Construction And Application Of Design Strategies For Big Ideas-Based English Unit Homework In Junior High School

With the implementation of Double Reduction Policy and the promotion of unit integrity instruction,unit homework has become an essential means to relieve students’ academic burden and improve teaching quality.However,current English unit homework design still has some problems: limited forms,scattered structure,and unclear logic.More scientific and effective methods and strategies are needed to guide unit homework design.Given this,this study employs big ideas to drive unit homework design.This study aims to construct a set of “Design Strategies for Big Ideas-Based English Unit Homework” in junior high school,and apply these design strategies in teaching practice to investigate their effectiveness.This study addresses two research questions:(1)What are the design strategies for big ideas-based English unit homework in junior high school?(2)What are the application effects of the design strategies for big ideas-based English unit homework in junior high school?Firstly,this study used Grounded Theory method in Chapter Four to conduct focus group interviews with teachers who have experience in designing and implementing big ideas-based English unit homework.Besides,homework cases and academic papers on big ideas-based English homework were collected.Then,collected data were analyzed through a three-level coding analysis.In the end,a set of“Design Strategies for Big Ideas-Based English Unit Homework” were constructed,consisting of eight categories.These eight categories are connection strategies,reference strategies,contextual strategies,categorization strategies,evaluation and feedback strategies,regulation strategies,characterization strategies,and resource strategies.Under these eight categories,there are 35 sub-strategies.Subsequently,in Chapter Five,this study applied these “Design Strategies for Big Ideas-Based English Unit Homework” constructed in Chapter Four to an 18-week teaching experiment in Grade Seven in a middle school in Guangzhou to test their effectiveness.Experimental group implemented big ideas-based English unit homework,while control group implemented unit exercise books that come with the textbook.English academic achievement tests,homework questionnaires,and student interviews were employed to collect data on students’ academic achievement,interest in homework,and homework burden.Experimental results revealed that big ideas-based English unit homework significantly improved students’ interest in homework and relieved their homework burden but had no significant impact on their academic achievement.After analysis,there might be two reasons for the failure to significantly improve students’ academic achievement.Some unit homework objectives neglected the consolidation of language knowledge,and some unit homework didn’t fully train students’ language skills.Finally,based on the analysis of achievement tests,questionnaires,and interviews,this study revised and improved the “Design Strategies for Big Ideas-Based English Unit Homework” in Chapter Six.The revisions aim to optimize big ideas-based English unit homework design,increase the efficiency of English unit homework,and reduce students’ burden.