本文是一篇英语论文，本次行动研究对教师的作业设计具有一定的启发性。首先，应注意全面涵盖学生的认知层级，尤其是高阶思维层级，以此培养学生的批判性思维和创新性思维能力。其次，教师在作业设计时，应大胆地进行作业改革，创新性的作业设计并不影响教学的最终目的，反而能引起学生的学习兴趣。
Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 Research Background
It is universally acknowledged that the goal of education can’t be achieved byclassroom teaching alone.Soviet Union educationalist Kairov perceives the research ofhomework as an important aspect in the research of pedagogical theory,and he pointsout that homework design is an essential part in teaching.In other words,the design ofhomework is also a science and art,just as the design of the classroom teaching,both ofthem are required to be done deliberately around the objective of the education (1951:151).Otherwise,homework can’t effectively fulfill the task of the complement ofclassroom teaching,more seriously it can even become the burden of students and bringabout many negative effects.Currently,the problems found in Junior high school inChina are examples for the unscientific homework design.
According to one survey on Junior Middle school students,it was found that theform of homework is still traditional and most students do not like it and some studentseven get bored by it(Chen Chuanguang,2013:69)In another survey on English teachers’views on homework assignment in Junior Middle School in Hainan Province,it is foundthat 78%middle school English teachers only assign written form homework,andamong them doing textbook exercises and test papers account for 70%(Xiang Jie andDu Xiujun,2015:127).Such statistical finding is striking,yet undeniably it is thecurrent situation in most regions in China.
1.2 Research Purpose
In order to solve the problems mentioned above,the author designs a new mode ofhomework and does action research in Junior Middle school to verify its’effectiveness.
The new homework pattern of this study is designed in accordance with Bloom’sTaxonomy and English Curriculum Standards in Compulsory Education(2022 version),and its purpose is to offer middle school students some exercises to train their high-levelthinking ability,in particular,applying ability,evaluating ability and creating ability.Apart from that,the new mode homework also has the intention to arouse students’interest in English learning and change their passive attitude toward it.Moreover,thisstudy wants to verify whether the newly designed homework(mainly based on Bloom’sTaxonomy)is effective in improving the academic performance of the students.Lastly,since the new form is different from the traditional design,this study also aims to findwhat problems will occur in the process of the implementation and whether it is feasiblein Junior Middle school.
Chapter 2 Literature Review
2.1 Homework
It is not certain when the word“homework”first appeared in Europe and neither iscertain whether the initial meaning is associated with education.In John AmosComenius’The Great Didactic,in the chapter about the principles of completeness inteaching and learning,principle 10 says that“when the students meet and walk togetherafter class,they should compare the notes they took in class,discuss the knowledge theygot recently.”(2006:146)Comenius’works was published in 17th century,and it can beseen that the tenth principle here is very close to today’s meaning of homework.Whilein the earliest education work Diary of Learning in China,there is one sentence“退息必有居学”,and“居学”can be understood as“the study at home”in the present sense.What mentioned above suggests that in quite early days both in West and in East therehas existed the form of homework students did after class.
2.1.1 Definition of Homework
There are two sources to get the definition of homework:one is from the dictionaryand the other is from authoritative educators.
Education Encyclopedia of China defines that“homework is also called extracurricular homework,which means students independently carry out learningactivities at the time outside class according to the requirements of teachers.Theknowledge and skills learned in class can be more consolidated and improved throughvarious types of extracurricular homework.”(1985:2304)Practical EducationDictionary gives a more explicit definition as“the independent learning activity of thestudents who want to accomplish certain learning task,including the work in and afterclass,the purpose of which is to enforce,absorb,understand and transfer the learnedknowledge,and one important component of teaching.”(1995:210)In OxfordAdvanced Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary,“homework”is shortly and brieflydefined as“work that is given by teachers for students to do at home.”(2004:845)
2.2 Homework Design
Homework design is not the casual assignment of tasks,however,it has very highrequirement for the teachers.
2.2.1 Definition of Homework Design
In Ci Hai,homework design is defined as“the process of setting and determiningthe content,type,form,requirements of fulfillment and ways of correction.”(1999:2304)Epstein points out that“homework design requires teachers to consider the purpose,theform and other factors that is helpful for the success of the students.”(2001:63)Shen Yu(2010)says,in her doctoral dissertation,that“homework design is one part of teachingdesign,and a process in which teachers reasonably and comprehensively arrange andproject the objective,the amount,the content,the form and the difficulty of homeworkbased on the relevant theories,the concrete teaching objectives,the characteristics andthe situation of the students.”In another doctoral thesis,Xu Shifang(2015)believes thathomework design is the careful selection and preparation of the quantity,type andcontent of homework under the premise that teachers fully grasp the requirements ofteaching objectives and the rules of students’physical and mental development.
Based on the above definitions,it can be drawn that there are some fundamentalaspects in the design of homework:the objective of homework;the amount ofhomework;the content of homework;the type of homework;the form of homework;the difficulty of homework,and the feedback of homework.And the focus of thisresearch is on the types of the English homework and the goal of each type.
Chapter 3 Research Methodology.......................................25
3.1 Research Participants......................................25
3.2 Research Instruments..........................................25
Chapter 4 Implementation of Action Research...........................41
4.1 First Round Action Research......................................41
4.1.1 Assignment of Homework.............................................41
4.1.2 Correction and Analysis.................................43
Chapter 5 Data Analysis and Evaluation....................................49
5.1 Analysis of Post-questionnaire......................................49
5.1.1 Analysis of Post-questionnaire’s Reliability and Validity.........................49
5.1.2 Analysis of Post-questionnaire..............................50
Chapter 5 Data Analysis and Evaluation
5.1 Analysis of Post-questionnaire
At the end of the second-rounds action,a post-questionnaire is designed with thepurpose of investigating the effect of the whole research.In this questionnaire,there are18 questions from 5 dimensions:3 items about the knowledge of objectives of learningand homework;6 items about the cultivation of cognitive abilities;3 items aboutinterest in the types of the homework;3 items about the development of cooperationand communicative abilities;and 3 items about the attitude.The following is theanalysis of the questionnaire.
5.1.1 Analysis of Post-questionnaire’s Reliability and Validity
All the 49 students take part in the second-round questionnaire and all the answersare retrieved.Based on the SPSS calculation,The Cronbachαcoefficient of the totalquestionnaire is 0.896,indicating that the questions in the scale have good internalconsistency and can be used.（see Table 5-1）
Chapter 6 Conclusion
6.1 Major Findings
This study combines Bloom’s taxonomy with Compulsory Education EnglishCurriculum Standards,and carries out action research through new mode of Englishhomework design.Through two rounds of action research practice and the collectionand analysis of questionnaires,tests and interviews,the major findings can be mainlysummarized as follows:
The first finding is that the new form of homework can have positive effect on thetraining of high-level cognitive thinking.Compared with traditional form homework,the newly-designed mode put much effort on the applying,evaluating and creatingexercises and drills to get students involved in high-level thinking patterns.Throughpractice students can develop such thinking habit,which is beneficial for theirsustainable learning.Moreover,the new mode homework not only trains the students’cognitive ability of six dimensions of remembering,understanding,analyzing,applying,evaluating and creating,but also has other positive effects.Students can improve theirabilities of cooperation,expression,communication and designing when completing thenewly designed homework.In the type of teamwork,the students are asked to worktogether,so their team spirit is unconsciously developed.In the type of speechhomework,both the good and the poor students are required to speak out of their mind,and they can express themselves more and more fluently.In the type of dialogue,interview and debate homework,the students have to open their mouth to talk withothers and communicate with others,therefore their communication ability get greatlyimproved.In the type of making short videos and posters,the students have to use their minds to plan and design,hence their designing ability is trained,which is very helpfuland favorable for high-level cognition.
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