Originally Posted by RightinNYC

I'm not saying that "homework" in the sense of outside work and practice is unnecessary, I'm saying that its not necessary for the professors to assign it, collect it, and grade it, because the students are intelligent and motivated enough to do the outside work on their own.

I haven't really had a "homework" assignment in years. There's assigned reading that would give you a grasp of the subject and practice problems that you can do if you like, but professors don't give a **** if you're doing them/turning them in. What they care about is that you're learning the subject material.



Again, it's possible to put in the necessary effort to excel in a subject without being forced to turn in homework assignments. This is especially true of higher divisions without slackers, as you note.



I don't disagree that in some cases its useful, but it's not always so. IMO, class discussions and TA sections are much more useful for seeing how a student is doing than simply reading a homework assignment.



I don't think that requiring a 22 year old in an upper level course to be responsible for staying up to date on their own work is "throwing him off a cliff." Upperclassmen are in most cases a very short time away from entering the job market. Nobody there is going to hold their hand, giving them assignments day by day to help them work toward a final project. If I'm assigned a case by a partner, he disappears for a few months and relies on me to handle the preliminary research, initial motions, and due diligence. He comes back when the case is ready to go to the next step and I better damn well understand the ins and outs of the entire case.

The motivation to go off and do work on your own that does not have an immediate cost or reward is one of the most important to develop, and I think college is the perfect place to start learning it for most people.



I don't think you can claim that it's only "lazy" students who think homework is useless. I also took 18 credits a semester, ran my fraternity, was president of the History Society and EiC of the History journal, played sports, and worked 30 hours a week. I avoided classes that had daily assignments because I preferred to spend the time that I would have spent on mundane assignments on things like writing my thesis. I didn't and don't need the threat of having to turn in a worksheet to get me to do my work, and I did alright for myself. I'd say that the majority of students at my school that I've talked to have the same attitude.