| dc.description.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. | en_US |
