Relationship Between Homework Practices And Performance In Mathematics Among Public Day Secondary School Students In Hamisi Sub-County, Kenya

ABSTRACT

Homework is a task that teachers assign to students to be completed outside the class time. It is

an important tool for enhancing instruction as it is designed to reinforce what students have

already learned and to prepare them for upcoming lessons and tasks. Various endevour have

been employed to improve performance in mathematics including homework which teachers

give to students at various amounts and frequencies. However, research done so far does not give

guidance on the amount and frequency at which teachers should administer homework so that it

is beneficial to students in terms of improved performance in mathematics. The same does not

state whether students’ attitude towards homework influence their performance. The purpose of

this study was to determine the relationship between homework practices and students’

performance in mathematics in Hamisi Sub-county. Objectives of the study were to establish

how students’ attitude towards homework, homework frequency and amount of homework are

related to performance in Mathematics. The study findings may be used to regulate the amount

of homework tasks given to students and frequency at which homework should be administered

such that it is beneficial to learners. The study encompassed both descriptive survey and

correlation designs. In the conceptual framework, the dependent variable was performance in

Mathematics while the independent variables were students’ attitude towards homework,

frequency of homework and amount of homework administered. The study population consisted

of 1,600 Form 2 students and 30 teachers of Mathematics. Simple random sampling technique

was employed to identify 310 Form 2 students constituting 19% of the population while

purposive sampling was used to select 27 teachers from 27 schools. Achievement test was

administered to students while questionnaires were administered to students and teachers to

collect data. Face validity of the instruments was ascertained by experts from the Department of

Educational Communication, Technology and Curriculum Studies, Maseno University while

reliability of the instruments was determined through a pilot study involving 3 schools which

were not used in the final study, giving a reliability coefficient of 0.834. Descriptive and

inferential statistics were used to summarize the relationships in the data. The study established

that students with positive attitude towards homework performed better in mathematics than

those with negative attitude. Students assigned homework weekly performed better than those

assigned homework daily, fortnightly and monthly. Students assigned 21-30 sums staggered

through different days performed better than those assigned more or less sums for the entire topic

but as a single assignment done within a period of one day. The Ministry of Education should

use the findings of this study to develop a policy on homework as a tool for enhancing

performance in mathematics and other subjects instead of leaving the management of homework

exclusively at the discretion of teachers.