An Effective Homework Methodology

Abstract

Homework assignments are one of the most common and effective techniques used by instructors to gauge and assess student comprehension of the material covered during lecture time.  In general, students who spend sufficient time on their homework doing their own work tend to do very well in the course.  Unfortunately, one of drawbacks of the recent advances in technology is that students can easily gain access to textbook solutions manuals that render the homework assignment an exercise in rote copying.  The latter has compelled many faculty to either allocate to the homework assignments a very small fraction of the overall course grade, which essentially all but eliminates the incentive for doing the homework, or to abandon assigning homework altogether.  With this in mind, this paper presents an effective homework methodology that encourages students to spend adequate time working on and comprehending their assignments and deters them from mindless copying.  Furthermore, data collected over several semesters for a number of mechanical engineering courses ranging from sophomore to senior level indicate that the proposed methodology has resulted in a marked improvement in the overall student performance, success rate, and attendance in the classroom.