5 Secrets to Getting Students to Do Homework

by Guy E. White on 30 September, 2014

The most challenging aspect of teaching is not poorly done assignments – it’s missing ones.

Missing assignments can drive your students’ grades into the ground in no time at all. How can little tweaks to what you are already doing make missing assignments a rarity? Here are some secrets that I use in my classroom.

For years, the first six weeks of grading student work were exceedingly depressing. Dozens and dozens of students would not turn in required assignments. Accordingly, sometimes as much as 50 percent or more of the class had a failing grade. A question occurred to me: How much of this is my fault?

Eventually, I started to discover ways of getting more and more of my students to submit work. All it took were some easy and, frankly, sound teaching strategies to get students to more regularly submit completed, nearly flawless work.

Secret #1: “Preview” the Assignment

Every assignment given, I walk students through each of the steps, questions, prompts, etc. that are included. Not one detail is skipped. I even have them answer some of the questions verbally on the fly. Questions arise; they are answered.

Secret #2: Format the Assignment

I started using repeated assignment types/formats in my classroom. There are about three types of assignments, so formatting becomes predictable over time. I have students format their assignment, including name, date, and period, and fill in some of the required information so that they already have their pen or pencil working inside that document.

Secret #3: Number All Assignments

According to my informal survey, students receive about ten sheets of paper (mostly worksheets, sadly) from teachers every day. Add in notes that students are taking and they can have a dozen or more pages in various degrees of completion inside their binders and backpacks. So, I give every assignment as a sequential number in my class and have them write that number in the top left of the paper. When the gradebook says that they are missing Assignment 5, we know exactly what that means.

Secret #4: Points Equal Percentages

It drives me crazy when teachers say that assignments are worth 500 points, or 1000 points, etc. This makes no sense and gives the students very little information about what an assignment is actually worth in terms of their grades. So, I openly state (on my syllabus) the point values of every assignment. Each point value is equal to a percentage out of their grade. Add up all the assignments, tests, quizzes, etc. and you get 100 points. This requires lots of advance planning, but it’s totally worth it for all parties concerned.

Secret #5: The Syllabus Is King (or Queen)

In most college courses, all assignments are established ahead of time. Instruction may change, depending on the needs of the student, but the basic framework of what is due and when rarely changes. In my experience, only about 10 percent of a university course syllabus is dedicated to instructor policies. So, I made my syllabus 90 percent about what is due and when and 10 percent about my policies. Students now know what is due and when, regardless of whether they showed for class or not. No more “What is our homework?” questions.

How do you get students to submit assignments? What are your secrets? Tell us in the comment field below.

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