You just had what seemed like the longest day of your life. You walk into your room after a rough day of classes. You took two tests that you didn’t do so hot on and you are exhausted. All you want to do is relax for a little bit, but you can’t. Why? Because tomorrow you have 40 math problems due, a paper to write for your English class, and a speech outline due for your public speaking class.

According to USA Today, “college students spend an average of 17 hours a week doing homework, readings, and other assignments.” That’s about 2 and a half hours a day at least doing homework. That doesn’t seem like a whole lot, but take into account the amount of time students spend in class everyday as well. Personally, I spend about 3 hours in class everyday. This may not seem like a lot either, but on top of extra curricular activities, working, and other things students take on, it can be hard to find the balance.

So the question is, is all the homework really worth it? Is there any evidence that homework leads to a stronger academic student? Let’s take a look.

According to District Administration, there is a positive correlation between homework and better scores on tests. When interviewed, researcher Robert Tai said, “Homework should act as a place where students practice the skills they’ve learned in class. It shouldn’t be a situation where students spend many hours every night poring over something new.” A study was done by Harris Cooper in 2006 (director of Duke University’s Program in Education). He analyzed and combined the results many homework studies. He found that students who had homework performed better on class tests compared to those who did not.

On the other hand, there are many studies that suggest otherwise. Some studies conclude that homework does not impact achievement significantly. In fact, some believe it has the opposite effect.  One study from Penn State looked data from the late 1990s. They found that in countries that give more homework, student’s performance on the international test, Trends in Mathematics and Science Study, was lower than those with less homework. These professors and researchers do not call for no homework necessarily, but they do suggest making homework more about the quality than quantity

What can we take away from this? 

Homework is helpful. Practice problems do in fact improve test grades and guide students in succeeding in the classroom. However, after about 90 minutes of homework, results will start to diminish. It’s important to find the happy-medium when it comes to homework and make sure students aren’t overloaded with busy work.

So next time you walk through your door after a stressful day of class, club meetings, and work, just remember that a few minutes hitting the book will benefit you in the long run. But after 90-120 minutes it may be time to put the pencil down, close your laptop, and call it a night.