TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL

AMONG THE FILIPINO SCHOOL LEARNERS

Abstract

This study is anchored on the homework quality model of Dettmers,

Trautwein, Ludtke, Schnyder, and Baumert (2010). The model advances that

homework quality and student characteristics are associated with homework

motivation (homework expectancy and value beliefs), homework behavior (time

spent on homework and homework effort), and achievement in mathematics. The

study was tested through path analysis. The study involved 369 participants. The fit

of the homework model was found to be adequate with 2 = 97.49, df = 2,2/df =

48.74, NFI = .91, IFI = .92, CFI = .98, RMSEA = .03. The strong effects of quality

homework selection on mathematics achievement were well established among the

Filipino school learners.The model revealed that participants’ performance in

mathematics achievement was supported by well selected homework tasks and their

high levels of cognitive ability.

Keywords: Homework Behavior, Homework Quality, Homework Motivation, Student

Characteristics
TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 2

Educators generally consider homework as an important pedagogical tool that

can be used to promote academic and personal skills regardless of students’ grade

levels and abilities (Gajria & Salend, 1995), thus, many children receive homework

as early as kindergarten. Cooper (1989) reported that homework is usually first

assigned during the elementary school years and the tasks given increase in depth

and quantity during subsequent years.

Despite the popularity of homework in promoting success in school (Epstein,

1983), controversial issues such as its positive and negative effects remain to be an

issue in education. Critics (e. g., Bennett & Kalish, 2006; Buell, 2004) have argued

that there is little evidence for the positive effects of homework on achievement. In

fact, some evidence highlights homework as additional burden to students, as a

source of negative emotions among parents and students and as a constraint to

family life in general. In the Philippines, the Department of Education (DepEd)

released a memorandum (no. 392, s. 2010) stipulating that no homework be given

during weekends for pupils to enjoy their childhood and spend quality time with their

parents without being burdened by the thought of doing homework.

Despite the contrasting arguments on the benefits of homework, a number of

educators quite believe that homework increases student achievement (Cooper,

1989; Gajria & Salend, 1995; Keith, 1986; Paschal, Weinstein, & Walberg, 1984).

The importance of having quality homework has been considerably emphasized by

Trautwein and Ludtke (2007) who asserted that students’ motivation and thereby the

effort exerted towards accomplishing homework are influenced by the cognitive

TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 3

challenge posed by the tasks designed by teachers. This implies that if students find

their homework to be well-selected and properly prepared, students will likely

demonstrate high motivation to comply with their homework, spend more time to

accomplish the task, and increase their effort in performing well. Hence, teachers

must be informed well on the kind and quality of homework they assign to their

students since they serve as forefronts in conveying academic competencies in

classroom learning.

Conceptual Framework

The study is anchored on the homework quality model of Dettmers,

Trautwein, Ludtke, Schnyder, and Baumert (2010) which predicts that homework

quality and student characteristics are associated with homework motivation

(homework expectancy and value beliefs), homework behavior (time spent on

homework and homework effort), and achievement in mathematics (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Homework Quality Model by Dettmers, Trautwein, Ludtke, Schnyder

and Baumert (2010).

TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 4

The model illustrates that homework quality is a reliable indicator of the

learning environment and is predictive of students’ achievement (mathematics in this

study). The homework quality model provides strong evidence that interesting and

well-selected homework as perceived by the students is associated with higher

expectancy, value beliefs, and homework effort. It is noteworthy, however, that

challenging homework as perceived by the students was found to be negatively

related to their homework expectancy beliefs and homework effort (Dettmers,

Trautwein, Ludtke, et al., 2010). Conflicting results on the impact of tasks given as

homework pose a major challenge to teachers in designing homework materials that

effectively supplement specific classroom instruction. Based on these findings, it is

of interest to test how this homework quality model influences the mathematics

achievement among Filipino learners in the Philippine classroom.

The study examined further the original model proposed by Dettmers and

colleagues (2010), advancing the notion that the two indicators of perceived

homework quality (homework selection and homework challenge) positively

influence homework motivation and homework behavior, which in turn help assure

mathematics achievement gains of Filipino school children in the Philippine

classroom setting. Student characteristics like gender, cognitive abilities, and

conscientiousness were likewise tested for their respective effects on homework

motivation, homework behavior, and mathematics achievement.

All variables in the present study were contextualized in mathematics learning

achievement to make the model domain specific or subject specific. Perceived

TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 5

homework quality, homework motivation, and homework behavior—all pertain to

homework in mathematics. The model hypothesized that students’ perception on a

well-selected homework in mathematics designed by school teachers influences

students’ homework variables (homework motivation and homework behavior)

leading to academic achievement in mathematics of the Filipino learners.

Statement of the Problem

The study tested the original homework quality model proposed by Dettmers

et al. (2010) among Filipino learners. Since not all the variables of the homework

model were proven to be significant in the previous study, the present study aimed at

accumulating further evidence with the intent of arriving at a thorough understanding

of the significant relations of the homework variables to mathematics achievement of

Filipino learners.

The study raised the following research questions:

Direct Effects

1. Will students perceived homework quality (homework selection and

homework challenge) directly increase students’ homework motivation

(homework expectancy beliefs and homework value beliefs), homework

behavior (homework effort and homework time), and students’ achievement in

mathematics?

2. Will students’ characteristics (gender, cognitive ability, and

conscientiousness) directly influence students’ homework motivation,

homework behavior and students’ achievement in mathematics?

TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 6

3. Will homework motivation directly increase students’ homework behavior and

students’ achievement in mathematics?

4. Does homework behavior directly influence students’ achievement in

mathematics?

Indirect Effects:

5. Does perceived homework quality indirectly affect students‘ homework

behavior through homework motivation?

6. Does perceived homework quality indirectly affect students’ mathematics

achievement through students’ homework motivation?

7. Does homework quality indirectly affect students’ mathematics achievement

through students’ homework behavior?

8. Do students’ characteristics indirectly affect homework behavior through

homework motivation?

9. Do students’ characteristics indirectly affect their mathematics achievement

through homework motivation?

10. Do students’ characteristics indirectly affect their mathematics achievement

through homework behavior?

11. Does students’ homework motivation indirectly affect students’ mathematics

achievement through students’ homework behavior?

Significance of the Study

This research confirms the homework quality model using a Filipino sample in

determining the effects of homework quality and students’ characteristics on

homework motivation, homework behaviour, and mathematics achievement.

TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 7

Moreover, providing empirical data on the issues of homework such as no

homework during weekends allows educators to determine the extent of the

significance of homework on the learning of students.

Method

This chapter presents the research design, participants of the study,

instruments to measure the different dependent and independent variables, data

gathering procedures and analysis of the data.

The study explored and examined whether the homework quality influences

students’ homework motivation, homework behavior and ultimately produces impact

on academic achievement using Filipino grade school students as sample.

Research Design

The study made use of an explanatory design since it aimed at developing

and testing a theoretical model about a certain phenomenon to explain “how” and

“why” it operates (Johnson, 2001). At this stage, the main objective was to search

explanations on how and why homework quality and student characteristics

influence other homework variables like students’ homework motivation, homework

behavior, and create an impact on mathematics achievement.

TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 8

Participants

A total of 369 grade 6 elementary students (165 males, 204 females) from

four private schools in the National Capital Region (NCR) and Region lV (province of

Cavite) participated in this study. These participants came from 10 sections and only

those who were present during the duration of data collection were involved in the

study. The average class size was 35. Convenience sampling technique was

utilized in this study because of its relatively cost effective method of gathering data.

Instruments

The study utilized several sets of measures which include the validated

Filipino versions of the measures for homework variables specifically homework

quality, homework motivation, and homework behavior. The Filipino versions of the

affective measures were conceptualized and given preference, with the assumption

that Filipino language can be understood well by the elementary students. In

addition, Panukat ng Pagkataong Pilipino and Panukat ng Katangian ng

Personalidad instruments were used for measuring the conscientiousness traits of

the school children while the Otis Lennon School Achievement Test was used for

measuring students’ cognitive ability. On the other hand, a standardized assessment

in mathematics was used to measure students’ competence in the field of

mathematics.

To ensure that students refer only to their mathematics subject, all the items

or statements are worded in such a way that student would think only of their

mathematics class in responding to each item. Thus, all items include the phrase, “in

your homework in mathematics” (“Sa inyong takdang aralin sa matematika”). For the
TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 9

response formats, facial expressions ranging from negative expressions to positive

expressions corresponding to the degree of their agreement to each item were used.

Instrument Adaptation

The research instruments used in this study underwent a thorough procedure

of test adaptation from English version to Filipino version to ensure high validity and

to eliminate biases in the test instruments, namely: homework quality, homework

motivation, homework behavior, and the personality factor on conscientiousness.

Linguistic Adaptation. To determine whether the translated instruments took

into full account the linguistic and cultural differences among the target participants,

the four adapted instruments—homework quality, homework motivation, homework

behavior, and the personality factor on conscientiousness—were translated into

conversational Filipino through committee approach (composed of four expert

members in the Filipino language). The four expert members who were involved in

the committee on instrument adaptation are teachers who have a thorough

knowledge of both languages (English and Filipino bilinguals) and have knowledge

of mathematics instructions. After each team member translated the test items,

another meeting was set for the entire committee to determine together each

individual test item, to examine the test translations, to resolve the differences, and

ultimately to produce a single translated version of the test.

Psychological Adaptation. After the team accomplished the test translation,

final copies of the translated instruments were submitted to professional experts who

have a wide background in test translation and test construction for their final
TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 10

comments and approval. The professional experts who were composed of three

members and the researcher finally worked together as a team to check individually

the items, the appropriateness of the language used (Filipino language) in the

directions and other aspects of the test. In this process, items that were likely to be

problematic were modified to produce psychologically equivalent versions of the test

items.

Contextual Adaptation. After the test experts validated the translated

Filipino instruments, these instruments underwent two levels of analysis to determine

the contextual adaptation as well as to identify possible administration problems.

Small pilot studies were conducted, first among nine grade 6 students who were

grouped into three to determine if the items were phrased appropriately and

understood well by the respondents in accordance with the primary aim of the study.

The respondents were carefully observed and were requested to paraphrase items

and to provide reasons for their responses. For the second level, the translated

instruments were administered to twelve elementary grade 6 students (composed of

3 groups with 4 students in each group). The purpose of this second level test

analysis was to determine whether the instructions are clear, the choice of testing

techniques are familiar, and the item format and procedures are appropriate for

grade 6 students. Because Filipino is a language commonly used as a medium of

communication among school children, the validated Filipino versions of homework

quality, homework motivation, homework behavior, and conscientiousness scale

were used in the present study.

TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 11

Psychometric adaptation. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was also

conducted to establish the psychometric properties of the instrument and identify

possible problematic components that may deem inappropriate for the intended

population. Confirmatory factor analysis provides an estimate of construct validity for

all the affective measures of this study: homework quality, homework motivation,

homework behavior, and conscientiousness. It was used to test the adequacy of the

current study’s measurement model before conducting subsequent tests. The

adequacy of the model fit on the basis of the several goodness-of-fit indices was

conducted. This is based on the understanding that multiple indices provided a

comprehensive evaluation of model fit (Hu & Bentler, 1995, 1999). The indices for

homework quality, homework motivation, homework behavior obtained for this study

fitted the model. The measurement model for homework quality (selection and

challenge), homework motivation (expectancy beliefs and value beliefs) and

homework behaviour (effort and time) has two latent variables for each.

Data Analysis

The data gathered were screened by checking the descriptive statistics if the

values were within range of a normal distribution. The means, standard deviations

(SDs), and correlation coefficients were obtained. Missing data was dealt by

deleting cases if necessary or by estimating missing data. The reliability coefficients

using Cronbach’s alpha for each measure were examined together with the

correlations between factor structures to determine if the values obtained from the

sample selected were comparable and acceptable compared to previously computed

values. To check the normality of the data, the skewness and kurtosis were likewise

employed.
TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 12

Path analysis was then performed to describe the directed dependencies

among a set of variables involved in the model. Path analysis is a straightforward

extension of multiple regression that aims to provide estimates of the magnitude and

significance of hypothesized causal connections between sets of variables. Path

analysis is a statistical technique used when a researcher wants to test the

plausibility of a theory or a model about the predictive relationships among variables

(Heppner & Heppner, 2004).

Several goodness-of-fit indices were established to determine the model fit.

The fit indices used chi-square(X2), Root Mean Square Error Approximation

(RMSEA), Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Normed Fit Index (NFI), and the

Comparative Fit Index (CFI). The criterion values were set based on the

prescriptions summarized in Schermelleh-Engel, Moosbrugger, and Muller (2003).

For RMSEA, values less than .05 show good fit and values from .05 to .08 indicate

acceptable fit. NFI and GFI values between .95 and 1.00 indicate good fit, and any

value higher than .90shows acceptable fit. For NNFI and CFI, values higher than .97

reflect good fit while values higher than .95 show acceptable fit. Finally, AGFI

values should be at least .90 and should be close to the GFI values to indicate good

fit, and any value higher than .85 shows acceptable fit.

Indirect effect was also calculated by determining each of the unique

pathways between the independent variable and the dependent variable. For each

path (for a given independent variable and the dependent variable), the path
 TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 13

coefficient was multiplied and then summed up together to arrive at the product for

each path.

Results and Discussion

This section presents the results of the study in three parts. Firstly, the

descriptive statistics such as means, standard deviations, and reliability estimates

are provided. Secondly, the intercorrelations of all the variables involved in the study

are highlighted. Finally, the results of the path analysis among the set of variables

involved in the model are displayed and a discussion of the results is presented

towards the end.

Table 1

Descriptive Statistics of the Variables in this Study

Variables Number M Confide Confide SD Cronbac Skewne Kurtosis

of Items nce nce h’s ss Statistic
-95.00% +95.00% alpha Statistic
Selection 5 3.33 3.29 3.37 0.37 0.72 -0.33 0.32
Challenge 4 2.47 2.42 2.52 0.45 0.67 -0.23 0.09
CognitiveAbility 80 94.37 92.22 97.24 8.51 0.82 0.34 0.28
Conscientious- 46 3.83 3.80 3.87 0.34 0.72 -0.40 -0.97
ness
Expectancy 10 3.04 3.00 3.08 0.40 0.72 0.02 -0.79
Beliefs
Value beliefs 6 3.21 3.17 3.27 0.48 0.67 -0.41 -0.40
Effort 10 3.20 3.13 3.27 0.73 0.73 0.29 0 .46
Time 1 1.73 1.65 1.81 0.80 0.68 0 .42 0.75
Math 50 21.11 22.85 26.62 9.77 0.86 0.32 0.36
Achievement

Table 1 displays the descriptive statistics and reliability estimates of the

variables. In the present study, the acceptability of the obtained alphas was primarily

determined based on the .60 cut-off criterion set by Devillis (1991) as it seems to be
TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 14

more appropriate for theoretical studies. Internal consistency coefficients of the

Filipino versions of the various instruments employed in the study range from .67 to

.86, indicating acceptable levels of reliability. The alpha coefficients and the

correlation coefficients among the scale factors reveal some reliability and validity

evidence for the instruments having Filipinos as sample.

Homework selection, homework challenge, homework expectancy beliefs,

value beliefs, and homework effort all used a 4-point Likert scale, while the

conscientiousness measure used a 5-point Likert scale. As regards the mean

confidence level estimates, homework selection registered the highest mean scores

ranging from 3.29 to 3.37 followed by value beliefs with 3.17 to 3.27 and homework

challenge with 2.42 to 2.52. Students’ conscientiousness, on the other hand, had

mean scores ranging from 3.80 to 3.87 with 5 as the highest rating in the scale. The

mean confidence level for the cognitive ability ranges from 92.22 to 97.24 while the

overall mean confidence level estimate for math achievement ranges from 22.85 to

26.62. The average time spent for homework compliance ranges from 1.65 to 1.81

hours per week. It is notable that the confidence interval estimates for the factors in

homework selection, homework challenge, cognitive ability, expectancy beliefs,

value beliefs, homework effort, homework time, and mathematics achievement were

in close range indicating that accurate means were obtained with low standard

errors. Internal consistency coefficients range from .67 to .86, indicating acceptable

levels of internal consistency among the items.

TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 15

Likewise, mathematics achievement test were normally distributed. This was

validated in skewness (.32), and kurtosis (.36) which suggest normal distribution

(Shapiro-Wilks,1965).

The zero order correlations in table 2 show that homework selection was

significantly related to students’ characteristics specifically on students’ OLSAT

scores and conscientiousness (but not to gender). Homework selection, likewise,

was positively and significantly related to student’s homework motivation (both for

expectancy and value beliefs components) and academic achievement in

mathematics. Homework challenge, on the other hand, was negatively significantly

correlated to students’ conscientiousness traits, homework motivation, homework

behavior, and students’ mathematics achievement. The zero order correlations also

indicate that students’ homework behaviour (effort and time) in doing homework was

not significantly related to homework selection, OLSAT, gender, and mathematics

achievement but positively significantly related with homework challenge.

In terms of mathematics achievement, this variable was positively and

significantly correlated with OLSAT, expectancy belief, and value beliefs but

negatively and significantly correlated with homework challenge and

conscientiousness. Likewise, gender was not significantly correlated with

mathematics achievement.
TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 16

Table 2

Intercorrelations of the factors of homework quality, OLSAT, homework motivation,

students’ homework behavior, and mathematics achievement variables.

Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1.Selection -

2. Challenge .01 -

3.Cognitive Ability .12** -.05 -

4.Gender .00 -.03 .12* -

5.Conscientiousness .19*** -.14** -.05 .13*** -

6. Expectancy belief .17*** .29*** .18*** .01 .37*** -

7.Value beliefs .26*** .23*** .20*** .12* .42*** .61*** -

8. Effort .09 .04 .00 -.08 .17*** .11* .21*** -

9. Time -.06 .14** -.02 -.06 .17*** .19*** .20** -.05 -

10.Math .18*** -.11* .44*** .02 -.11* .13** .14** .010 .04 -

*Significant
Achievement at .05**Significant at .01***Significant at .001
TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 17

Figure 3. Path analysis of the study based on the original homework quality model
(Dettmers et al., 2010).

Path analysis (Figure 3) was conducted among the hypothesized direct and

indirect effects among the variables at hand: homework quality, students’

characteristics, homework motivation, homework behaviour, and mathematics

achievement. Several goodness-of-fit indicators were considered to ascertain

whether the model obtained better and acceptable fit to the overall data. The fit of

the homework quality model was found to be adequate with Chi-square (X2) =97.49,

df=2, X2/df = 48.74, NFI = .91, IFI = .92, CFI = .98, RMSEA =.03 values (see

Appendix N). These values indicate that interrelationship among the variables is a

plausible explanatory model.

Given an adequate fit of the model, the next step was interpretation of the

paths. The results of path analysis show that homework selection was a significant
TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 18

predictor to student’s homework value beliefs (homework selection  homework

value beliefs = .23**) and expectancy beliefs (homework selection  homework

expectancy beliefs = .10**). Among the negative findings, homework challenge

significantly negatively predicted homework expectancy and value beliefs (homework

challenge  homework expectancy = -.208**, homework challenge  homework

value beliefs = -.184**). Likewise, homework challenge did not significantly predict

students’ homework behavior both on time (homework challenge  homework time

= .146 n.s.) and effort in doing their homework (homework challenge  effort = -.002

n.s.).

It is also noteworthy that the students’ characteristics in terms of school

ability and conscientiousness had a positive significant effect on homework

motivation (OLSAT  expectancy = .009**, conscientiousness  expectancy =

.392**; OLSAT  value beliefs = .01**, conscientiousness  homework value

beliefs = .511**). Gender, on the other hand, did not account as a significant

predictor to homework motivation (gender  homework expectancy beliefs = -.04

n.s., gender  homework value beliefs = .043 n.s.). Meanwhile, students’

conscientiousness and gender (in favor of males) significantly predicted homework

effort, (gender  homework effort = -.184**, conscientiousness  homework effort

= .250**) but not on homework time (conscientiousness  homework time = -.196

n.s., gender  homework time = -.054 n.s.). In addition, homework value beliefs

significantly predicted homework effort (homework value beliefs  homework effort

= .329**) but not homework time (homework value beliefs  homework time = -.168

n.s.). Contrastingly, students’ homework expectancy beliefs did not significantly

predict homework time and homework effort (homework expectancy beliefs 

TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 19

homework effort=-.114 n.s., homework expectancy beliefs homework time = -.160

n.s.).

Overall, homework quality (homework selection and homework challenge),

cognitive ability, and conscientiousness emerged as significant predictors of

mathematics achievement (homework selection  math achievement = 3.9**),

homework challenge  math achievement = -2.085**, OLSAT  math achievement

= .46**), conscientiousness  math achievement = -4.77**). Homework motivation,

homework behavior, and gender were found not to be predictors to students’

academic achievement in mathematics.

The results presented seem to offer only partial support for the variables

derived from the homework quality model. Homework quality variables (selection and

homework challenge), cognitive ability, and conscientiousness each appear to

directly affect achievement in mathematics. In contrast, gender, homework

motivation (expectancy and value beliefs), and homework behavior had no

meaningful direct effect on mathematics achievement.

Closer inspection of the model shows the presence of possible indirect

effects. For example, homework value beliefs had no direct effect on achievement

(.67 n.s.), but they seem to possess a powerful effect on effort (.32**) and since time

is associated with effort, homework value beliefs may well indirectly affect

achievement. The direct, indirect of homework selection, homework challenge,

OLSAT, gender, conscientiousness, homework value beliefs on achievement are

shown in Table 3.
TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 20

Table 3

Direct, indirect of homework selection, homework challenge, OLSAT, gender,

conscientiousness, homework value beliefs and expectancy beliefs on academic
achievement.

Variable Effects

Direct Indirect

Homework selection 3.91 * .30

Homework challenge -2.0 ** .92

Cognitive Ability .46** .44

Gender -.14 .01

Conscientiousness - 4.7** .85

Homework Value beliefs .68 .08**

Homework Expectancy beliefs .90 .06

* Significant at .05** Significant at .01***Significant at .00

In addition, the model shows the indirect effects of homework selection,

homework challenge, OLSAT, gender, and conscientiousness on homework

behavior (effort and time) through homework motivation (expectancy beliefs and

value beliefs). Homework selection had no direct effect on homework behavior (.46

n.s.), but since homework selection had a powerful effect on homework motivation

(homework selection  value beliefs = .23***), it appears that homework selection

has a powerful effect on homework behaviour (effort) through homework value

beliefs (homework selection  homework value beliefs  effort = .037**). The

direct, indirect effects of homework selection, homework challenge, OLSAT, gender,

conscientiousness, homework value beliefs and expectancy beliefs on homework

behaviour are shown in Table 4.

TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 21

Table 4

Direct and indirect effects of homework selection, homework challenge, OLSAT,

gender, conscientiousness, homework value beliefs and expectancy beliefs on
homework behavior.

Variable Direct Effect Indirect Effect

Effort Time Effort Time

Selection .46 (n.s.) .02 (n.s.) .037** .01 (n.s.)

Challenge .00 (n.s.) -.14 (n.s.) -.15** -.71 (n.s.)

Conscientiousness .25** .19 (n.s.) .13 (n.s.) .58 (n.s.)

Gender .18** .05 (n.s.) .15 (n.s.) -.32 (n.s.)

Cognitive Ability .00 (n.s.) .00 (n.s.) -.07** -.42 (n.s.)

* Significant at .05 ** Significant at .01 ***Significant at .00

General Discussion

The present study tested the homework quality model of Dettmers et al.

(2010), which posits that homework quality and student characteristics are

associated with homework motivation (homework expectancy and value beliefs),

homework behavior (time spent on homework and homework effort), and

achievement in mathematics

The goodness-of-fit of the homework quality model showed the overall

acceptability of the model to the data. The fit of the homework quality model was

found to be adequate with Chi-square (X2) = 97.49, df = 2, X2/df = 48.74, NFI = .91,

IFI = .92, CFI = .98, RMSEA = .03 values. These figures indicate that the
TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 22

interrelationship among the variables confirms the plausibility of the explanatory

model. Again, these indicate that the interrelationship among the variables

guarantees a plausible explanatory model..

The result of the study confirmed the role of homework selection as a

significant predictor to students’ homework motivation. This confirms that properly

selected homework as perceived by the Filipino students creates a great impact both

on their expectancy and value beliefs in homework accomplishment. Homework

quality when perceived by the students to be interesting, carefully selected and well

prepared by the teachers help students reinforce their beliefs on how they

successfully perform in their homework (Leppink, 2010; Trautwein & Ludtke, 2007).

The present study further proves that homework challenge perceived by the

students negatively and significantly predicts students’ homework expectancy and

value beliefs. This implies that Filipino students develop a negative attitude on their

ability to complete their homework every time they encounter too difficult homework

tasks. Likewise, homework that requires very high cognitive demand particularly if

they are not aligned with the students’ level of expertise impedes students’

perception of the importance of homework.

In general, homework challenge decreases students mathematics

achievement since the inappropriate level of difficulty of the assignments impedes

the objective evaluation of their own ability to perform a homework task (e.g.,

Bandura, 1998; Leppnik, 2010) leading most students to view homework as less

valuable and less relevant to their instructional goals. Thus, it becomes crucial for
TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 23

teachers to determine the students’ level of expertise in designing or selecting

instructional materials for homework and to ensure the correspondence between

students’ level of expertise and the material cognitive load (Leppnik, 2010).

Moreover, the models proved that students’ characteristics in terms of

conscientiousness and cognitive ability consistently predicted homework motivation

(both homework expectancy and value beliefs). This implies that if a person is highly

conscientious and possesses high cognitive ability, he has a corresponding high

belief in his capacity to perform successfully his homework and subsequently puts

high premium on his homework. In other words, highly intelligent students tend to

have homework motivation (higher value and expectancy beliefs) in homework

completion. Similarly, high level of conscientiousness (being responsible, organized,

thoughtful, and achievers) is related to higher homework motivation (expectancy and

value beliefs). These findings corroborate earlier studies claiming that high basic

cognitive abilities are associated with higher homework expectancy beliefs and value

beliefs (Ludtke, Niggli, & Schnyder, 2006; Ludtke & Trautwein, 2009).

Consistently, homework value beliefs significantly predict homework effort

When students see homework as valuable and important, they will likely exert more

effort in accomplishing it. The quality of homework behavior such as effort on

homework is dependent on students’ expectations of success and the value they

attach to their respective tasks (Trautwein & Koller, 2003).

Based on the results of the present study, mathematics achievement was

consistently predicted by homework selection and cognitive ability. This turned to be

TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 24

meaningful in the model considering other variables influencing students’

achievement. In line with this, the present study strongly suggests that regardless of

their homework motivation (expectancy and value beliefs) and homework behavior

(time and effort), students may still successfully achieve in mathematics provided

that they have higher cognitive ability and that homework materials are carefully

designed or well selected. This means also that students who have higher cognitive

ability will likely succeed in their mathematics achievement regardless of homework

motivation (values beliefs, expectancy beliefs), and homework behavior (effort and

time) and this achievement is heightened by the availability of interesting and

carefully appropriated materials or activities for homework purposes. This confirms

Deary, Strand, Smith, and Fernandes’s (2007) hypothesis that cognitive ability plays

an important role in predicting academic achievement. Hence, this perspective

extends the theory on the role of cognitive ability on students’ achievement on

mathematics among the Filipinos. One’s cognitive ability matters in predicting

students’ achievement in mathematics because performance in mathematics

requires high levels of mental ability such as manipulation of patterns and

computations.

By and large, carefully selected homework materials or activities contribute to

one’s achievement in mathematics as students take these assignments seriously,

regard them as essential component of instruction, and view them as interesting and

cognitively manipulative tasks. As cited above, mathematics achievement can be

improved when students have higher perception on quality of homework provided by

the teachers. It can be drawn from the study that when learners view homework

tasks as a construct to contribute for the improvement of their learning, it allows them
TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 25

to perform well in mathematics. This finding supports the hypothesis raised in this

study that the teachers’ primary task in fostering student learning is to determine

their way of selecting and designing homework activities to help increase students’

mathematics achievement. This supports previous literature asserting that high-

quality instruction (e.g., assigning homework) was positively associated with a higher

motivation, and may later impact student learning (Keith & Cool, 1992; Leppnik,

2010).

As regards the role of gender, this variable emerged as a significant predictor

of homework effort favoring males. This resonates Trautwein and Ludtke’s (2009)

claim that boys reported higher effort in stereotypically “male” school subjects

(mathematics and physics). Although in this study gender difference was only traced

in homework effort and not to mathematical achievement in general, still these

findings overlap with earlier discoveries (e.g, Stoet & Geary, 2013; Trautwein &

Ludtke, 2003; Trautwein, Ludtke, Kunter, & Niggli, 2006) that male students

predominantly outperform their female classmates in quantitative manipulation. It

must be recalled that in one of the meta-analyses of studies on this topic (Hyde,

Fennema, & Lamon, 1990), empirical evidence was delineated pointing out that

gender differences in mathematical problem solving emerge likely at the high-school

level. Thus, since the participants in this study belonged to the lower educational

ladder (elementary level), the absence of gender variation in the sample’s

mathematical achievement remains disputed.

Likewise, the results of the study provide strong empirical evidence addressed

to the Department of Education concerning the issue on homework, whereby they

TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 26

released a memorandum that “no homework shall be given during weekends for

pupils to enjoy their childhood and spend quality time with their family without being

burdened by the thoughts of doing lots of homework”. In this connection, the present

study advocates that homework may be given to Filipino students even during

weekends provided that teachers take into account the instructional design of the

tasks to match students’ interests, cognitive ability, and subject mastery.

Considering the cognitive load of homework, a balance but not too difficult

homework would help stimulate students’ interest in performing homework perhaps

even during weekends. Dettmers, Trautwein, Ludtke, Kunter, and Baumert (2010)

argued that homework must be cognitively challenging but not overtaxing.

Likewise, the present study provides novel empirical evidence especially on

the powerful impact of cognitive ability on mathematics achievement amidst the

presence of homework quality and other motivational variable.

Summary, Conclusion, and Recommendations

The present study is the first empirical research that has explored the study

in the homework quality model. The primary strength of this research lies in its

attempt to explore the power of the homework variables and student characteristics

in predicting homework motivation, homework behavior, and students‘ mathematics

achievement through path analysis. Reflecting on the earlier studies (e.g., Detmers

et al., 2010; Trautwein et al., 2006; Trautwein, Ludtke, & Niggli, 2003) conducted in

other countries involving components of homework quality, the researcher

TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 27

approached the research problems by using path analysis.. Furthermore, this study

clarifies the conceptual understanding of the beneficial effects of homework quality

on the academic gains in mathematics of Filipino students.

Based on the preceding discussions of the results, several conclusions were

drawn from this investigation.

1. The present study confirmed that students demonstrated higher mathematics

achievement as supported by their scores in the standard based assessment

test when they have higher cognitive ability.

2. The study likewise confirmed that personality characteristic in terms of the

students’ conscientiousness traits (pagkamatapat, pagkamaayos,

pagkaresponsable, pagkamaalalahanin, pagkamasikap) is a strong predictor

of students’ homework value beliefs, homework expectancy beliefs, and

homework effort.

3. Cognitive ability was confirmed in the study to successfully predict students

‘homework motivation and mathematics academic achievement of the

participants.

4. Homework value beliefs successfully predicted students’ homework effort.

5. Homework value beliefs are indirectly related to mathematics achievement

through homework effort, while homework selection, homework challenge,

and cognitive ability are indirectly related to homework behaviour through

homework value beliefs.

TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 28

Recommendations

Given the findings and the conclusions developed, the following

recommendations are forwarded:

1. Building on the findings that homework challenge is associated with

students’ low homework expectancy and value beliefs, and low achievement

scores in mathematics, teachers are then invited and/or challenged to do their

role in balancing between cognitively activating instruction (e.g., challenging

homework assignments) and instruction that caters to low achieving students

in class such as tasks with moderate difficulty to enhance student motivation

and effort and to foster students’ performance. Tasks of moderate difficulty

considering the students’ level of expertise most likely enhance student

motivation (Astleitner, 2007).

2. Since the present data provide strong evidence that how students

perceived the quality of homework promote expectancy beliefs and value

beliefs among students, sustaining homework quality in terms of properly

selected or designed homework is deemed necessary. Teachers may help

improve students’ perception on the importance of doing homework to

improve their academic achievement by optimizing the homework quality

assignments for their students.

3. Responsive to the findings that homework expectancy beliefs,

homework value beliefs, and homework effort are associated with students’
TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 29

conscientiousness, it may be possible for parents, teachers, and guidance

personnel to further enhance students’ sense of personality constructs. The

following questions may help teachers respond to the need to enhance

students’ conscientiousness traits: What best classroom practices can

develop my students’ sense of responsibility? How can I design my class to

make it responsive to the need to develop students’ sense of orderliness?

4. Since cognitive ability was confirmed to have strong significant effect

on homework expectancy, homework value beliefs and mathematics

achievement, there is a need for teachers, school administrators to provide

opportunities for school children to process, negotiate, and apply varied forms

of knowledge related to instructional practices to promote higher level of

cognitive abilities.

5. Although students’ homework behavior was not significantly predicted

by homework quality, the need to re-examine the kind of homework tasks

becomes imperative to help foster student skills like time organization, and

better study habits. Likewise, homework effort should be enhanced among

low achieving students by exploring appropriate strategies) such that they will

perceive homework as useful and thereby they will be inspired to build more

confidence and be more persistent in completing their assignments.

6. The role of the expectancy components as motivational predictors of

homework effort and homework time should be taken into account to enhance

students’ homework behavior. For example, individualized and highly

systematized homework may help students develop higher homework

TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 30

expectancy beliefs which in turn improve the amount of time spent and effort

in doing homework.

7. Guidance office may likewise develop an intervention program on how

best parents can offer help to their children focusing on developmentally

appropriate homework involvement strategies to promote better mathematics

achievement in school.

8. Based on its findings, this study paves the way for some possible

research undertakings in the future. Another branch of research may include

age as a variable to determine its role in the homework quality model.

Moreover, since it was cited in literature that gender difference in mathematics

achievement more likely occurs in the secondary level, age might account for

gender variation to corroborate or challenge conventional gender perception.

To sum up, the homework quality model suggests that teachers should assign

interesting and well selected homework combined with moderated difficult tasks to

improve students’ motivation and homework effort and time, and foster students’

mathematics performance. Likewise, investigating the conditions of homework

provided to school learners, quality homework should be treated as one of the most

important variable in the teaching and learning process because of its empirical

evidence such as increase in students’ mathematics achievement. Correspondingly,

the results of the study provide a strong empirical basis to help resolve the conflicting

attitudes of government officials, specifically from the Department of Education,

concerning the issue of homework. The policy that “no homework shall be given

during weekends for pupils to enjoy their childhood and spend quality time with their
TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 31

family without being burdened by the thoughts of doing lots of homework” should be

revisited considering the academic benefits that effectively designed homework

brings to the dynamics of teaching-learning process.

This target can be realized after translating into action a number of

recommendations advanced in this study such as teachers should take into account

effectively designed task that match student interests in their homework completion.

It is also reiterated that a balance but not overtaxing homework would help students

perform homework perhaps even during weekends.

In general, despite the controversial issue of homework such as its positive and

negative effects, homework still proves its relevant impact on students’ achievement

in mathematics even among Filipino students. The continued attainment of this

shared goal that is to help increase student academic achievement can only be best

attained through the concerted efforts of the three major stakeholders of the

homework process: teachers, parents, and students. Likewise, an action plan (e.g.,

mathematics homework) should be implemented immediately to help contribute to

the academic success of Filipino students.

TESTING THE HOMEWORK QUALITY MODEL 32

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