Homework at university—relations to study success and students’ characteristics

Abstract We report a study with $$107$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>107</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> university students from various mathematics courses at one university in Germany. In this study, we collected performance data in homework and written or oral exams to analyze the extent to which homework performance predicts performance in different exam formats. In addition, we conducted a mixed-methods survey on students’ homework motivation and homework behavior to identify characteristics that predict homework behavior and can be supported in interventions. Although homework and exam performances are positively correlated, regression analyses revealed that, when controlling for prior achievements, homework performance only explained a small additional part of written exam performance in our samples. In contrast, homework performance was a better predictor of oral exam performance. Regarding homework motivation, expectations of success were identified as an important predictor of homework effort in our sample. Through qualitative content analysis of students’ responses to open-ended questions about why they do or do not do homework, we found that most students mentioned extrinsic motivation for doing homework, often referring to their exams. Students said they would not do homework if the estimated costs outweighed the benefits or if a task was too difficult. Practical consequences and implications for further research are discussed.