Improving a student’s ability to think about any given issue, analyse and solve it is one of the important functions of homework. Teachers give homework, to achieve this objective.

With current day classroom environment, it is not possible to cover entirely all aspects of a given lesson. Let us say, a tutor has to teach about atmospheric pressure in a science class. Obviously only the basic idea gets taught in class. To develop and improve the thinking ability of the student, the teacher may give homework, by suggesting some simple experiment to be done at home. Such as the one involving the filling up a glass with water, covering the top with a piece of paper and turn it upside down. With the water not falling down, the young student’s brain is alerted immediately to what was taught in class about atmospheric pressure. His thought processes gets to move and advance. Or the experiment with a convex lens, concentrating the sun’s rays to burn a piece of dry leaf. Sometimes the early days of a scientist of the future can be through such simple experimentation and homework. Similarly lessons in maths do need development of the thinking abilities of students. That is why homework is very important and especially so in science and math lessons.

The development of a student into a person who can manage his time, meet deadlines and time schedules is also achieved with the help of homework. In spite of having to watch interesting TV programs (ranging from SpongeBob and Square pants to NBA games, depending upon the age and interest levels of the students); having been given a deadline to accomplish a defined task; most students will manage their time, organize their lessons, writing materials, books and achieve the end result. That is good training for the future. Whether in business or in jobs, the ability to manage time and available resources to achieve an objective is very significant. The fundamentals of Management by Objectives are incorporated in the thought processes of the young brains through homework.

Another important contribution of homework is that it also functions ad a ‘memory jogger’. Classroom environments often do not enable the students to pay full attention to every thing that has been mentioned and/or taught. There are also distractions in class which vary from the color of the dress of your neighbor up to the memory capacity of the laptop of your friend (depending upon age and interest levels). As the students have also to move from one subject to the next, between classes and on different days of the week, how much information taught in class can be retained by any average student? Much of the information does not get fully disseminated and/or analyzed in modern day class rooms. Homework is therefore utilized to help accentuate the information taught at school, function as a memory jogger and generate an organized direction in the thought processes of the student community.

Association of ideas, interlinks between subjects such as science and maths etc are also beneficial results coming out of thoughtfully organized homework lessons.

In countries where conventionally students are doing very well in subjects like Maths, Science etc (for eg.Finland, Japan), homework has played a significant role in improving the inherent, intellectual abilities of the students.

Homework is thus important since it helps to improve the thought processes, management capabilities, performance and accomplishment of students. Homework also generates and enhances the potential of students to develop an integrated, productive personality to meet the challenges of the future.