Why students of secondary education complete more homework?

Abstract

Homework is one of the most controversial educational activities nowadays. Although, there is scientific evidence of their potential on the academic performance and learning of students, it is still necessary to study some variables, which are part of the process of carrying out homework, with more precision. Most of the relationships between motivational variables involved in learning and performance have been studied taking into account the tasks carried out by the student within the walls of the school. However, there is a certain lack of knowledge of the relationships that occur between these variables in the process of completing homework; Homework, by definition, are prescribed by the teacher to be carried out after school. For this reason, the main goal of the present paper is to analyze the predictive capacity of each variable related to motivation and homework involvement on the amount of them which are done by students. Participants were 899 students from Spanish compulsory secondary education. Results from the regression analysis indicate that the more time students spend on homework, the more intrinsically motivated they are, the more effective time management is, the better motivation management is and the less anxiety they show, then the more amount of homework they complete.