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Does teacher homework feedback matter to 6th graders’ school engagement?: a mixed methods study

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Abstract

The effectiveness of homework on improving student academic achievement depends on several factors; for example, feedback provided by the teacher (i.e. grading) and student engagement are important moderators in this process. However, the relationships between the types of homework feedback commonly used by teachers and student school engagement have not yet been examined. Anchored in the Self-Determination Theory, this mixed methods sequential explanatory study investigated how five types of teacher homework feedback predict three dimensions of students’ school engagement. The participants included 6th graders (N = 4288) and their mathematics teachers (N = 170). For this investigation, a quantitative phase was run, followed by a qualitative phase. The quantitative data were analyzed using multivariate multilevel regression models. The quantitative data showed positive relationships between five types of feedback and school engagement, albeit with different results at student and class levels. The findings showed small effect sizes. The qualitative data, based on a purposeful sampling, provided further insights regarding the low effect sizes that were found. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Four themes were identified as follows: homework at home and/or at the study center, perceived homework feedback types, school engagement, and school disaffection. Both data sets indicated directions to strengthen the benefits of homework feedback and to maximize students’ learning. This research paper discusses practical implications as well as future research directions.

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Acknowledgements

Authors would like to thank Sofia Kirkman and Connor Holmes for the English editing of the manuscript.

Funding

This study was conducted at Psychology Research Centre (UID/PSI/01662/2013), University of Minho, and supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education through national funds and co-financed by FEDER through COMPETE2020 under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007653). The first author was supported by a PhD fellowship from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT – SFRH/BD/95341/2013).

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Correspondence to Pedro Rosário.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Appendices

Appendix 1

Table 6 Homework feedback perceived by students

Appendix 2

Interview questions

Introduction questions

  1. 1.

    Does your mathematics teacher assign homework?

  2. 2.

    When do you do your mathematics homework?

  3. 3.

    Where do you do your homework?

  4. 4.

    How do you do your homework?

Specific questions

  1. 1.

    When you return to class, what does your teacher usually do regarding the homework assigned?

  2. 2.

    In your opinion, why do your teacher use… (specify the types of homework feedback referred by the interviewee in the first specific question)

  3. 3.

    What do you do during… (specify the types of homework feedback referred by the interviewee in the first specific question)

  4. 4.

    What do your classmates do during… (specify the types of homework feedback referred by the interviewee in the first specific question)

  5. 5.

    How do you feel when your mathematics teacher… (specify the types of homework feedback referred by the interviewee in the first specific question)

  6. 6.

    What do you do with the information provided (specify the types of homework feedback referred by the interviewee in the first specific question)

  7. 7.

    What are the benefits of… (specify the types of homework feedback referred by the interviewee in the first specific question)

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Cunha, J., Rosário, P., Núñez, J.C. et al. Does teacher homework feedback matter to 6th graders’ school engagement?: a mixed methods study. Metacognition Learning 14, 89–129 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11409-019-09200-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11409-019-09200-z

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