{"id":4472,"date":"2020-05-11T04:11:56","date_gmt":"2020-05-11T04:11:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/?p=4472"},"modified":"2022-07-12T03:05:11","modified_gmt":"2022-07-12T03:05:11","slug":"3-mathematics-homework-mistakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/educators\/3-mathematics-homework-mistakes\/","title":{"rendered":"Mathematics Homework Mistakes That Stop Student Engagement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);background-position: center center;background-repeat: no-repeat;padding-top:5%;padding-right:0%;padding-bottom:5%;padding-left:0%;margin-bottom: 0px;margin-top: 0px;border-width: 0px 0px 0px 0px;border-color:#eae9e9;border-style:solid;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_1_1 1_1 fusion-one-full fusion-column-first fusion-column-last\" style=\"margin-top:0%;margin-bottom:0%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-flex-column-wrapper-legacy\" style=\"background-position:left top;background-repeat:no-repeat;-webkit-background-size:cover;-moz-background-size:cover;-o-background-size:cover;background-size:cover;padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px;\"><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\"><p>Despite your students\u2019 objections and complaints of injustice, homework is continually proven to be beneficial to their mathematics learning.<\/p>\n<p>So how do you get them to <em>engage<\/em>\u00a0with it?<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re constantly setting homework that ends up undone and decaying at the bottom of your students\u2019 bags, you might be making one of these\u00a0<strong>mathematics homework mistakes that stop student engagement<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Read on to find out how you can correct them ASAP and\u00a0<strong>start getting the engagement levels you really want.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><style type=\"text\/css\">@media only screen and (max-width:768px) {.fusion-title.fusion-title-1{margin-top:11px!important;margin-bottom:11px!important;}}<\/style><div class=\"fusion-title title fusion-title-1 fusion-sep-none fusion-title-text fusion-title-size-two\" style=\"margin-top:22px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:22px;margin-left:0px;\"><h2 class=\"title-heading-left fusion-responsive-typography-calculated\" style=\"margin:0;--fontSize:24;line-height:1.95;\"><p data-fontsize=\"25\" data-lineheight=\"30\">Homework mistake 1: Too much drill and practice<\/p><\/h2><\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-2\"><p>Traditionally, the content-heavy nature of mathematics has made it a subject of\u00a0<em>drill and practice<\/em>; one where systematic repetition is often the go-to strategy for teaching tricky numerical concepts. But if this is the only type of homework your students receive, mathematics\u00a0starts to become repetitive very quickly.<\/p>\n<p>A meaningful sequence of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/educators\/how-to-set-better-mathematics-homework\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">mathematics homework<\/a> will\u00a0<strong>alternate the drill and practice with opportunities to explore mathematical content in new and exciting ways<\/strong>. Instead of running off another set of worksheets you could:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Get students to explore self-learning resources on the internet and report back with their findings<\/li>\n<li>Connect mathematics to topics of personal interest. Whether it\u2019s the numerical components of a card game such as \u2018Magic: The Gathering\u2019 or a projected number of Instagram followers, highlight the mathematics that\u2019s implicit in the things your students know and love<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/educators\/how-to-factor-the-real-world-into-the-mathematics-teaching-equation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Connect mathematics to the real world<\/a>\u00a0by asking students to research a natural phenomenon that shows mathematics in action<\/li>\n<li>Task students with a home activity that applies mathematical skills in a real context, such as baking or creating a daily planner.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These activities develop autonomy and foster a sense of curiosity in mathematics that isn\u2019t possible with rehashed material.<\/p>\n<\/div><style type=\"text\/css\">@media only screen and (max-width:768px) {.fusion-title.fusion-title-2{margin-top:11px!important;margin-bottom:11px!important;}}<\/style><div class=\"fusion-title title fusion-title-2 fusion-sep-none fusion-title-text fusion-title-size-two\" style=\"margin-top:22px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:22px;margin-left:0px;\"><h2 class=\"title-heading-left fusion-responsive-typography-calculated\" style=\"margin:0;--fontSize:24;line-height:1.95;\"><p data-fontsize=\"25\" data-lineheight=\"30\">Homework mistake 2: Not enough differentiation<\/p><\/h2><\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-3\"><p>After planning lessons that cater to a seemingly impossible spread of individual student needs \u2014 from the difficult to the downright bizarre \u2014 it\u2019s hard to continue differentiating the work your students do\u00a0<em>outside<\/em>\u00a0class. But\u00a0one-size-fits-all homework tasks do nothing to engage students who have different levels of ability.<\/p>\n<p>Try these strategies to differentiate mathematics homework for your students:<\/p>\n<h3 data-fontsize=\"20\" data-lineheight=\"24\">Provide a self-learning package<\/h3>\n<p>Instead of drip-feeding scaffolded resources that get progressively more challenging, have students self-assess their level of understanding with an initial pre-test worksheet, and then\u00a0<strong>let them choose resources best suited to their ability level from the whole range<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>These might include videos, informative handouts, and web resources as well as worksheets. Your students will be able to learn at their own pace without you needing to assign custom work every step of the way.<\/p>\n<h3 data-fontsize=\"20\" data-lineheight=\"24\">Set open-ended tasks<\/h3>\n<p>Open-ended tasks differentiate by student output as opposed to teacher input, which means a\u00a0<strong>single task can cater to multiple ability levels<\/strong>. For example, you could task students with cutting simple shapes (e.g. triangle, square, rectangle) out of paper which they then put together to create models of familiar objects.<\/p>\n<p>Students with a basic understanding of shapes with will benefit from putting simple objects together with common shapes, while students who have already grasp the basic concepts could use the same activity to discover and cut out new shapes for more complex models. Every student is therefore placed in their zone of proximal development by the same task.<\/p>\n<h3 data-fontsize=\"20\" data-lineheight=\"24\">Use EdTech programs<\/h3>\n<p>EdTech programs can allow for seamless differentiated homework. For example, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/au\/for-schools\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mathletics<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/mathseeds.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mathseeds<\/a> programs determine lesson sequences based on students\u2019 individual levels of ability.<\/p>\n<p>Using programs such as these for differentiation\u00a0spares you from having to create multiple homework sets, so that you can instead focus your efforts on providing personal learning experiences during regular class time.<\/p>\n<\/div><style type=\"text\/css\">@media only screen and (max-width:768px) {.fusion-title.fusion-title-3{margin-top:11px!important;margin-bottom:11px!important;}}<\/style><div class=\"fusion-title title fusion-title-3 fusion-sep-none fusion-title-text fusion-title-size-two\" style=\"margin-top:22px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:22px;margin-left:0px;\"><h2 class=\"title-heading-left fusion-responsive-typography-calculated\" style=\"margin:0;--fontSize:24;line-height:1.95;\"><p data-fontsize=\"25\" data-lineheight=\"30\">Homework mistake 3: Not providing meaningful feedback<\/p><\/h2><\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-4\"><p>If you regularly set homework without following it up in a timely and meaningful fashion, your\u00a0students will begin to question why they should engage with it in the first place.<\/p>\n<p>Every homework activity should receive some form of meaningful feedback, but this doesn\u2019t mean you need to spend hours marking and composing handwritten comments. Consider the following feedback strategies as alternatives:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Peer assessment<\/li>\n<li>Self-assessment with a student-friendly rubric<\/li>\n<li>Student written reflections<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In those instances where the feedback should come from you, you can\u00a0use short-hand, written comments or symbols as place-holders for common pieces of feedback\u00a0(e.g. WO = \u2018I need to see your working out\u2019), and\u00a0highlight specific parts of the student\u2019s work that need attention.<\/p>\n<p>The benefits of this approach are two-fold: it saves you time and allows students to easily compare their feedback across different homework tasks to find patterns and similarities.<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t forget stamps and stickers too as an easy way of delivering praise that students love.<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-5\"><h3><strong>In Summary<\/strong><\/h3>\n<h3><strong>1. Set new tasks for students to foster curiosity and autonomy<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Get students to explore self-learning resources online and report their findings<\/li>\n<li>Connect mathematics to their personal interest<\/li>\n<li>Ask students to research a natural phenomenon that shows mathematics in action<\/li>\n<li>Assign students with a home activity that applies mathematical skills in a real context<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>2. Differentiate mathematics homework<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Provide self-learning package<\/li>\n<li>Set open-ended tasks<\/li>\n<li>Use Edtech programs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>3. Provide personal and meaningful feedback\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Use short-hand, written comments or symbols for common pieces of feedback<\/li>\n<li>Highlight specific parts of the student\u2019s work that need attention<\/li>\n<li>Use stamps and stickers for praise<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-2 nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);background-position: center center;background-repeat: no-repeat;padding-top:5%;padding-right:0%;padding-bottom:5%;padding-left:0%;margin-bottom: 0px;margin-top: 0px;border-width: 0px 0px 0px 0px;border-color:#eae9e9;border-style:solid;\" ><\/div>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":4473,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[48],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\r\n<title>Mathematics Homework Mistakes That Stop Student Engagement<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Not getting the levels of student engagement you want with your mathematics homework? Make sure you aren&#039;t making one of these mistakes.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.3plearning.com\/blog\/three-mathematics-homework-mistakes-kill-student-engagement\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mathematics Homework Mistakes That Stop Student Engagement\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Not getting the levels of student engagement you want with your mathematics homework? Make sure you aren&#039;t making one of these mistakes.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.3plearning.com\/blog\/three-mathematics-homework-mistakes-kill-student-engagement\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Mathletics Global Blog\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-05-11T04:11:56+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-12T03:05:11+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/assets-homepages.3plearning.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/shutterstock_702317665-1.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jackson Best\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jackson Best\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/educators\/3-mathematics-homework-mistakes\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.3plearning.com\/blog\/three-mathematics-homework-mistakes-kill-student-engagement\/\",\"name\":\"Mathematics Homework Mistakes That Stop Student Engagement\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-11T04:11:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-12T03:05:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ec016f4b70d244416c32fd82a791740c\"},\"description\":\"Not getting the levels of student engagement you want with your mathematics homework? Make sure you aren't making one of these mistakes.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.3plearning.com\/blog\/three-mathematics-homework-mistakes-kill-student-engagement\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.3plearning.com\/blog\/three-mathematics-homework-mistakes-kill-student-engagement\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.3plearning.com\/blog\/three-mathematics-homework-mistakes-kill-student-engagement\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mathematics Homework Mistakes That Stop Student Engagement\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"The Mathletics Global Blog\",\"description\":\"Empowering Maths Learning Online\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ec016f4b70d244416c32fd82a791740c\",\"name\":\"Jackson Best\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/author\/jackson-best3plearning-com\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mathematics Homework Mistakes That Stop Student Engagement","description":"Not getting the levels of student engagement you want with your mathematics homework? Make sure you aren't making one of these mistakes.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.3plearning.com\/blog\/three-mathematics-homework-mistakes-kill-student-engagement\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mathematics Homework Mistakes That Stop Student Engagement","og_description":"Not getting the levels of student engagement you want with your mathematics homework? Make sure you aren't making one of these mistakes.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.3plearning.com\/blog\/three-mathematics-homework-mistakes-kill-student-engagement\/","og_site_name":"The Mathletics Global Blog","article_published_time":"2020-05-11T04:11:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-07-12T03:05:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":768,"url":"https:\/\/assets-homepages.3plearning.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/shutterstock_702317665-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jackson Best","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jackson Best","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/educators\/3-mathematics-homework-mistakes\/","url":"https:\/\/www.3plearning.com\/blog\/three-mathematics-homework-mistakes-kill-student-engagement\/","name":"Mathematics Homework Mistakes That Stop Student Engagement","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-05-11T04:11:56+00:00","dateModified":"2022-07-12T03:05:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ec016f4b70d244416c32fd82a791740c"},"description":"Not getting the levels of student engagement you want with your mathematics homework? Make sure you aren't making one of these mistakes.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.3plearning.com\/blog\/three-mathematics-homework-mistakes-kill-student-engagement\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.3plearning.com\/blog\/three-mathematics-homework-mistakes-kill-student-engagement\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.3plearning.com\/blog\/three-mathematics-homework-mistakes-kill-student-engagement\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mathematics Homework Mistakes That Stop Student Engagement"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/","name":"The Mathletics Global Blog","description":"Empowering Maths Learning Online","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ec016f4b70d244416c32fd82a791740c","name":"Jackson Best","url":"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/author\/jackson-best3plearning-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4472"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4472"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5274,"href":"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4472\/revisions\/5274"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mathletics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}