Petryaeva Elena; Fedorovskaya Maria

A study of the content of homework in Moscow schools during the period of distance learning

Abstract

Homework is a global debate issue. No consensus regarding the role of homework assignments in educational achievements has been found. Students are obviously overwhelmed with homework assignments. Therefore, government staff has mechanisms to regulate homework and student's workload. Digital transformation exaggerated the issue of homework assignments, self-isolation and the transition to distance education increased negative feedback from parents about the homework assignments. The educational community is reassembling the studying process in the new reality that requires issuing, collecting, checking, and evaluating homework assignments. The MES has introduced digital recommended homework assignments intended for independent extracurricular work. The assignments contain advisory digitalized educational materials from the MES Library, partner's services, and other resources. The paper presents the research results obtained by analysis of the content of homework assignments to track changes in their intent in the educational process of Moscow schools during the period of distance education. The research is based on MES data on 18 subjects of general education. The homework analysis was carried by an expert in the framework of the specially developed expert card. The paper presents results of this analysis in the following areas: method of performance, review of the material, and preparation for tests, reproductive problems or problems requiring a creative solution, informational resources, individual problems. The data analysis revealed that the majority of homework assignments are written problems. However, homework assignments during the distance education process are frequently targeting studying new material, solving problems, and working on skills developed during classes, rather than reviewing the material. The homework assignments which contain tests are not a large fraction of the general assignment's database. A textbook is not an exclusive information source used by students, although it remains a primary resource. Students receive more homework assignments with outside resources rather than with MES. The data shows a weak trend towards individual homework assignments and differentiated assignments for groups of students.

Keywords

Moscow electronic school, MES, homework, Educational Data Mining, distance learning

References

1. Iakimenko T. (2019) “Tsifrovoe domashnee zadanie” [Digital homework]. Vestnik Moskovskogo gorodskogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta. Seriia: informatika i informatizatsiia obrazovaniia, 2019, vol. 2 (48), pp. 94–99 (in Russian).
2. Osmolovskaia I., Uskova I., Munina N. (eds) (2020) Domashniaia rabota shkol’nikov: puti sovershenstvovaniia: Materialy Mezhdunarodnoi nauchno-prakticheskoi konferentsii (Moskva, 19 noiabria 2020 goda) [School students’ homework: ways of improvement: Conference materials (Moscow, November 19, 2020)]. Moscow (in Russian).

Information about the author

Petryaeva Elena

Academic Degree: Candidate of Sciences* in Education;
Place of work: Moscow City University; 14 Panferova ul., Moscow 119261, Russian Federation;
Post: Director of the Centre for Analytical Research and Modelling in Education, Research Institute of Urban Science and Global Education;
ORCID: 0000-0002-2817-135X;
Email: petryaeva.elena@gmail.com.

*According to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) 2011, the degree of Candidate of Sciences (Cand.Sc.) belongs to ISCED level 8 — "doctoral or equivalent", together with PhD, DPhil, D.Lit, D.Sc, LL.D, Doctorate or similar.

Fedorovskaya Maria

Place of work: Moscow City University; 14 Panferova ul., Moscow 119261, Russian Federation;
Post: Experta at the Centre for Analytical Research and Modelling in Education, Research Institute of Urban Science and Global Education;
ORCID: 0000-0002-8274-1931;
Email: masha19832@gmail.com.