【Research Brief】

Student Perception of Online Homework in a Japanese University
EFL Course
Alex Blumenstock
Abstract
A study regarding student perceptions of online homework was conducted with an “English through Movies” coursethat had 25 students in a Japanese university. After two lessons, the course shifted from face-to-face to online lessons
due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When classes were face-to-face, students recorded their homework answers in their
textbooks, but when classes were online for the remainder of the semester, students instead submitted textbook
answers online via Google Forms. At the end of the semester, a survey was conducted in which students indicatedoverall positive feelings about online homework. Student responses indicated that the system improved theirmotivation and understanding of the materials; they cited feedback as a positive factor, both the automatic feedback
they received after submission as well as the targeted feedback given in class. However, although students preferred
online homework in an online context, students preferred recording homework answers in their textbooks in a faceto-face context. Student responses underscore the importance of carefully choosing when and how to implement
online learning tools to maximize learning outcomes and minimize dissatisfaction.
Keywords: online homework, computer-based learning, feedback, motivation, assessment

Introduction
Online homework is a relatively new tool in education, but the many different types of online
homework make it difficult to understand its efficacy and how students actually feel about being
asked to do it. This study aims to provide insight into student perceptions of completing their
textbook homework online via Google Forms.
This study was conducted with an “English through Movies” course that had 25 students, who
met for 100 minutes once a week for 14 weeks and used the textbook Social Issues in the Movies –Discussion & Role-Play: Level 4 (Dyer, 2021). Although the first two lessons of the course wereconducted face-to-face in a classroom, the remaining 12 lessons were conducted online in real-time
via Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the original plan to have students complete
homework within the textbook was altered. As soon as classes shifted online, students were likewise
required to submit their textbook homework online instead of simply recording their answers in the
textbooks.

MethodThe textbook homework consisted of three sections that served as a review of the previous
lesson and a preview of the next lesson. The first section contained five sentences split in half thatwere to be matched together. The second section was fill in the blanks with 10 sentences; a synonym
for each blank was provided in the textbook, for example, “It is not possible to estimate its ___.
(worth)” (p. 41). An appropriate response might be “value.” The third section supplied a list of 5
idioms to be inserted into 10 fill-in-the-blank sentences. Completing these exercises in the book was

146

Student Perception of Online Homework in a Japanese University EFL Course

a relatively straightforward task. However, shifting the task online had the potential to make it moreburdensome for students, as students had to both complete the textbook task and contend with anadditional step of inputting their answers online.
Thus, when creating the Google Forms for students to input their homework, special
consideration was given to making the system as easy to use as possible. The first section, matching,became a small grid, with numbers ascending vertically and letter answers forming the columns. The
second section, synonyms, changed from open-ended to close-ended so that students could verify
their answers. Each of these 10 questions had a dropdown menu of answer options. The third section,
idioms, used a grid format similar to the style of the first matching section.
As soon as a student completed and submitted their homework, they received automatedfeedback that revealed the correct answers within Google Forms. In this way, they had theopportunity to verify whether they had understood the vocabulary and language points of thepreceding lesson before completing further practice with the same points in the next lesson. In
addition, they received an email copy of their responses, which served as both an acknowledgementthat their work had been received as well as a document they could review when desired.
At the end of the final lesson, students were asked to complete a survey via Google Forms about
the textbook homework they completed for the course (see Appendix A). Four binary items on thesurvey asked preferences between recording homework answers online and in the textbook
regarding motivation, understanding, and within the contexts of online and face-to-face classes.
There were also two Likert-type questions modeled after the questions in another study about online
homework by Wooten and Dillard-Eggers (2013). One asked students whether online homework wasmuch better or worse for understanding, and the other asked students to rate their experience using
online homework. After each survey item, an open-ended “Why?” question provided students anopportunity to explain their answers. The means and standard deviations of the quantitative items
were then collated with corresponding qualitative items to provide the analysis, as described below.

Results and Discussion
Of the 25 students in the class, 17 responded to the survey (see Appendix A). Student responses
to binary survey items are presented in Table 1 below.
Table 1: Student responses to the binary items on the survey (n = 17)
No.

Item

M

SD

1

I felt more motivated to do my homework when... 私は…の時、宿題に対してやる気がより出ました。

0.76

0.44

2

I best understood the textbook’s content when... 私は…の時、テキストの内容を最も理解できました。

0.59

0.51

3

In an online class, which do you think is better? オンライン授業において、どちらがより良いと思いますか。

0.82

0.39

4

In a face-to-face class, which do you think is better? 対面授業において、どちらがより良
いと思いますか。

0.41

0.51

Note: 0 =Recording my answers for textbook exercises in the textbook. テキストの演習に対する自分の解答をテキストに記入した/記入する。
1=S
 ubmitting my answers for textbook exercises online. テキストの演習に対する自分の解答をオンラインで提出
した。

147

外国語教育研究ジャーナル 第 3 巻（JOURNAL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, VOL. 3）

Motivation
Because the majority of the course was online, student responses may be skewed toward that
context. Nonetheless, when responding to a binary survey item (see Table 1), 13 students indicatedthat they were more motivated to complete their homework when submitting it online (M=0.76[0.44]).
If students are not held accountable for completing their homework, some may lack motivation
to complete it. In an online context, there are few ways to effectively hold students accountablewithout requiring online homework. Several student comments expressed the students’ understandingthat the online system held them accountable:• A teacher can check whether students did their homework.
• I feel that I receive a grade for doing my homework.（評価に含まれていると感じるから。）• The teacher can properly see what I did. The teacher can tell whether the students did thehomework.（やったかちゃんと見てもらえるから。さぼることが出来ない（やったかやっていないかがすぐ先生にばれる）から。)
In terms of the online system adding an extra step to homework completion, 13 students felt thatthe system either increased or did not decrease their motivation to do homework, but they expressedvarious ideas:• It is unlikely to forget submitting the homework• Personally, it’s easier to answer on a computer than to write.（個人的に、書くよりもパソコンで答える方が楽だから。
）• It’s quicker to enter the answer on the keyboard.（キーボードで答えを入力する方が手早くできるから。
）• I feel like I’m doing my homework more.（宿題をやっている実感がよりあったと感じるから。）
Some students mentioned the homework being easier online, possibly because the second
section of the textbook homework, the open-ended “synonym” questions, became close-ended tomake answer verification reliable. Several students indicated positive feelings about close-ended
questions:• [I like online homework] because there are choices to select answers.
• The answer choices were limited, so it was easy to choose.
• For synonym quiz, online homework is better because it has options
However, not all students felt motivated to complete homework online. Overall, four students
indicated a preference for recording their homework answers in textbooks. One student felt that thefirst homework section, matching, was easier in the textbook, possibly because the textbook allowed
students to draw lines when matching items, whereas the online system required choosing ananswer in a multiple-choice grid. Another student noted the additional steps required to complete
online homework:
Because what I have to do is just writing down the answers on my textbook. In the case ofsubmitting it online, I had to repeat to look the textbook and the screen many times. It was alittle bit tiring for me. However, we have no choice but doing so due to the virus.
Despite only a few responses indicating that submitting homework online was demotivating, thecontext of online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have impacted students’ feelings as awhole because they felt that they had “no choice” except to submit homework in this way.

148

Student Perception of Online Homework in a Japanese University EFL Course

Understanding Textbook Content
In terms of understanding the content of textbook, 10 students indicated a preference for online
homework (0.59[0.51]) on a binary survey item (see Table 1). Likewise, when responding to a 1–5
Likert-scale item (see Table 2), students also indicated a preference for online homework (3.94[1.20]).
Table 2: Student responses to the first Likert-type item on the survey (n = 17)
No.

Item

M

SD

1

In terms of understanding the textbook’s content, how does submitting the homework
online compare with recording your answers in the textbook? テキストの内容を理解することに関して、宿題をオンラインで提出することは、解答をテキストに記入することと比べてどうですか。

3.94

1.20

Note: The scale was 1–5, with labels on each side of the scale (see Appendix A).
1 = Online homework is much worse オンラインの宿題の方が悪い。
5 = Online homework is much better オンラインの宿題の方が良い。

On the binary item, 10 students indicated submitting answers online was better for learning;
their open-ended responses expressed two advantages of online feedback. First, students can receive
feedback on whether their answers are correct and and can view the correct answer. Several
comments expressed this viewpoint:• You can quickly find out what you don’t understand.（自分でわからないものをすぐ調べられるから。
）• It’s easy to review because you can work on it quickly and you can see the answer immediately.
（手早く取り組める上に、回答がすぐにわかるため、復習しやすいから。
）• It is so good because I can see my own mistakes
Second, because of the way the online homework submission system functioned, students’ answers
were automatically collated. As a result, in-class feedback on the homework could be efficiently
weighted toward language items that were widely misunderstood by the class:• I think it doesn’t matter if I carefully check the individual answers when recording them in the
textbook, and also if many people made a mistake, then this is mentioned in class.（テキスト
でもきちんと個々人の回答がチェックされたり、多くの人が間違えていた問題について触れてもらえるならどちらでもよいと思う。
）• I receive feedback on my answers in class.（回答のフィードバックを授業。
）
Nonetheless, online homework has disadvantages. Due to the close-ended questions introducedin the online adaptation of the textbook homework, one student expressed that recording answers in
the textbook is better because “You will also be careful about details such as the tense of verbs.”（動詞の時制などの細かいところにも気を付けることになるから）. Another disadvantage of submitting
answers online is that it fails to benefit kinesthetic learning, a complaint widely expressed in student
comments:• I like writing text with my hands.
• I can deepen my understanding by actually writing.
• I can understand the contents of the textbook more when I use my hands to memorize
information.
• There is no big difference difference between these two, but I can memorize better when I
write down some vocabularies. In addition, recording answers gives me an opportunity torevise by myself. It improves my English skills more.

149

外国語教育研究ジャーナル 第 3 巻（JOURNAL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, VOL. 3）• It’s easier to answer, but it doesn’t promote understanding compared with recording for me.

Online and Face-to-Face Contexts
Because the course shifted from face-to-face to online after two lessons, students were able toexperience both recording homework answers in their textbook and submitting their homeworkanswers online. Given their experiences, students indicated a preference that the method of
homework submission match the learning context. In binary survey items (see Table 1), 14 students
expressed preferences that in an online class, online homework was best (0.82[0.39]). Meanwhile, 10
students felt that in a face-to-face class, recording answers in the textbook was best (0.41[0.51]).
Although this class did not submit textbook homework online while classes were face-to-face,
the students expressed concerns about this possibility. One concern that the students expressed wasthat they may need to do the work twice:• If I record my answers for textbook and send it online, it will be troublesome because the work
will increase.
• During lessons, some students might want to review vocabularies, so it is useful for such
students to record their answers [in the textbook] in advance as homework.
These comments highlight the importance of having learning materials physically available duringface-to-face lessons, which may become more difficult if students’ homework answers are only
accessible digitally or more burdensome if student answers must be duplicated to be both physicaland digital. Although these students’ opinions are based on a hypothetical situation rather than an
actual experience, consideration should be given to minimizing such issues when implementing
online homework in a face-to-face context.

Students’ Overall Feelings about Online Homework
Overall, on a 1–5 scale Likert item (see Table 3), students expressed a favorable impression of
online homework (4.59[0.62]). The implementation of the online homework was well received,
according to student comments:• Although I prefer recording [answers in the textbook], online homework was convenient touse.
• It was easy to answer.
Table 3: Student responses to the second Likert-type item on the survey (n = 17)
No.

Item

M

SD

2

Overall, how would you rate your experience using online homework? 全体的に、オンラインの宿題に対するあなたの評価は

4.59

0.62

Note: The scale was 1-5, with labels on each side of the scale (see Appendix A).
1 = Very bad とても悪い
5 = Very good とても良い

Despite the generally positive feelings expressed by students, survey items and student
comments suggest that context and implementation are vital in shaping students’ opinions about
online homework. For example, the Likert items (Tables 2 and 3) in this study roughly correspondto the Wooten and Dillard-Eggers (2013) study of online homework, but the results differ. In Wooten
and Dillard Eggers’ (2013) study, 453 accounting students in face-to-face classes were asked to150

Student Perception of Online Homework in a Japanese University EFL Course

submit their textbook homework via the publisher’s software. In answering the question, “With
respect to learning, how does the use of online homework compare with ‘pencil and paper’
homework?” as a 1–5 scale Likert item (1 = “Much Better” and 5=“Much Worse”), students indicatedalmost neutral feelings toward it, with a score of 2.21 from the 225 students required to do thehomework and 2.90 from the 228 students for whom the homework was optional. Similarly, in
responding to a second question, “Overall, how would you rate your experience using online
homework?” as a 1–5 scale Likert item (1 = “Very Good” and 5=“Very Bad”), students again indicatedneutral feelings, with a score of 2.07 from the 225 students required to do the homework and 2.60
from the 228 students for whom the homework was optional. The contrast between students’
perceptions of online homework in Wooten and Dillard Eggers’ study (2013) and this study
underscores the need to adapt homework to best suit the context and students’ preferences.

Limitations
A limitation of this study is the small and relatively nondiverse sample size of 17 respondents ofpredominately upper-intermediate proficiency Japanese university students from which data werecollected. Additionally, the rather unique context of the course, that is, changing from face-to-face toonline, may further limit the range of applicability of the results.

Conclusion
Overall, students had positive feelings about online homework, but it is possible that responses
were biased, as online homework was a logical option within the context of an online class. Even
students with positive feelings about online homework did not always prefer it over doing homeworkin their textbooks. Context is a vital aspect for instructors to consider when deciding whether andhow to use online homework.
More research needs to conducted on ways to improve student learning outcomes and students’feelings of satisfaction as a result of completing online homework. In a meta-analysis of formative
assessment and feedback in various higher education settings, Morris et al. (2021) found “a rather
mixed picture” with regard to online assessment and feedback systems and observed that it isdifficult to empirically measure the effectiveness of such systems without funding carefully
implemented wide-scale studies. Although large studies are necessary for affirming the efficacy, orlack thereof, of online learning tools, these tools have only very recently come into popular use
within higher education. As a result, instructors who implement online assessment and feedback
systems should do so with a careful concern for student needs and preferences to maximize learning
outcomes within their context. In addition, the creators of online learning tools and the instructors
using them should be willing to make continuous incremental adjustments to improve their efficacy.

References
Dyer, M. (2021). Social Issues in the Movies – Discussion & Role-Play: Level 4. DTP出版.
Morris, R., Perry, T., & Wardle, L. (2021). Formative assessment and feedback for learning in higher
education: A systematic review. Review of Education 9(3). https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.3292
Wooten, T., & Dillard-Eggers, J. (2013). An investigation of online homework: Required or not required?
Contemporary Issues in Education Research 6(2), 189–198. https://doi.org/10.19030/cier.v6i2.7728

151

外国語教育研究ジャーナル 第 3 巻（JOURNAL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, VOL. 3）

APPENDIX A
Sur vey Questions as Answered by Students via Google Form

152

Student Perception of Online Homework in a Japanese University EFL Course

153