<p>Assignments make up about 40% of the marks in my classes, 15% for tests, 25% for exam and 10% for ISU(Independant Study Unit/Accumulative project). So you could fail all the tests at my school, and still get a decent mark.</p>
<p>I would have taken AP Bio, but my honors bio teacher wanted me to take chem before AP Bio. I don't even like bio that much (I'm very logical, and some bio stuff is not logical), so I don't even think I'll take AP in it.</p>
<p>frenchvanilla233 , exactly how it is in my school. Our valedictorian could have done all the work for his/her classes, fail the tests, and not learn anything, but still be at the top of the class.</p>
<p>My AP US History teacher doesn't give much homework either, about 1 short essay a week and chapter notes over the weekend. and you know what? it works! everyone in my classes right now has a b or better, and last year everyone passed her class.</p>
<p>^^You are SOOO lucky... Does everyone go to harvard from your school?</p>
<p>My anatomy teacher is making different groups teach different chapters, while she's teaching. We sit in a secluded table, while everyone gets her notes. We have to make our own for ourselves and our class:(</p>
<p>I believe too much homework like assignment problems and projects do hurt, but just reading and taking notes from textbooks is very helpful. If reading and notes were the only homework, my mind will be more relaxed and I will learn better than if I were tensed about doing the problems and getting it right. Challenging problems/projects are good on a once-a-month basis in my oinion.</p>
<p>Math, Physics, Chemistry, Computer Science and a few other courses are conceptual, and some students don't need to do 20 of the same problems in one night to understand the material. As such, I agree that homework in such classes should be optional or at least there should be a rule that if not done, your homework grade defaults to your test grade for the unit.</p>
<p>In my APUSH class, we don't get points for outlining its just expected.</p>
<p>i've had a few classes where the teacher assigns p-sets or reading but does not check whether you did it (well with reading it's harder to check). The result is not surprising - most people don't do it and end up doing horribly on tests. Some teachers are nice and curve the tests, others take the average of those 75's and 80's and that's your grade =. Of course it depends on the class, but some classes require a lot of reading(ex. history)/practice problems(ex. physics) and the job of the teacher is to enforce that.</p>
<p>i say lets abolish it for about 10 years...see how it goes :)</p>
<p>we can always go back 2 the old system</p>
<p>at least for 2 years...I'll be out of high school by then :)</p>
<p>homework helps out your grade lol why would u want it abolished.</p>
<p>Not when it cuts into stuff that actually helps, like independently studying ;)</p>
<p>For what it's worth, my school's "rule of thumb" is 1 1/2 hours per night per AP class.... but some teachers feel like there should be more. I think it is 1 hour if the class is honors.</p>
<p>^Geez...4 AP classes will take 6 hours per night , add 2 honors to that and that's 8 hours total? I get home at 6:00 pm, so I would be up till about 2AM...sounds fun lol.</p>
<p>When I took AP US History and AP Chem, the homework wasn't really mandatory, so I didn't do any of it (except occasionally before a test). The result was that I crammed A LOT before the APs and ended up getting 5s on both of them.</p>
<p>Homework, in my opinion, fosters the wrong kind of attitude. It alleviates the teacher having to worry if their method of teaching is working and it forces students to concentrate more on getting it done and turning it in than understanding the material. I'd say homework should only be given on Fridays. Sounds crazy, but if you're going to have homework, it's best to have two off-days to try and do it. I know I used to get burned by having homework I didn't understand and it being due the next day.</p>
<p>screw homework. homework has never helped me study. in class exercises and practices have. i guess im just not that kind of learner.</p>
<p>last year's AP Calc AB was insane. we got 45 questions a day, and we were, as jason has mentioned, more worried about getting everything done than actually knowing the material. </p>
<p>i've been blessed with 3 years of AP Histories (US Gov, US Hist, and World Hist) in which there was virtually no homework, only biweekly essays and tests. history has by far been the most engaging, interesting, and entertaining of all of classes in high school.</p>
<p>My APUSH teacher did not give homework at all, and I passed with a 5. </p>
<p>In my English H class last year, our "homework" was basically two essays per quarter. No silly vocab tests or dittos. </p>
<p>Homework in math, physics, and chem is kind of necessary to learn the material and to practice the different types of problems. But they should be assigned in moderation. If a teacher assigns 5-7 difficult problems a night, I will be more likely to put effort into those than if they assigned 20-25 whatever questions. Like someone else said, I tend to race through them to finish it rather than putting in the effort to understand them. (mainly because the teacehrs go over the difficult questions the next day)</p>