Success in Homework
Samuel Bergman
Junior, Mathematics Education, Physics minor, Bozeman, MT

Have you come to college full of excitement because you will only be in class for four hours a day?  Are you ready for all that free time?  Well, don’t get too excited just yet.  There is still homework!  College homework is not the same as high school homework.  College professors expect you to do all your homework outside of class, they expect you to do your homework for your own benefit, and they expect you to learn from your homework. 

In high school, students often had time in class to begin their homework assignments.  Not so in college.  I’ve never heard a professor say, “Well that’s all I have for today, you can all get started on your homework for the rest of class.”  When an instructor is finished, class is dismissed.  Professors expect students to spend around two hours outside of class for each hour in class on their homework.  Not all classes are as hard as others, and sometimes that number can be a lot higher.  I’ve had classes where I cracked a book for two hours before the test, yet for other classes I’ve spent 4+ hours a night just to keep up!  If you expect good grades, the two-hour rule is pretty accurate when averaged for all your classes. 

A real key to success in college is through the homework.  In this sense, high school was the same way, except now your parents are not nagging you to do it!  In many math classes, the teacher may assign a list of homework and never collect it. It is totally optional! (Optional only in the sense that it is not graded, but if you don’t do it, you won’t pass!)  Mastery of a subject comes from doing to homework; you can’t expect proficiency without doing your homework.  You must be motivated on your own to complete the homework and pass these classes. Schedule time for your homework as well as social interactions; if you only study when you have nothing else to do, you will never study. There is always something else to do! You have to make the time for homework. 

Another common homework issue I have both seen and experienced arises when a student scores 100% on all their graded homework assignments, and then takes a test and fails.  Granted, we all have bad days, but more often than not, this student has worked with a peer group on their homework.  There is no problem with this, in fact, most instructors encourage peer-learning groups.  The only cheating that can go on here is cheating yourself.  If the groups of people with whom you study consistently contribute more than you do, and you end up copying their solutions, you may score well on the homework and not learn a darn thing.  Understand what you do; don’t lean too heavily on others!  One more point on understanding your homework: make sure you can read it and it flows in a logical sequence. The person grading the homework will appreciate this, and you will too as a reference for studying for the exam.  When your graded homework is passed back, find out why certain things are marked wrong. Your instructor is usually more than happy to help you during their office hours, especially if you demonstrate some effort.

If you keep on top of your homework and schedule regular time to complete it, you will have much better success in college, not to mention the reduced stress of last minute cramming!   It may be hard to come up with the motivation to say “no” to friends and “yes” to the books, but it will be well worth it at the end of the semester.