Previous academic achievement and students’ involvement in homework over the last years of primary education

Abstract

It is a common practice to prescribe the same type and amount of homework to all students in the classroom. However, it is very likely that not all students will be in equal conditions to work on homework (previous knowledge, skills, motivation, etc.). Previous academic achievement could be a crucial variable in this regard. Therefore, the main purpose of this work is to analyze the relationship between previous academic achievement (presage variable), the type of work approach used by students when performing homework (process variable), and their behavioral engagement (amount of homework done, time dedicated, and use of time). The sample consists of 516 students of the last three years of Primary Education. The results indicate that as the levels of academic achievement are higher, there is a progressive increase in the amount of homework done and in the use of that time. They also indicate less use of the surface approach. As students progress, a progressive increase in time spent occurs. However, the use they make of that time is decreasing. The type of approach they use in homework as they increase in grade tends to be less deep.