# Should studnets have to do math homework? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 19, 2003, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-studnets-have-to-do-math-homework/156216 "2003-02-19T23:08:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-studnets-have-to-do-math-homework/156216/21 "2003-02-20T04:47:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gyan9 \* > \*\*What would be the social dynamic created by this “arrangement” ? \*\* I’m not sure, but I hope it would be positive. The A student gets the A for helping others in good faith in class, and it’s easier to get the A that way than it is to have to take homework home and do it there. It basically says, if you prove your knowledge and skill and help others in class, your free time after school is all yours. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-studnets-have-to-do-math-homework/156216/22 "2003-02-20T14:34:00Z")
And it gets the kids who are performing well what kind of treatment from the students who aren’t performing well outside of class? Also, what impact would this have on those students who weren’t performing well? How would it affect their attitude to be forced into a tutoring session with another student, specifically one who might be younger than them (as when I took geometry and may of the students in my class were two grades ahead of me)? ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-studnets-have-to-do-math-homework/156216/23 "2003-02-20T15:15:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gyan9 \* > \*\*What’s the difference between understanding and mastering a concept? \*\* This is just my personal definition, but I see understanding as being able to explain the concept and mastery as being able to understand it and do it correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Orbifold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-studnets-have-to-do-math-homework/156216/24 "2003-02-20T16:05:12Z")
The point of school isn’t to help the students do math on the day of the exam, it’s to help students do math now and years from now. Exams aren’t enough for that. The only way to get that kind of long-term retention is practice, lots of it, and for an extended period. Due to unusual circumstances, I’ve managed to take “qualifying exams” at three different universities. These are nasty, difficult exams intended to test a graduate student’s knowledge in a huge array of mathematical topics; I studied for five weeks for a single oral exam the last time. To pass them once is an accomplishment. To have to pass them three times is just plain ridiculous. But does the fact that I’ve passed these exams three times mean that I’m now qualified to, say, tackle research problems in functional analysis? Heck no. I barely _remember_ functional analyis, because I don’t do it every day. Count me firmly in the “pro-homework” camp. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-studnets-have-to-do-math-homework/156216/25 "2003-02-20T16:20:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by catsix \* > \*\*And it gets the kids who are performing well what kind of treatment from the students who aren’t performing well outside of class? > > Also, what impact would this have on those students who weren’t performing well? How would it affect their attitude to be forced into a tutoring session with another student, specifically one who might be younger than them (as when I took geometry and may of the students in my class were two grades ahead of me)? \*\* [Bones] DAMMIT, JIM, I’M A LAWYER, NOT A CHILD PSYCHOLOGIST! [/Bones] OK, so drop the tutoring stuff. Thanks for the rebuttal. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-studnets-have-to-do-math-homework/156216/26 "2003-02-20T16:23:32Z")
The other problem with the tutoring aspect is that it reflects a value judgment, that helping others is so important that you have to do it. And that, IMO, is dangerously close to (the idea of) legislating morality. ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-studnets-have-to-do-math-homework/156216/27 "2003-02-20T17:07:49Z")
AudreyK raised a good point, namely that more than academics is taught at school. Doing homework helps teach a student how to manage time and how to follow instructions. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-studnets-have-to-do-math-homework/156216.md?page=1)