Outline

[Thesis:] Homework in elementary classrooms is trending more detrimental than beneficial; with students as young as kindergarten-age given hours of work a night, this burden feeds the issue that is a lack of motivation in students, and along with paltry resources for educators and an expectation of parental involvement that is often unobtainable, can cause stress levels to rise to a degree that invites adverse health consequences for students and teachers alike.

[Context; define & talk about homework trends, school day and family stress. Impact of single-parent homes and two-parent homes where both work outside the home.]

[Argument 1:] An argument I plan to explore is the connection between poor implementation of homework and stress levels of students. The sources Margolis (2005) and Pressman et al. (2015) are of benefit to this argument.

A counter argument I plan to bring up and work to refute is the concept of “healthy stress” and its benefit to motivation. Research shows that too often the level of stress homework inspires in students stretches this concept past both mental and physical health. There is also the fact that motivational strategies must be taught, and if this homework is being assigned without teaching the strategies, students are likely to be defeated in their minds before they’ve even begun.

I will also bring in the larger concern of stress on the family when “too much” homework comes into play; when the amount of homework assigned reaches a certain threshold, the detriment is not only to the student expected to complete the work, but the guardian of the student expected to aid them in its completion.

  • state argument
  • evidence from source
  • counter-argument
  • counter the counter argument with evidence

[stress on student, and family as a whole graphic]

[Argument 2:] Another argument is for “practice makes perfect”–that repetitive homework assignments are of benefit. I would argue that there is a threshold that is reached where the practice is a hindrance rather than a help. Simplicio, J. S. C. (2005) is a source I would rely on here.

  • state argument
  • evidence from source
  • counter-argument
  • counter the counter argument with evidence

[Argument 3:] There is the argument that homework, a large quantity of homework, is necessary for assessment. I would largely use Cooper, H., Robinson, J. C., & Patall, E. A. (2006) and Cooper, H. (2010) and Terada, Y. (2015) to disprove this claim; it is the quality, not quantity, of homework that best assesses the progress of a student. There are other, more quality ways to measure progress in a classroom than take-home work.

  • state argument
  • evidence from source
  • counter-argument
  • counter the counter argument with evidence

[graphic showing disparity between homework as assessment and other forms of assessment]

[Conclusion… Summary of key points from each argument; Reiterate thesis.]

One thought on “Outline

  1. I understand this is a preliminary outline, and surely you will improve upon. I would suggest you summarize each of the arguments into one sentence and try to avoid using the word “I.” Also, personally, I think the thesis is too long. You need to give out some information, but the existing version is a little bit too wordy. A thesis is supposed to be a short and powerful summary of the key ideas behind the project. So maybe consider trim it down?

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