in mind that later studies reflect changes in the instruments used over the course of this programmatic research.