Are there any differences in homework behavior in students from different classrooms? Results from a multilevel analysis in French as a second language

Abstract

Students’ achievement gains have been linked to homework assignments (teacher level) and students’ conscientious homework behavior (student level). However, there are no empirical studies that empirically investigated the differences in homework behavior among students in different classes and the impact of structural features (e.g., course level, class size, region) on students’ homework behavior. In the present study with 1,312 eight graders from 73 German speaking classes from three regions in Switzerland, multilevel modeling was used to predict students’ homework motivation and behavior. The analyses indicate that school-level and course-level factors significantly impact on students’ homework behavior. However, the data indicate that it is not sufficient to take structural predictors such as class size and course level into account. Therefore, studies focusing on homework quality are called for.