Can “Smart Homework” Achieve the Goal of Chinese “Double Reduction” Policy to Reduce Burden and Improve Quality?—The Positive and Negative Effects of “Smart Homework” on Students

Weiping Zhang (), Siyu Xiao and Weidong Fu
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Weiping Zhang: “The 14th Five-Year Plan” Research Base for Education Science, Hunan, P.R. China (Education Informatization Research Base—Technology Application Direction), Xiangtan 411201, China
Siyu Xiao: School of Education, Hunan University of Science & Technology, Xiangtan 411201, China
Weidong Fu: Artificial Intelligence Education Department, Center China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 12, 1-13

Abstract: The application of information technology provides technical support for achieving the requirements of reducing burden and improving quality in the Chinese “Double Reduction” Policy. Based on the analysis of the mechanism and path of “Smart Homework” (an educational tool that applies artificial intelligence technology) to reduce the burden and improve the quality of Chinese Jiangxi Province by using the literature, this paper investigates 78 counties and cities of this province and finds that this tool can reduce the burden of primary and secondary school students’ homework, improve the completion of homework, reduce the willingness to participate in after-school tutoring, and improve the self-efficacy and learning investment, so as to achieve the goal of the Chinese “Double Reduction” Policy, but at the same time, the lack of convenience in using intelligent products has caused psychological anxiety for a small number of students. The psychological mechanism of reducing burden and improving quality is in line with the principle revealed by the Yerkes–Dodson law; that is, as learning anxiety decreases, the impact of psychological stress on learning efficiency increases. The appropriate psychological stress enhanced the impact of psychological pressure on learning efficacy and engagement, and improved learning efficiency. The article believes that, first, based on the principle of a three-layer structure of homework burden, the use of “Smart Homework” achieves the reduction of homework burden from three aspects: surface layer, inner layer, and core layer. Second, “Smart Homework” reduces the willingness to participate in extracurricular tutoring and, to some extent, reduces the burden of extracurricular tutoring. Third, “Smart Homework” can help students better complete homework and improve learning efficiency.

Keywords: Smart Homework; “Double Reduction” Policy; learning anxiety; learning self-efficacy; learning engagement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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