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Alejandra Sánchez

Dr. William Nolen

English 1302-224

22 February 2022

Working Title

When I think back of doing homework from elementary to high school, I have the core

memory of trying to focus on the dinner table, the television blasting the afternoon news, and my

parents talking or cooking dinner. As I was going into college, my senior year teacher always

advised to talk and meet new people in my classes and to start study groups. However, most of

the time this ends up in my friends and I gossiping at the library and not much studying

happening. Through my first semester in college, I figured out I preferred to work alone

anywhere on campus whether that be to study, read, or complete assignments. I preferred this

because working in a school setting made me feel like I could focus and kept me motivated to

complete my tasks to finally go home and relax. I have taken this habit of mine and tested to

really find out if the environment and surrounding I chose to do homework is really a factor in

how long it takes and how much homework I can complete. The main purpose of this experiment

and research is to find out what environment promotes the ability to focus and allows to actually

complete tasks. As a college student who needs to study, read, and complete assignments, I plan

out my week schedule to meet my deadlines. However, real life factors and procrastination can

sometimes get in the way and alters my schedule, ending up in having a heavy load of tasks to

accomplish a certain day or days. By having a set routine or “go to” places that I know I will be
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able to complete my homework, my schedule can stay on track, I can meet deadlines, and have

productive study sessions. The results of a week-long experiment of doing homework in different

locations, I found that school settings or campus locations are the best to do homework as the

amount of time is relatively cut in half when compared to doing homework at home.

Before starting my experiment, I read up on some articles concerning attention and

motivation when it comes to homework. In “Homework Motivation and Preference: A Learner-

Centered Homework Approach,” Eunsook Hong, Roberta M. Milgram, and Lonnie L. Rowell

introduce the Homework Motivation and Preference model. This model is “designed to explain

and provide the basis for the improvement of the homework process” (Hong et al. 198). They

explain how this model includes two categories: motivation and preference. Through the

preference category, it is revealed that “surroundings influence the degree to which the learner

sustains the effort to successfully complete the homework task” (199). Additionally, Hong et al.

defined six components, auditory, visual, tactile, kinesthetic, intake, and mobility, that define a

learner’s perceptual preferences. The article explains how through the Homework Motivation

and Preference Questionnaire Hong et al. were able to compare and make connections of learner

preferences and academic performance. For example, a student who prefers bright light and

background noise while doing work will score high while if the opposite conditions are present,

the student will score low. Hong et al. concluded that “accommodating students’ learning

preferences increases the likelihood that their learning potential will be actualized” (203).

Similarly, in a cross-sectional study by Idit Katz, Avi Kaplan, and Gila Gueta using seventy-one

fourth grade students and 108 eight grade students, the Self-Determination Perspective theory

(SDT) is used to define human motivation. The SDT is the “theory of human motivation

concerned with the development and functioning of personality within social contexts” (Katz et
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al. 248). The authors explain how this theory has three basic psychological needs: autonomy,

relatedness and competence. In order for these psychological needs to be met depends on the

environment. Depending on the satisfaction of these needs, motivation varies.

For this experiment, I used two general locations: my school campus and home. In each

setting, recorded how much time it took for me to complete my homework and how many

assignments or how many pages of a chapter I was able to complete or read. Additionally, I

would jot down environmental factors that would disturb my concentration. The results of this

procedure intend to reveal what environment and surrounding promote work efficiency and

concentration.

Revealed by the chart above, most tasks were completed faster and half of the time in a

school setting compared to the home setting. I found that going through my school day and

starting on my homework after a small break for lunch was best for me since I would keep that
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school rhythm going. When on campus, I chose to do homework either at the library, a school

building, or the on-campus coffee shop. The library served best for studying, though the graph

shows that there is little to no difference to studying in either location, studying would vary on

the subject and how many times I chose to review. In regards to the environment, the library was

quiet, which enabled concentration, there was little to no distractions, and the scenery was

delightful when taking a small break. When I had to complete an assignment, which most of the

time requires typing, I avoided the library since typing was a bit loud and instead went to a

campus building or the coffee shop. Before this experiment, my favorite building to do

homework at was the Academic Innovation Building (AIC). This building has a lot of windows

that provided a scenery of the outside. While there may be people who are in between classes,

the AIC established a school environment where I felt I could work in and resembled the

classroom. When I worked at the coffee shop, while the coffee aroma was pleasing, it was rather

hot and somewhat noisy. On the other hand, when I went through my school day and went

straight home, I would have a long lunch as a result of conversation with my parents, watching

television, or being on my phone. By going home, I was more prone to distractions and

procrastination. When I eventually started my homework, I would have several distractions such

as my parents, television, or my phone. I found it very difficult to read, and when I would take

notes on chapters, it was difficult to actually process and understand the information. For

assignments, if they required reading, which most did, I found myself having to go back and

rereading the text in order for me to correctly respond questions from the assignment.

Conclusion
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References

Hong, Eunsook, et al. “Homework Motivation and Preference: A Learner-Centered Homework

Approach.” Theory Into Practice, vol. 43, no. 3, 2004, pp. 197–204.,

https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4303_5.

Katz, Idit, et al. “Students’ Needs, Teachers’ Support, and Motivation for Doing Homework: A

Cross-Sectional Study.” The Journal of Experimental Education, vol. 78, no. 2, 2009, pp.

246–267., https://doi.org/10.1080/00220970903292868.