problem for homework

Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, the 5 best homework help websites (free and paid).

Other High School , General Education

Listen: we know homework isn’t fun, but it is a good way to reinforce the ideas and concepts you’ve learned in class. But what if you’re really struggling with your homework assignments?

If you’ve looked online for a little extra help with your take-home assignments, you’ve probably stumbled across websites claiming to provide the homework help and answers students need to succeed . But can homework help sites really make a difference? And if so, which are the best homework help websites you can use? 

Below, we answer these questions and more about homework help websites–free and paid. We’ll go over: 

• The basics of homework help websites
• The cost of homework help websites 
• The five best homework websites out there 
• The pros and cons of using these websites for homework help 
• The line between “learning” and “cheating” when using online homework help 
• Tips for getting the most out of a homework help website

So let’s get started! 

The Basics About Homework Help Websites–Free and Paid

Homework help websites are designed to help you complete your homework assignments, plain and simple. 

What Makes a Homework Help Site Worth Using

Most of the best sites allow users to ask questions and then provide an answer (or multiple possible answers) and explanation in seconds. In some instances, you can even send a photo of a particular assignment or problem instead of typing the whole thing out! 

Homework help sites also offer more than just help answering homework questions. Common services provided are Q&A with experts, educational videos, lectures, practice tests and quizzes, learning modules, math solving tools, and proofreading help. Homework help sites can also provide textbook solutions (i.e. answers to problems in tons of different textbooks your school might be using), one-on-one tutoring, and peer-to-peer platforms that allow you to discuss subjects you’re learning about with your fellow students. 

And best of all, nearly all of them offer their services 24/7, including tutoring! 

What You Should Should Look Out For

When it comes to homework help, there are lots–and we mean lots –of scam sites out there willing to prey on desperate students. Before you sign up for any service, make sure you read reviews to ensure you’re working with a legitimate company. 

A word to the wise: the more a company advertises help that veers into the territory of cheating, the more likely it is to be a scam. The best homework help websites are going to help you learn the concepts you’ll need to successfully complete your homework on your own. (We’ll go over the difference between “homework help” and “cheating” a little later!) 

You don't need a golden piggy bank to use homework help websites. Some provide low or no cost help for students like you!

How Expensive Are the Best Homework Help Websites?

First of all, just because a homework help site costs money doesn’t mean it’s a good service. Likewise, just because a homework help website is free doesn’t mean the help isn’t high quality. To find the best websites, you have to take a close look at the quality and types of information they provide! 

When it comes to paid homework help services, the prices vary pretty widely depending on the amount of services you want to subscribe to. Subscriptions can cost anywhere from $2 to $150 dollars per month, with the most expensive services offering several hours of one-on-one tutoring with a subject expert per month.

The 5 Best Homework Help Websites 

So, what is the best homework help website you can use? The answer is that it depends on what you need help with. 

The best homework help websites are the ones that are reliable and help you learn the material. They don’t just provide answers to homework questions–they actually help you learn the material. 

That’s why we’ve broken down our favorite websites into categories based on who they’re best for . For instance, the best website for people struggling with math might not work for someone who needs a little extra help with science, and vice versa. 

Keep reading to find the best homework help website for you! 

Best Free Homework Help Site: Khan Academy

• Price: Free!
• Best for: Practicing tough material 

Not only is Khan Academy free, but it’s full of information and can be personalized to suit your needs. When you set up your account , you choose which courses you need to study, and Khan Academy sets up a personal dashboard of instructional videos, practice exercises, and quizzes –with both correct and incorrect answer explanations–so you can learn at your own pace. 

As an added bonus, it covers more course topics than many other homework help sites, including several AP classes.

Runner Up: Brainly.com offers a free service that allows you to type in questions and get answers and explanations from experts. The downside is that you’re limited to two answers per question and have to watch ads. 

Best Paid Homework Help Site: Chegg

• Price: $14.95 to $19.95 per month
• Best for: 24/7 homework assistance  

This service has three main parts . The first is Chegg Study, which includes textbook solutions, Q&A with subject experts, flashcards, video explanations, a math solver, and writing help. The resources are thorough, and reviewers state that Chegg answers homework questions quickly and accurately no matter when you submit them.  

Chegg also offers textbook rentals for students who need access to textbooks outside of their classroom. Finally, Chegg offers Internship and Career Advice for students who are preparing to graduate and may need a little extra help with the transition out of high school. 

Another great feature Chegg provides is a selection of free articles geared towards helping with general life skills, like coping with stress and saving money. Chegg’s learning modules are comprehensive, and they feature solutions to the problems in tons of different textbooks in a wide variety of subjects. 

Runner Up: Bartleby offers basically the same services as Chegg for $14.99 per month. The reason it didn’t rank as the best is based on customer reviews that say user questions aren’t answered quite as quickly on this site as on Chegg. Otherwise, this is also a solid choice!

Best Site for Math Homework Help: Photomath

• Price: Free (or $59.99 per year for premium services) 
• Best for: Explaining solutions to math problems

This site allows you to t ake a picture of a math problem, and instantly pulls up a step-by-step solution, as well as a detailed explanation of the concept. Photomath also includes animated videos that break down mathematical concepts to help you better understand and remember them. 

The basic service is free, but for an additional fee you can get extra study tools and learn additional strategies for solving common math problems.

Runner Up: KhanAcademy offers in-depth tutorials that cover complex math topics for free, but you won’t get the same tailored help (and answers!) that Photomath offers. 

Best Site for English Homework Help: Princeton Review Academic Tutoring

• Price: $40 to $153 per month, depending on how many hours of tutoring you want 
• Best for: Comprehensive and personalized reading and writing help 

While sites like Grammarly and Sparknotes help you by either proofreading what you write via an algorithm or providing book summaries, Princeton Review’s tutors provide in-depth help with vocabulary, literature, essay writing and development, proofreading, and reading comprehension. And unlike other services, you’ll have the chance to work with a real person to get help. 

The best part is that you can get on-demand English (and ESL) tutoring from experts 24/7. That means you can get help whenever you need it, even if you’re pulling an all-nighter! 

This is by far the most expensive homework site on this list, so you’ll need to really think about what you need out of a homework help website before you commit. One added benefit is that the subscription covers over 80 other subjects, including AP classes, which can make it a good value if you need lots of help!  

Best Site for STEM Homework Help: Studypool

• Best for: Science homework help
• Price: Varies; you’ll pay for each question you submit

When it comes to science homework help, there aren’t a ton of great resources out there. The best of the bunch is Studypool, and while it has great reviews, there are some downsides as well. 

Let’s start with the good stuff. Studypool offers an interesting twist on the homework help formula. After you create a free account, you can submit your homework help questions, and tutors will submit bids to answer your questions. You’ll be able to select the tutor–and price point–that works for you, then you’ll pay to have your homework question answered. You can also pay a small fee to access notes, lectures, and other documents that top tutors have uploaded. 

The downside to Studypool is that the pricing is not transparent . There’s no way to plan for how much your homework help will cost, especially if you have lots of questions! Additionally, it’s not clear how tutors are selected, so you’ll need to be cautious when you choose who you’d like to answer your homework questions.  

What Are the Pros and Cons of Using Homework Help Sites?

Homework help websites can be a great resource if you’re struggling in a subject, or even if you just want to make sure that you’re really learning and understanding topics and ideas that you’re interested in. But, there are some possible drawbacks if you don’t use these sites responsibly. 

We’ll go over the good–and the not-so-good–aspects of getting online homework help below. 

3 Pros of Using Homework Help Websites 

First, let’s take a look at the benefits. 

#1: Better Grades Beyond Homework

This is a big one! Getting outside help with your studies can improve your understanding of concepts that you’re learning, which translates into better grades when you take tests or write essays. 

Remember: homework is designed to help reinforce the concepts you learned in class. If you just get easy answers without learning the material behind the problems, you may not have the tools you need to be successful on your class exams…or even standardized tests you’ll need to take for college. 

#2: Convenience

One of the main reasons that online homework help is appealing is because it’s flexible and convenient. You don’t have to go to a specific tutoring center while they’re open or stay after school to speak with your teacher. Instead, you can access helpful resources wherever you can access the internet, whenever you need them.

This is especially true if you tend to study at off hours because of your extracurriculars, work schedule, or family obligations. Sites that offer 24/7 tutoring can give you the extra help you need if you can’t access the free resources that are available at your school. 

#3: Variety

Not everyone learns the same way. Maybe you’re more of a visual learner, but your teacher mostly does lectures. Or maybe you learn best by listening and taking notes, but you’re expected to learn something just from reading the textbook . 

One of the best things about online homework help is that it comes in a variety of forms. The best homework help sites offer resources for all types of learners, including videos, practice activities, and even one-on-one discussions with real-life experts. 

This variety can also be a good thing if you just don’t really resonate with the way a concept is being explained (looking at you, math textbooks!).

Not so fast. There are cons to homework help websites, too. Get to know them below!

3 Cons of Using Homework Help Websites 

Now, let’s take a look at the drawbacks of online homework help. 

#1: Unreliable Info

This can be a real problem. In addition to all the really good homework help sites, there are a whole lot of disreputable or unreliable sites out there. The fact of the matter is that some homework help sites don’t necessarily hire people who are experts in the subjects they’re talking about. In those cases, you may not be getting the accurate, up-to-date, and thorough information you need.

Additionally, even the great sites may not be able to answer all of your homework questions. This is especially true if the site uses an algorithm or chatbot to help students…or if you’re enrolled in an advanced or college-level course. In these cases, working with your teacher or school-provided tutors are probably your best option. 

#2: No Clarification

This depends on the service you use, of course. But the majority of them provide free or low-cost help through pre-recorded videos. Watching videos or reading info online can definitely help you with your homework… but you can’t ask questions or get immediate feedback if you need it .

#3: Potential For Scamming 

Like we mentioned earlier, there are a lot of homework help websites out there, and lots of them are scams. The review comments we read covered everything from outdated or wrong information, to misleading claims about the help provided, to not allowing people to cancel their service after signing up. 

No matter which site you choose to use, make sure you research and read reviews before you sign up–especially if it’s a paid service! 

When Does “Help” Become “Cheating”?

Admittedly, whether using homework help websites constitutes cheating is a bit of a grey area. For instance, is it “help” when a friend reads your essay for history class and corrects your grammar, or is it “cheating”? The truth is, not everyone agrees on when “help” crosses the line into “cheating .” When in doubt, it can be a good idea to check with your teacher to see what they think about a particular type of help you want to get. 

That said, a general rule of thumb to keep in mind is to make sure that the assignment you turn in for credit is authentically yours . It needs to demonstrate your own thoughts and your own current abilities. Remember: the point of every homework assignment is to 1) help you learn something, and 2) show what you’ve learned. 

So if a service answers questions or writes essays for you, there’s a good chance using it constitutes cheating. 

Here’s an example that might help clarify the difference for you. Brainstorming essay ideas with others or looking online for inspiration is “help” as long as you write the essay yourself. Having someone read it and give you feedback about what you need to change is also help, provided you’re the one that makes the changes later. 

But copying all or part of an essay you find online or having someone write (or rewrite) the whole thing for you would be “cheating.” The same is true for other subjects. Ultimately, if you’re not generating your own work or your own answers, it’s probably cheating.

5 Tips for Finding the Best Homework Help Websites for You

Now that you know some of our favorite homework help websites, free and paid, you can start doing some additional research on your own to decide which services might work best for you! Here are some top tips for choosing a homework help website. 

Tip 1: Decide How You Learn Best 

Before you decide which site or sites you’re going to use for homework help, y ou should figure out what kind of learning style works for you the most. Are you a visual learner? Then choose a site that uses lots of videos to help explain concepts. If you know you learn best by actually doing tasks, choose a site that provides lots of practice exercises.

Tip 2: Determine Which Subjects You Need Help With

Just because a homework help site is good overall doesn’t mean that it’s equally good for every subject. If you only need help in math, choose a site that specializes in that area. But if history is where you’re struggling, a site that specializes in math won’t be much help. So make sure to choose a site that you know provides high-quality help in the areas you need it most. 

Tip 3: Decide How Much One-On-One Help You Need 

This is really about cost-effectiveness. If you learn well on your own by reading and watching videos, a free site like Khan Academy is a good choice. But if you need actual tutoring, or to be able to ask questions and get personalized answers from experts, a paid site that provides that kind of service may be a better option.

Tip 4: Set a Budget

If you decide you want to go with a paid homework help website, set a budget first . The prices for sites vary wildly, and the cost to use them can add up quick. 

Tip 5: Read the Reviews

Finally, it’s always a good idea to read actual reviews written by the people using these homework sites. You’ll learn the good, the bad, and the ugly of what the users’ experiences have been. This is especially true if you intend to subscribe to a paid service. You’ll want to make sure that users think it’s worth the price overall!

What’s Next?

If you want to get good grades on your homework, it’s a good idea to learn how to tackle it strategically. Our expert tips will help you get the most out of each assignment…and boost your grades in the process.

Doing well on homework assignments is just one part of getting good grades. We’ll teach you everything you need to know about getting great grades in high school in this article.

Of course, test grades can make or break your GPA, too. Here are 17 expert tips that’ll help you get the most out of your study prep before you take an exam.

Ashley Sufflé Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams.

Ask a Question Below

Have any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply!

Improve With Our Famous Guides

• For All Students

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 160+ SAT Points

How to Get a Perfect 1600, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 800 on Each SAT Section:

Score 800 on SAT Math

Score 800 on SAT Reading

Score 800 on SAT Writing

Series: How to Get to 600 on Each SAT Section:

Score 600 on SAT Math

Score 600 on SAT Reading

Score 600 on SAT Writing

Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests

What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For?

15 Strategies to Improve Your SAT Essay

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 4+ ACT Points

How to Get a Perfect 36 ACT, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 36 on Each ACT Section:

36 on ACT English

36 on ACT Math

36 on ACT Reading

36 on ACT Science

Series: How to Get to 24 on Each ACT Section:

24 on ACT English

24 on ACT Math

24 on ACT Reading

24 on ACT Science

What ACT target score should you be aiming for?

ACT Vocabulary You Must Know

ACT Writing: 15 Tips to Raise Your Essay Score

How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League

How to Get a Perfect 4.0 GPA

How to Write an Amazing College Essay

What Exactly Are Colleges Looking For?

Is the ACT easier than the SAT? A Comprehensive Guide

Should you retake your SAT or ACT?

When should you take the SAT or ACT?

Stay Informed

Get the latest articles and test prep tips!

Looking for Graduate School Test Prep?

Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here:

GRE Online Prep Blog

GMAT Online Prep Blog

TOEFL Online Prep Blog

Holly R. "I am absolutely overjoyed and cannot thank you enough for helping me!”

Please ensure that your password is at least 8 characters and contains each of the following:

• a special character: @$#!%*?&

StudyMonkey

Your personal ai tutor.

Learn Smarter, Not Harder with AI

Introducing StudyMonkey, your AI-powered tutor .

StudyMonkey AI can tutor complex homework questions, enhance your essay writing and assess your work—all in seconds.

No more long all-nighters

24/7 solutions to questions you're stumped on and essays you procrastinated on.

No more stress and anxiety

Get all your assignments done with helpful answers in 10 seconds or less.

No more asking friends for help

StudyMonkey is your new smart bestie that will never ghost you.

No more staying after school

AI tutoring is available 24/7, on-demand when you need it most.

AI Tutor for any subject

American college testing (act), anthropology, advanced placement exams (ap exams), arabic language, archaeology, biochemistry, chartered financial analyst (cfa) exam, communications, computer science, certified public accountant (cpa) exam, cultural studies, cyber security, dental admission test (dat), discrete mathematics, earth science, elementary school, entrepreneurship, environmental science, farsi (persian) language, fundamentals of engineering (fe) exam, gender studies, graduate management admission test (gmat), graduate record examination (gre), greek language, hebrew language, high school entrance exam, high school, human geography, human resources, international english language testing system (ielts), information technology, international relations, independent school entrance exam (isee), linear algebra, linguistics, law school admission test (lsat), machine learning, master's degree, medical college admission test (mcat), meteorology, microbiology, middle school, national council licensure examination (nclex), national merit scholarship qualifying test (nmsqt), number theory, organic chemistry, project management professional (pmp), political science, portuguese language, probability, project management, preliminary sat (psat), public policy, public relations, russian language, scholastic assessment test (sat), social sciences, secondary school admission test (ssat), sustainability, swahili language, test of english as a foreign language (toefl), trigonometry, turkish language, united states medical licensing examination (usmle), web development, step-by-step guidance 24/7.

Receive step-by-step guidance & homework help for any homework problem & any subject 24/7

Ask any question

StudyMonkey supports every subject and every level of education from 1st grade to masters level.

Get an answer

StudyMonkey will give you an answer in seconds—multiple choice questions, short answers, and even an essays are supported!

Review your history

See your past questions and answers so you can review for tests and improve your grades.

It's not cheating...

You're just learning smarter than everyone else

How Can StudyMonkey Help You?

Hear from our happy students.

"The AI tutor is available 24/7, making it a convenient and accessible resource for students who need help with their homework at any time."

"Overall, StudyMonkey is an excellent tool for students looking to improve their understanding of homework topics and boost their academic success."

Upgrade to StudyMonkey Premium!

Why not upgrade to StudyMonkey Premium and get access to all features?

• Future Students
• Current Students
• Faculty/Staff

News and Media

• News & Media Home
• Research Stories
• School's In
• In the Media

You are here

More than two hours of homework may be counterproductive, research suggests.

A Stanford education researcher found that too much homework can negatively affect kids, especially their lives away from school, where family, friends and activities matter.   "Our findings on the effects of homework challenge the traditional assumption that homework is inherently good," wrote Denise Pope , a senior lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Education and a co-author of a study published in the Journal of Experimental Education .   The researchers used survey data to examine perceptions about homework, student well-being and behavioral engagement in a sample of 4,317 students from 10 high-performing high schools in upper-middle-class California communities. Along with the survey data, Pope and her colleagues used open-ended answers to explore the students' views on homework.   Median household income exceeded $90,000 in these communities, and 93 percent of the students went on to college, either two-year or four-year.   Students in these schools average about 3.1 hours of homework each night.   "The findings address how current homework practices in privileged, high-performing schools sustain students' advantage in competitive climates yet hinder learning, full engagement and well-being," Pope wrote.   Pope and her colleagues found that too much homework can diminish its effectiveness and even be counterproductive. They cite prior research indicating that homework benefits plateau at about two hours per night, and that 90 minutes to two and a half hours is optimal for high school.   Their study found that too much homework is associated with:   • Greater stress : 56 percent of the students considered homework a primary source of stress, according to the survey data. Forty-three percent viewed tests as a primary stressor, while 33 percent put the pressure to get good grades in that category. Less than 1 percent of the students said homework was not a stressor.   • Reductions in health : In their open-ended answers, many students said their homework load led to sleep deprivation and other health problems. The researchers asked students whether they experienced health issues such as headaches, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, weight loss and stomach problems.   • Less time for friends, family and extracurricular pursuits : Both the survey data and student responses indicate that spending too much time on homework meant that students were "not meeting their developmental needs or cultivating other critical life skills," according to the researchers. Students were more likely to drop activities, not see friends or family, and not pursue hobbies they enjoy.   A balancing act   The results offer empirical evidence that many students struggle to find balance between homework, extracurricular activities and social time, the researchers said. Many students felt forced or obligated to choose homework over developing other talents or skills.   Also, there was no relationship between the time spent on homework and how much the student enjoyed it. The research quoted students as saying they often do homework they see as "pointless" or "mindless" in order to keep their grades up.   "This kind of busy work, by its very nature, discourages learning and instead promotes doing homework simply to get points," said Pope, who is also a co-founder of Challenge Success , a nonprofit organization affiliated with the GSE that conducts research and works with schools and parents to improve students' educational experiences..   Pope said the research calls into question the value of assigning large amounts of homework in high-performing schools. Homework should not be simply assigned as a routine practice, she said.   "Rather, any homework assigned should have a purpose and benefit, and it should be designed to cultivate learning and development," wrote Pope.   High-performing paradox   In places where students attend high-performing schools, too much homework can reduce their time to foster skills in the area of personal responsibility, the researchers concluded. "Young people are spending more time alone," they wrote, "which means less time for family and fewer opportunities to engage in their communities."   Student perspectives   The researchers say that while their open-ended or "self-reporting" methodology to gauge student concerns about homework may have limitations – some might regard it as an opportunity for "typical adolescent complaining" – it was important to learn firsthand what the students believe.   The paper was co-authored by Mollie Galloway from Lewis and Clark College and Jerusha Conner from Villanova University.

Clifton B. Parker is a writer at the Stanford News Service .

More Stories

⟵ Go to all Research Stories

Get the Educator

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

Stanford Graduate School of Education

482 Galvez Mall Stanford, CA 94305-3096 Tel: (650) 723-2109

• Contact Admissions
• GSE Leadership
• Site Feedback
• Web Accessibility
• Career Resources
• Faculty Open Positions
• Explore Courses
• Academic Calendar
• Office of the Registrar
• Cubberley Library
• StanfordWho
• StanfordYou

Improving lives through learning

• Stanford Home
• Maps & Directions
• Search Stanford
• Emergency Info
• Terms of Use
• Non-Discrimination
• Accessibility

© Stanford University , Stanford , California 94305 .

Game Central

Get step-by-step explanations

Graph your math problems

Practice, practice, practice

Get math help in your language

Internet Explorer is no longer supported

Please upgrade to Microsoft Edge , Google Chrome , or Firefox .

Lo sentimos, la página que usted busca no se ha podido encontrar. Puede intentar su búsqueda de nuevo o visitar la lista de temas populares.

Get this as a PDF

Enter email to download and get news and resources in your inbox.

Share this on social

Strategies to make homework go more smoothly.

Routines and incentive systems to help kids succeed

Writer: Peg Dawson, EdD, NCSP

Clinical Expert: Peg Dawson, EdD, NCSP

Here is the best guide to helping kids do homework successfully that we’ve seen, published by the National Association of School Psychologists on their website, NASPonline.org . Our thanks to NASP for sharing it with us.

There are two key strategies parents can draw on to reduce homework hassles. The first is to establish clear routines around homework, including when and where homework gets done and setting up daily schedules for homework. The second is to build in rewards or incentives to use with children for whom “good grades” is not a sufficient reward for doing homework.

Homework Routines

Tasks are easiest to accomplish when tied to specific routines. By establishing daily routines for homework completion, you will not only make homework go more smoothly, but you will also be fostering a sense of order your child can apply to later life, including college and work.

Step 1. Find a location in the house where homework will be done. The right location will depend on your child and the culture of your family. Some children do best at a desk in their bedroom. It is a quiet location, away from the hubbub of family noise. Other children become too distracted by the things they keep in their bedroom and do better at a place removed from those distractions, like the dining room table. Some children need to work by themselves. Others need to have parents nearby to help keep them on task and to answer questions when problems arise. Ask your child where the best place is to work. Both you and your child need to discuss pros and cons of different settings to arrive at a mutually agreed upon location.

Step 2. Set up a homework center. Once you and your child have identified a location, fix it up as a home office/homework center. Make sure there is a clear workspace large enough to set out all the materials necessary for completing assignments. Outfit the homework center with the kinds of supplies your child is most likely to need, such as pencils, pens, colored markers, rulers, scissors, a dictionary and thesaurus, graph paper, construction paper, glue and cellophane tape, lined paper, a calculator, spell checker, and, depending on the age and needs of your child, a computer or laptop. If the homework center is a place that will be used for other things (such as the dining room table), then your child can keep the supplies in a portable crate or bin. If possible, the homework center should include a bulletin board that can hold a monthly calendar on which your child can keep track of longterm assignments. Allowing children some leeway in decorating the homework center can help them feel at home there, but you should be careful that it does not become too cluttered with distracting materials.

Step 3. Establish a homework time. Your child should get in the habit of doing homework at the same time every day. The time may vary depending on the individual child. Some children need a break right after school to get some exercise and have a snack. Others need to start homework while they are still in a school mode (i.e., right after school when there is still some momentum left from getting through the day). In general, it may be best to get homework done either before dinner or as early in the evening as the child can tolerate. The later it gets, the more tired the child becomes and the more slowly the homework gets done.

Step 4. Establish a daily homework schedule. In general, at least into middle school, the homework session should begin with your sitting down with your child and drawing up a homework schedule. You should review all the assignments and make sure your child understands them and has all the necessary materials. Ask your child to estimate how long it will take to complete each assignment. Then ask when each assignment will get started. If your child needs help with any assignment , then this should be determined at the beginning so that the start times can take into account parent availability. A Daily Homework Planner is included at the end of this handout and contains a place for identifying when breaks may be taken and what rewards may be earned.

Incentive Systems

Many children who are not motivated by the enjoyment of doing homework are motivated by the high grade they hope to earn as a result of doing a quality job. Thus, the grade is an incentive, motivating the child to do homework with care and in a timely manner. For children who are not motivated by grades, parents will need to look for other rewards to help them get through their nightly chores. Incentive systems fall into two categories: simple and elaborate.

Simple incentive systems. The simplest incentive system is reminding the child of a fun activity to do when homework is done. It may be a favorite television show, a chance to spend some time with a video or computer game, talking on the telephone or instant messaging, or playing a game with a parent. This system of withholding fun things until the drudgery is over is sometimes called Grandma’s Law because grandmothers often use it quite effectively (“First take out the trash, then you can have chocolate chip cookies.”). Having something to look forward to can be a powerful incentive to get the hard work done. When parents remind children of this as they sit down at their desks they may be able to spark the engine that drives the child to stick with the work until it is done.

Elaborate incentive systems. These involve more planning and more work on the part of parents but in some cases are necessary to address more significant homework problems. More complex incentives systems might include a structure for earning points that could be used to “purchase” privileges or rewards or a system that provides greater reward for accomplishing more difficult homework tasks. These systems work best when parents and children together develop them. Giving children input gives them a sense of control and ownership, making the system more likely to succeed. We have found that children are generally realistic in setting goals and deciding on rewards and penalties when they are involved in the decision-making process.

Building in breaks. These are good for the child who cannot quite make it to the end without a small reward en route. When creating the daily homework schedule, it may be useful with these children to identify when they will take their breaks. Some children prefer to take breaks at specific time intervals (every 15 minutes), while others do better when the breaks occur after they finish an activity. If you use this approach, you should discuss with your child how long the breaks will last and what will be done during the breaks (get a snack, call a friend, play one level on a video game). The Daily Homework Planner includes sections where breaks and end-of-homework rewards can be identified.

Building in choice. This can be an effective strategy for parents to use with children who resist homework. Choice can be incorporated into both the order in which the child agrees to complete assignments and the schedule they will follow to get the work done. Building in choice not only helps motivate children but can also reduce power struggles between parents and children.

Developing Incentive Systems

Step 1. Describe the problem behaviors. Parents and children decide which behaviors are causing problems at homework time. For some children putting homework off to the last minute is the problem; for others, it is forgetting materials or neglecting to write down assignments. Still others rush through their work and make careless mistakes, while others dawdle over assignments, taking hours to complete what should take only a few minutes. It is important to be as specific as possible when describing the problem behaviors. The problem behavior should be described as behaviors that can be seen or heard; for instance, complains about h omework or rushes through homework, making many mistakes are better descriptors than has a bad attitude or is lazy.

Step 2. Set a goal. Usually the goal relates directly to the problem behavior. For instance, if not writing down assignments is the problem, the goal might be: “Joe will write down his assignments in his assignment book for every class.”

Step 3. Decide on possible rewards and penalties. Homework incentive systems work best when children have a menu of rewards to choose from, since no single reward will be attractive for long. We recommend a point system in which points can be earned for the goal behaviors and traded in for the reward the child wants to earn. The bigger the reward, the more points the child will need to earn it. The menu should include both larger, more expensive rewards that may take a week or a month to earn and smaller, inexpensive rewards that can be earned daily. It may also be necessary to build penalties into the system. This is usually the loss of a privilege (such as the chance to watch a favorite TV show or the chance to talk on the telephone to a friend).

Once the system is up and running, and if you find your child is earning more penalties than rewards, then the program needs to be revised so that your child can be more successful. Usually when this kind of system fails, we think of it as a design failure rather than the failure of the child to respond to rewards. It may be a good idea if you are having difficulty designing a system that works to consult a specialist, such as a school psychologist or counselor, for assistance.

Step 4. Write a homework contract. The contract should say exactly what the child agrees to do and exactly what the parents’ roles and responsibilities will be. When the contract is in place, it should reduce some of the tension parents and kids often experience around homework. For instance, if part of the contract is that the child will earn a point for not complaining about homework, then if the child does complain, this should not be cause for a battle between parent and child: the child simply does not earn that point. Parents should also be sure to praise their children for following the contract. It will be important for parents to agree to a contract they can live with; that is, avoiding penalties they are either unable or unwilling to impose (e.g., if both parents work and are not at home, they cannot monitor whether a child is beginning homework right after school, so an alternative contract may need to be written).

We have found that it is a rare incentive system that works the first time. Parents should expect to try it out and redesign it to work the kinks out. Eventually, once the child is used to doing the behaviors specified in the contract, the contract can be rewritten to work on another problem behavior. Your child over time may be willing to drop the use of an incentive system altogether. This is often a long-term goal, however, and you should be ready to write a new contract if your child slips back to bad habits once a system is dropped.

Click here to download the homework planner and incentive sheet .

Was this article helpful?

Explore popular topics, subscribe to our newsletters.

" * " indicates required fields

Don’t Miss Out

Sign up for more articles and parenting tips direct to your inbox.

Homework Struggles May Not Be a Behavior Problem

Exploring some options to understand and help..

Posted August 2, 2022 | Reviewed by Abigail Fagan

• Mental health challenges and neurodevelopmental differences directly affect children's ability to do homework.
• Understanding what difficulties are getting in the way—beyond the usual explanation of a behavior problem—is key.
• Sleep and mental health needs can take priority over homework completion.

Chelsea was in 10th grade the first time I told her directly to stop doing her homework and get some sleep. I had been working with her since she was in middle school, treating her anxiety disorder. She deeply feared disappointing anyone—especially her teachers—and spent hours trying to finish homework perfectly. The more tired and anxious she got, the harder it got for her to finish the assignments.

One night Chelsea called me in despair, feeling hopeless. She was exhausted and couldn’t think straight. She felt like a failure and that she was a burden to everyone because she couldn’t finish her homework.

She was shocked when I told her that my prescription for her was to go to sleep now—not to figure out how to finish her work. I told her to leave her homework incomplete and go to sleep. We briefly discussed how we would figure it out the next day, with her mom and her teachers. At that moment, it clicked for her that it was futile to keep working—because nothing was getting done.

This was an inflection point for her awareness of when she was emotionally over-cooked and when she needed to stop and take a break or get some sleep. We repeated versions of this phone call several times over the course of her high school and college years, but she got much better at being able to do this for herself most of the time.

When Mental Health Symptoms Interfere with Homework

Kids with mental health or neurodevelopmental challenges often struggle mightily with homework. Challenges can come up in every step of the homework process, including, but not limited to:

• Remembering and tracking assignments and materials
• Getting the mental energy/organization to start homework
• Filtering distractions enough to persist with assignments
• Understanding unspoken or implied parts of the homework
• Remembering to bring finished homework to class
• Being in class long enough to know the material
• Tolerating the fear of not knowing or failing
• Not giving up the assignment because of a panic attack
• Tolerating frustration—such as not understanding—without emotional dysregulation
• Being able to ask for help—from a peer or a teacher and not being afraid to reach out

This list is hardly comprehensive. ADHD , autism spectrum disorder, social anxiety , generalized anxiety, panic disorder, depression , dysregulation, and a range of other neurodevelopmental and mental health challenges cause numerous learning differences and symptoms that can specifically and frequently interfere with getting homework done.

The Usual Diagnosis for Homework Problems is "Not Trying Hard Enough"

Unfortunately, when kids frequently struggle to meet homework demands, teachers and parents typically default to one explanation of the problem: The child is making a choice not to do their homework. That is the default “diagnosis” in classrooms and living rooms. And once this framework is drawn, the student is often seen as not trying hard enough, disrespectful, manipulative, or just plain lazy.

The fundamental disconnect here is that the diagnosis of homework struggles as a behavioral choice is, in fact, only one explanation, while there are so many other diagnoses and differences that impair children's ability to consistently do their homework. If we are trying to create solutions based on only one understanding of the problem, the solutions will not work. More devastatingly, the wrong solutions can worsen the child’s mental health and their long-term engagement with school and learning.

To be clear, we aren’t talking about children who sometimes struggle with or skip homework—kids who can change and adapt their behaviors and patterns in response to the outcomes of that struggle. For this discussion, we are talking about children with mental health and/or neurodevelopmental symptoms and challenges that create chronic difficulties with meeting homework demands.

How Can You Help a Child Who Struggles with Homework?

How can you help your child who is struggling to meet homework demands because of their ADHD, depression, anxiety, OCD , school avoidance, or any other neurodevelopmental or mental health differences? Let’s break this down into two broad areas—things you can do at home, and things you can do in communication with the school.

Helping at Home

The following suggestions for managing school demands at home can feel counterintuitive to parents—because we usually focus on helping our kids to complete their tasks. But mental health needs jump the line ahead of task completion. And starting at home will be key to developing an idea of what needs to change at school.

• Set an end time in the evening after which no more homework will be attempted. Kids need time to decompress and they need sleep—and pushing homework too close to or past bedtime doesn’t serve their educational needs. Even if your child hasn’t been able to approach the homework at all, even if they have avoided and argued the whole evening, it is still important for everyone to have a predictable time to shut down the whole process.
• If there are arguments almost every night about homework, if your child isn’t starting homework or finishing it, reframe it from failure into information. It’s data to put into problem-solving. We need to consider other possible explanations besides “behavioral choice” when trying to understand the problem and create effective solutions. What problems are getting in the way of our child’s meeting homework demands that their peers are meeting most of the time?
• Try not to argue about homework. If you can check your own anxiety and frustration, it can be more productive to ally with your child and be curious with them. Kids usually can’t tell you a clear “why” but maybe they can tell you how they are feeling and what they are thinking. And if your child can’t talk about it or just keeps saying “I don't know,” try not to push. Come back another time. Rushing, forcing, yelling, and threatening will predictably not help kids do homework.

Helping at School

The second area to explore when your neurodiverse child struggles frequently with homework is building communication and connections with school and teachers. Some places to focus on include the following.

• Label your child’s diagnoses and break down specific symptoms for the teachers and school team. Nonjudgmental, but specific language is essential for teachers to understand your child’s struggles. Breaking their challenges down into the problems specific to homework can help with building solutions. As your child gets older, help them identify their difficulties and communicate them to teachers.
• Let teachers and the school team know that your child’s mental health needs—including sleep—take priority over finishing homework. If your child is always struggling to complete homework and get enough sleep, or if completing homework is leading to emotional meltdowns every night, adjusting their homework demands will be more successful than continuing to push them into sleep deprivation or meltdowns.
• Request a child study team evaluation to determine if your child qualifies for services under special education law such as an IEP, or accommodations through section 504—and be sure that homework adjustments are included in any plan. Or if such a plan is already in place, be clear that modification of homework expectations needs to be part of it.

The Long-Term Story

I still work with Chelsea and she recently mentioned how those conversations so many years ago are still part of how she approaches work tasks or other demands that are spiking her anxiety when she finds herself in a vortex of distress. She stops what she is doing and prioritizes reducing her anxiety—whether it’s a break during her day or an ending to the task for the evening. She sees that this is crucial to managing her anxiety in her life and still succeeding at what she is doing.

Task completion at all costs is not a solution for kids with emotional needs. Her story (and the story of many of my patients) make this crystal clear.

Candida Fink, M.D. , is board certified in child/adolescent and general psychiatry. She practices in New York and has co-authored two books— The Ups and Downs of Raising a Bipolar Child and Bipolar Disorder for Dummies.

• Find a Therapist
• Find a Treatment Center
• Find a Psychiatrist
• Find a Support Group
• Find Online Therapy
• United States
• Brooklyn, NY
• Chicago, IL
• Houston, TX
• Los Angeles, CA
• New York, NY
• Portland, OR
• San Diego, CA
• San Francisco, CA
• Seattle, WA
• Washington, DC
• Asperger's
• Bipolar Disorder
• Chronic Pain
• Eating Disorders
• Passive Aggression
• Personality
• Goal Setting
• Positive Psychology
• Stopping Smoking
• Low Sexual Desire
• Relationships
• Child Development
• Therapy Center NEW
• Diagnosis Dictionary
• Types of Therapy

At any moment, someone’s aggravating behavior or our own bad luck can set us off on an emotional spiral that threatens to derail our entire day. Here’s how we can face our triggers with less reactivity so that we can get on with our lives.

• Emotional Intelligence
• Gaslighting
• Affective Forecasting
• Neuroscience

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Student Opinion

Should We Get Rid of Homework?

Some educators are pushing to get rid of homework. Would that be a good thing?

By Jeremy Engle and Michael Gonchar

Do you like doing homework? Do you think it has benefited you educationally?

Has homework ever helped you practice a difficult skill — in math, for example — until you mastered it? Has it helped you learn new concepts in history or science? Has it helped to teach you life skills, such as independence and responsibility? Or, have you had a more negative experience with homework? Does it stress you out, numb your brain from busywork or actually make you fall behind in your classes?

Should we get rid of homework?

In “ The Movement to End Homework Is Wrong, ” published in July, the Times Opinion writer Jay Caspian Kang argues that homework may be imperfect, but it still serves an important purpose in school. The essay begins:

Do students really need to do their homework? As a parent and a former teacher, I have been pondering this question for quite a long time. The teacher side of me can acknowledge that there were assignments I gave out to my students that probably had little to no academic value. But I also imagine that some of my students never would have done their basic reading if they hadn’t been trained to complete expected assignments, which would have made the task of teaching an English class nearly impossible. As a parent, I would rather my daughter not get stuck doing the sort of pointless homework I would occasionally assign, but I also think there’s a lot of value in saying, “Hey, a lot of work you’re going to end up doing in your life is pointless, so why not just get used to it?” I certainly am not the only person wondering about the value of homework. Recently, the sociologist Jessica McCrory Calarco and the mathematics education scholars Ilana Horn and Grace Chen published a paper, “ You Need to Be More Responsible: The Myth of Meritocracy and Teachers’ Accounts of Homework Inequalities .” They argued that while there’s some evidence that homework might help students learn, it also exacerbates inequalities and reinforces what they call the “meritocratic” narrative that says kids who do well in school do so because of “individual competence, effort and responsibility.” The authors believe this meritocratic narrative is a myth and that homework — math homework in particular — further entrenches the myth in the minds of teachers and their students. Calarco, Horn and Chen write, “Research has highlighted inequalities in students’ homework production and linked those inequalities to differences in students’ home lives and in the support students’ families can provide.”

Mr. Kang argues:

But there’s a defense of homework that doesn’t really have much to do with class mobility, equality or any sense of reinforcing the notion of meritocracy. It’s one that became quite clear to me when I was a teacher: Kids need to learn how to practice things. Homework, in many cases, is the only ritualized thing they have to do every day. Even if we could perfectly equalize opportunity in school and empower all students not to be encumbered by the weight of their socioeconomic status or ethnicity, I’m not sure what good it would do if the kids didn’t know how to do something relentlessly, over and over again, until they perfected it. Most teachers know that type of progress is very difficult to achieve inside the classroom, regardless of a student’s background, which is why, I imagine, Calarco, Horn and Chen found that most teachers weren’t thinking in a structural inequalities frame. Holistic ideas of education, in which learning is emphasized and students can explore concepts and ideas, are largely for the types of kids who don’t need to worry about class mobility. A defense of rote practice through homework might seem revanchist at this moment, but if we truly believe that schools should teach children lessons that fall outside the meritocracy, I can’t think of one that matters more than the simple satisfaction of mastering something that you were once bad at. That takes homework and the acknowledgment that sometimes a student can get a question wrong and, with proper instruction, eventually get it right.

Students, read the entire article, then tell us:

Should we get rid of homework? Why, or why not?

Is homework an outdated, ineffective or counterproductive tool for learning? Do you agree with the authors of the paper that homework is harmful and worsens inequalities that exist between students’ home circumstances?

Or do you agree with Mr. Kang that homework still has real educational value?

When you get home after school, how much homework will you do? Do you think the amount is appropriate, too much or too little? Is homework, including the projects and writing assignments you do at home, an important part of your learning experience? Or, in your opinion, is it not a good use of time? Explain.

In these letters to the editor , one reader makes a distinction between elementary school and high school:

Homework’s value is unclear for younger students. But by high school and college, homework is absolutely essential for any student who wishes to excel. There simply isn’t time to digest Dostoyevsky if you only ever read him in class.

What do you think? How much does grade level matter when discussing the value of homework?

Is there a way to make homework more effective?

If you were a teacher, would you assign homework? What kind of assignments would you give and why?

Want more writing prompts? You can find all of our questions in our Student Opinion column . Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate them into your classroom.

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

Jeremy Engle joined The Learning Network as a staff editor in 2018 after spending more than 20 years as a classroom humanities and documentary-making teacher, professional developer and curriculum designer working with students and teachers across the country. More about Jeremy Engle

Is it time to get rid of homework? Mental health experts weigh in.

It's no secret that kids hate homework. And as students grapple with an ongoing pandemic that has had a wide range of mental health impacts, is it time schools start listening to their pleas about workloads?

Some teachers are turning to social media to take a stand against homework. 

Tiktok user @misguided.teacher says he doesn't assign it because the "whole premise of homework is flawed."

For starters, he says, he can't grade work on "even playing fields" when students' home environments can be vastly different.

"Even students who go home to a peaceful house, do they really want to spend their time on busy work? Because typically that's what a lot of homework is, it's busy work," he says in the video that has garnered 1.6 million likes. "You only get one year to be 7, you only got one year to be 10, you only get one year to be 16, 18."

Mental health experts agree heavy workloads have the potential do more harm than good for students, especially when taking into account the impacts of the pandemic. But they also say the answer may not be to eliminate homework altogether.

Emmy Kang, mental health counselor at Humantold , says studies have shown heavy workloads can be "detrimental" for students and cause a "big impact on their mental, physical and emotional health."

"More than half of students say that homework is their primary source of stress, and we know what stress can do on our bodies," she says, adding that staying up late to finish assignments also leads to disrupted sleep and exhaustion.

Cynthia Catchings, a licensed clinical social worker and therapist at Talkspace , says heavy workloads can also cause serious mental health problems in the long run, like anxiety and depression. 

And for all the distress homework  can cause, it's not as useful as many may think, says Dr. Nicholas Kardaras, a psychologist and CEO of Omega Recovery treatment center.

"The research shows that there's really limited benefit of homework for elementary age students, that really the school work should be contained in the classroom," he says.

For older students, Kang says, homework benefits plateau at about two hours per night. 

"Most students, especially at these high achieving schools, they're doing a minimum of three hours, and it's taking away time from their friends, from their families, their extracurricular activities. And these are all very important things for a person's mental and emotional health."

Catchings, who also taught third to 12th graders for 12 years, says she's seen the positive effects of a no-homework policy while working with students abroad.

"Not having homework was something that I always admired from the French students (and) the French schools, because that was helping the students to really have the time off and really disconnect from school," she says.

The answer may not be to eliminate homework completely but to be more mindful of the type of work students take home, suggests Kang, who was a high school teacher for 10 years.

"I don't think (we) should scrap homework; I think we should scrap meaningless, purposeless busy work-type homework. That's something that needs to be scrapped entirely," she says, encouraging teachers to be thoughtful and consider the amount of time it would take for students to complete assignments.

The pandemic made the conversation around homework more crucial 

Mindfulness surrounding homework is especially important in the context of the past two years. Many students will be struggling with mental health issues that were brought on or worsened by the pandemic , making heavy workloads even harder to balance.

"COVID was just a disaster in terms of the lack of structure. Everything just deteriorated," Kardaras says, pointing to an increase in cognitive issues and decrease in attention spans among students. "School acts as an anchor for a lot of children, as a stabilizing force, and that disappeared."

But even if students transition back to the structure of in-person classes, Kardaras suspects students may still struggle after two school years of shifted schedules and disrupted sleeping habits.

"We've seen adults struggling to go back to in-person work environments from remote work environments. That effect is amplified with children because children have less resources to be able to cope with those transitions than adults do," he explains.

'Get organized' ahead of back-to-school

In order to make the transition back to in-person school easier, Kang encourages students to "get good sleep, exercise regularly (and) eat a healthy diet."

To help manage workloads, she suggests students "get organized."

"There's so much mental clutter up there when you're disorganized. ... Sitting down and planning out their study schedules can really help manage their time," she says.

Breaking up assignments can also make things easier to tackle.

"I know that heavy workloads can be stressful, but if you sit down and you break down that studying into smaller chunks, they're much more manageable."

If workloads are still too much, Kang encourages students to advocate for themselves.

"They should tell their teachers when a homework assignment just took too much time or if it was too difficult for them to do on their own," she says. "It's good to speak up and ask those questions. Respectfully, of course, because these are your teachers. But still, I think sometimes teachers themselves need this feedback from their students."

More: Some teachers let their students sleep in class. Here's what mental health experts say.

More: Some parents are slipping young kids in for the COVID-19 vaccine, but doctors discourage the move as 'risky'

• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer

Additional menu

Khan Academy Blog

Free Math Worksheets — Over 100k free practice problems on Khan Academy

Looking for free math worksheets.

You’ve found something even better!

That’s because Khan Academy has over 100,000 free practice questions. And they’re even better than traditional math worksheets – more instantaneous, more interactive, and more fun!

Just choose your grade level or topic to get access to 100% free practice questions:

Kindergarten, basic geometry, pre-algebra, algebra basics, high school geometry.

• Trigonometry

Statistics and probability

High school statistics, ap®︎/college statistics, precalculus, differential calculus, integral calculus, ap®︎/college calculus ab, ap®︎/college calculus bc, multivariable calculus, differential equations, linear algebra.

• Addition and subtraction
• Place value (tens and hundreds)
• Addition and subtraction within 20
• Addition and subtraction within 100
• Addition and subtraction within 1000
• Measurement and data
• Counting and place value
• Measurement and geometry
• Place value
• Measurement, data, and geometry
• Add and subtract within 20
• Add and subtract within 100
• Add and subtract within 1,000
• Money and time
• Measurement
• Intro to multiplication
• 1-digit multiplication
• Addition, subtraction, and estimation
• Intro to division
• Understand fractions
• Equivalent fractions and comparing fractions
• More with multiplication and division
• Arithmetic patterns and problem solving
• Quadrilaterals
• Represent and interpret data
• Multiply by 1-digit numbers
• Multiply by 2-digit numbers
• Factors, multiples and patterns
• Add and subtract fractions
• Multiply fractions
• Understand decimals
• Plane figures
• Measuring angles
• Area and perimeter
• Units of measurement
• Decimal place value
• Add decimals
• Subtract decimals
• Multi-digit multiplication and division
• Divide fractions
• Multiply decimals
• Divide decimals
• Powers of ten
• Coordinate plane
• Algebraic thinking
• Converting units of measure
• Properties of shapes
• Ratios, rates, & percentages
• Arithmetic operations
• Negative numbers
• Properties of numbers
• Variables & expressions
• Equations & inequalities introduction
• Data and statistics
• Negative numbers: addition and subtraction
• Negative numbers: multiplication and division
• Fractions, decimals, & percentages
• Rates & proportional relationships
• Expressions, equations, & inequalities
• Numbers and operations
• Solving equations with one unknown
• Linear equations and functions
• Systems of equations
• Geometric transformations
• Data and modeling
• Volume and surface area
• Pythagorean theorem
• Transformations, congruence, and similarity
• Arithmetic properties
• Factors and multiples
• Reading and interpreting data
• Negative numbers and coordinate plane
• Ratios, rates, proportions
• Equations, expressions, and inequalities
• Exponents, radicals, and scientific notation
• Foundations
• Algebraic expressions
• Linear equations and inequalities
• Graphing lines and slope
• Expressions with exponents
• Quadratics and polynomials
• Equations and geometry
• Algebra foundations
• Solving equations & inequalities
• Working with units
• Linear equations & graphs
• Forms of linear equations
• Inequalities (systems & graphs)
• Absolute value & piecewise functions
• Exponents & radicals
• Exponential growth & decay
• Quadratics: Multiplying & factoring
• Quadratic functions & equations
• Irrational numbers
• Performing transformations
• Transformation properties and proofs
• Right triangles & trigonometry
• Non-right triangles & trigonometry (Advanced)
• Analytic geometry
• Conic sections
• Solid geometry
• Polynomial arithmetic
• Complex numbers
• Polynomial factorization
• Polynomial division
• Polynomial graphs
• Rational exponents and radicals
• Exponential models
• Transformations of functions
• Rational functions
• Trigonometric functions
• Non-right triangles & trigonometry
• Trigonometric equations and identities
• Analyzing categorical data
• Displaying and comparing quantitative data
• Summarizing quantitative data
• Modeling data distributions
• Exploring bivariate numerical data
• Study design
• Probability
• Counting, permutations, and combinations
• Random variables
• Sampling distributions
• Confidence intervals
• Significance tests (hypothesis testing)
• Two-sample inference for the difference between groups
• Inference for categorical data (chi-square tests)
• Advanced regression (inference and transforming)
• Analysis of variance (ANOVA)
• Scatterplots
• Data distributions
• Two-way tables
• Binomial probability
• Normal distributions
• Displaying and describing quantitative data
• Inference comparing two groups or populations
• Chi-square tests for categorical data
• More on regression
• Prepare for the 2020 AP®︎ Statistics Exam
• AP®︎ Statistics Standards mappings
• Polynomials
• Composite functions
• Probability and combinatorics
• Limits and continuity
• Derivatives: definition and basic rules
• Derivatives: chain rule and other advanced topics
• Applications of derivatives
• Analyzing functions
• Parametric equations, polar coordinates, and vector-valued functions
• Applications of integrals
• Differentiation: definition and basic derivative rules
• Differentiation: composite, implicit, and inverse functions
• Contextual applications of differentiation
• Applying derivatives to analyze functions
• Integration and accumulation of change
• Applications of integration
• AP Calculus AB solved free response questions from past exams
• AP®︎ Calculus AB Standards mappings
• Infinite sequences and series
• AP Calculus BC solved exams
• AP®︎ Calculus BC Standards mappings
• Integrals review
• Integration techniques
• Thinking about multivariable functions
• Derivatives of multivariable functions
• Applications of multivariable derivatives
• Integrating multivariable functions
• Green’s, Stokes’, and the divergence theorems
• First order differential equations
• Second order linear equations
• Laplace transform
• Vectors and spaces
• Matrix transformations
• Alternate coordinate systems (bases)

Frequently Asked Questions about Khan Academy and Math Worksheets

Why is khan academy even better than traditional math worksheets.

Khan Academy’s 100,000+ free practice questions give instant feedback, don’t need to be graded, and don’t require a printer.

What do Khan Academy’s interactive math worksheets look like?

Here’s an example:

What are teachers saying about Khan Academy’s interactive math worksheets?

“My students love Khan Academy because they can immediately learn from their mistakes, unlike traditional worksheets.”

Is Khan Academy free?

Khan Academy’s practice questions are 100% free—with no ads or subscriptions.

What do Khan Academy’s interactive math worksheets cover?

Our 100,000+ practice questions cover every math topic from arithmetic to calculus, as well as ELA, Science, Social Studies, and more.

Is Khan Academy a company?

Khan Academy is a nonprofit with a mission to provide a free, world-class education to anyone, anywhere.

Want to get even more out of Khan Academy?

Then be sure to check out our teacher tools . They’ll help you assign the perfect practice for each student from our full math curriculum and track your students’ progress across the year. Plus, they’re also 100% free — with no subscriptions and no ads.

Solver Title

Generating PDF...

• Pre Algebra Order of Operations Factors & Primes Fractions Long Arithmetic Decimals Exponents & Radicals Ratios & Proportions Percent Modulo Number Line Expanded Form Mean, Median & Mode
• Algebra Equations Inequalities System of Equations System of Inequalities Basic Operations Algebraic Properties Partial Fractions Polynomials Rational Expressions Sequences Power Sums Interval Notation Pi (Product) Notation Induction Logical Sets Word Problems
• Pre Calculus Equations Inequalities Scientific Calculator Scientific Notation Arithmetics Complex Numbers Polar/Cartesian Simultaneous Equations System of Inequalities Polynomials Rationales Functions Arithmetic & Comp. Coordinate Geometry Plane Geometry Solid Geometry Conic Sections Trigonometry
• Calculus Derivatives Derivative Applications Limits Integrals Integral Applications Integral Approximation Series ODE Multivariable Calculus Laplace Transform Taylor/Maclaurin Series Fourier Series Fourier Transform
• Functions Line Equations Functions Arithmetic & Comp. Conic Sections Transformation
• Linear Algebra Matrices Vectors
• Trigonometry Identities Proving Identities Trig Equations Trig Inequalities Evaluate Functions Simplify
• Statistics Mean Geometric Mean Quadratic Mean Average Median Mode Order Minimum Maximum Probability Mid-Range Range Standard Deviation Variance Lower Quartile Upper Quartile Interquartile Range Midhinge Standard Normal Distribution
• Physics Mechanics
• Chemistry Chemical Reactions Chemical Properties
• Finance Simple Interest Compound Interest Present Value Future Value
• Economics Point of Diminishing Return
• Conversions Roman Numerals Radical to Exponent Exponent to Radical To Fraction To Decimal To Mixed Number To Improper Fraction Radians to Degrees Degrees to Radians Hexadecimal Scientific Notation Distance Weight Time Volume
• Pre Algebra
• Pre Calculus
• Linear Algebra
• Trigonometry
• Conversions

Most Used Actions

Number line.

• x^{2}-x-6=0
• -x+3\gt 2x+1
• line\:(1,\:2),\:(3,\:1)
• prove\:\tan^2(x)-\sin^2(x)=\tan^2(x)\sin^2(x)
• \frac{d}{dx}(\frac{3x+9}{2-x})
• (\sin^2(\theta))'
• \lim _{x\to 0}(x\ln (x))
• \int e^x\cos (x)dx
• \int_{0}^{\pi}\sin(x)dx
• \sum_{n=0}^{\infty}\frac{3}{2^n}
• Is there a step by step calculator for math?
• Symbolab is the best step by step calculator for a wide range of math problems, from basic arithmetic to advanced calculus and linear algebra. It shows you the solution, graph, detailed steps and explanations for each problem.
• Is there a step by step calculator for physics?
• Symbolab is the best step by step calculator for a wide range of physics problems, including mechanics, electricity and magnetism, and thermodynamics. It shows you the steps and explanations for each problem, so you can learn as you go.
• How to solve math problems step-by-step?
• To solve math problems step-by-step start by reading the problem carefully and understand what you are being asked to find. Next, identify the relevant information, define the variables, and plan a strategy for solving the problem.
• Practice Makes Perfect Learning math takes practice, lots of practice. Just like running, it takes practice and dedication. If you want...

Please add a message.

Message received. Thanks for the feedback.

• Problem Generator
• Mobile Apps
• All Products
• Preferences
• My Apps (API)

• Solve equations and inequalities
• Simplify expressions
• Factor polynomials
• Graph equations and inequalities
• Advanced solvers
• All solvers
• Arithmetics
• Determinant
• Percentages
• Scientific Notation
• Inequalities

What can QuickMath do?

QuickMath will automatically answer the most common problems in algebra, equations and calculus faced by high-school and college students.

• The algebra section allows you to expand, factor or simplify virtually any expression you choose. It also has commands for splitting fractions into partial fractions, combining several fractions into one and cancelling common factors within a fraction.
• The equations section lets you solve an equation or system of equations. You can usually find the exact answer or, if necessary, a numerical answer to almost any accuracy you require.
• The inequalities section lets you solve an inequality or a system of inequalities for a single variable. You can also plot inequalities in two variables.
• The calculus section will carry out differentiation as well as definite and indefinite integration.
• The matrices section contains commands for the arithmetic manipulation of matrices.
• The graphs section contains commands for plotting equations and inequalities.
• The numbers section has a percentages command for explaining the most common types of percentage problems and a section for dealing with scientific notation.

Math Topics

More solvers.

• Add Fractions
• Simplify Fractions

The Worsening Homework Problem

My son does an average of five or six hours of homework every night. Is this normal?

Editor’s Note: Every Tuesday, Abby Freireich and Brian Platzer take questions from readers about their kids’ education. Have one? Email them at [email protected].

Dear Abby and Brian,

My son, who is in ninth grade, is a really good student, but I’m worried he’s working far too much. He does an average of five or six hours of homework every weeknight, and that’s on top of spending most of the weekend writing essays or studying for tests. His school says that each of his five main classes (English, history, math, language, and science) can assign no more than 30 minutes a night and that electives can assign no more than one hour a week. That should look like something around three hours a night, which is a lot but at least more manageable.

On some nights, a math problem set can take him more than two hours, and then, after 8 p.m. and sometimes after 9, he turns to his English reading, science textbook, Spanish paragraph, or history outline. He’s working until after midnight and then up at 6 a.m. to get ready for school, beyond exhausted. Is this normal?

How much homework should students be assigned?

Margaret Denver

Dear Margaret,

Homework—when assigned in appropriate amounts and with the right goals in mind—is an indispensable tool for educators. But students should never be put in the position of having to choose between their academic success and their overall well-being.

To understand what constitutes the right amount of homework, we should be clear on what it’s meant to accomplish. We believe it should perform four basic functions. First, homework should be assigned in order to make the most of class time. In an English class, for example, teachers need to ask students to read at home in order to do the important work of leading in-class discussions. Second, at-home assignments help students learn the material taught in class. Students require independent practice to internalize new concepts. Third, these assignments can provide valuable data for teachers about how well students understand the curriculum. Finally, homework helps students acquire the skills needed to plan, organize, and complete their work.

Unfortunately, many schools assign homework for its own sake, in amounts that are out of proportion to these basic functions—a problem that seems to have gotten worse over the past 20 years . This isn’t necessarily intentional. Some of your son’s teachers probably underestimate the time it takes their students to complete assignments. But your description makes clear that homework has taken over your son’s life. That’s why he should make sure to tell his teachers that he’s been working past the nightly limits prescribed by the school.

Additionally, he should use those limits for his own well-being: If he can’t get through a math worksheet in half an hour, he should stop, draw a line after the final problem he was able to complete, and talk with his teacher the following day. That way he will be able to spread his time more evenly among classes, and his teachers will get a better sense of how long their homework is taking. Sometimes teachers aren’t aware of how much other work our students have on their plate, not to mention their extracurricular responsibilities. Fill us in! Most teachers would prefer to recalibrate our students’ workload than find ourselves responsible for keeping them up so late.

But the goodwill of individual teachers may not be enough to solve the issue. Schools have any number of incentives to assign a lot of work, one of which is the pernicious assumption that “good” schools provide as much of it as their students can pack into a day. If your son’s workload doesn’t get lighter after he talks with his teachers, contact the administration and explain the situation. Hopefully this will prompt a larger conversation within the school about the reasons to assign homework in the first place—and the reasons not to.

B y submitting a letter, you are agreeing to let The Atlantic use it—in part or in full—and we may edit it for length and/or clarity.

Use Research-Based Strategies that Work

PROBLEMS WITH HOMEWORK COMPLETION are the most common and frustrating challenge faced by parents and teachers of children with ADHD. These children may perform well on tests but receive low or failing grades due to incomplete or missing assignments. Homework problems prevent students with ADHD from reaching their full academic potential and from displaying their true ability.

Unfortunately, homework problems also tend to be a leading cause of conflict and disagreement between parents and their children with ADHD. They often argue about what work teachers assigned, when work is due, and how much time and effort to devote to completing work and studying. Perhaps most frustrating is when parents spend hours working on homework with their children, only to learn that the assignment was lost or misplaced and not turned in the next day.

Fortunately, the acknowledgement that homework is a major concern has led to a great deal of research on developing effective strategies to address homework problems. This article will review the strategies and some of the science supporting them. If you are interested in reading more about the research, including how these strategies were developed and tested, references are provided at the end.

STEP 1:  Choose one or two specific behaviors to work on.

The homework completion process is fairly complex. It requires students to use organization, time-management, and planning skills and to maintain focus and attention to complete work. Let’s take a minute to think about the specific steps a child has to complete to successfully turn in an assignment, with the goal of beginning to identify where you might want to focus your intervention efforts.

● First, the child has to know what was assigned in order to complete work. Sometimes, this information is provided online and therefore, this step does not cause problems. However, in many schools, children are required to write down homework in a planner when the teacher gives the information verbally or to copy the assignment off of the board. Many children with ADHD may forget to record the assignment or may purposefully avoid writing it down.

● Second, once children know what was assigned, they have to bring the necessary materials home to complete the work. This step is where organization of materials comes into play, as many children with ADHD have disorganized bookbags and binders which causes them to lose work or to leave materials at school or home.

● Third, children have to plan out when they are going to complete work, making sure that they leave adequate time to complete work carefully and don’t procrastinate. In other words, the child has to display time-management and planning skills.

● Finally, the child has to be able to sit and actually complete the work—and focusing attention for extended periods of time on academic tasks is incredibly challenging for children with ADHD.

Unfortunately, it is not feasible to address all potential homework problems at once, as doing so will lead to a complex system and unrealistic goals. It is important to start any homework intervention effort by picking one or two of the most problematic behaviors to focus on. This can be frustrating for parents and teachers as the pace of progress seems slow. However, taking on too much at once greatly increases the likelihood that the child will not be successful. When this happens, children lose motivation to pursue academic-related goals and may begin to have negative thoughts about their ability to be successful. For these reasons, it is critical that intervention efforts start small and build only when the child has had success.

STEP 2:  Clearly define what you want the child to do.

Once you have chosen what to focus on, it is critical that you define that behavior in the positive, clearly specifying what you want to see, rather than focusing on what you don’t want to see. When it comes to school, we often focus on the negative (disorganization, missing assignments, and procrastination), rather than being clear about what specific behaviors we would like the child to display.

Children with ADHD are frequently told that they are disorganized and procrastinate too often. Reiterating that message will not help them be successful. That said, defining what you want to see can be challenging. If you are focusing on organization, what does “get organized” mean? If you are focusing on time management, what does “you need to do a better job planning ahead” mean? Here are some examples to consider, but there are many additional options.

● For organization , you might specify that you want the child to “have no loose papers in their binder or book-bag” and that you want them to “use a homework folder and have only homework to be brought home or turned in located in that folder.”

● For time management , you might specify that you want your child to “write out a study plan for all tests.” You might specify that you want the study plan to include when the test is, when he or she will study, for how long, and using what method (such as flash cards, etc.).

● When addressing focus and attention during homework, consider defining what you want to see by setting work completion goals. It is challenging to define what it means to be on-task and focused. Instead, you could say that you would like to see the child “complete at least twenty problems in the next thirty minutes and get at least fifteen of them correct.”

The key here is that in each example, you can clearly determine whether or not the child complied and met the stated goal. In contrast, you can’t do that if you tell the child to “get more organized.” When you are not crystal clear about what you want to see, that vagueness often leads to conflict and disagreement about whether goals tasks were accomplished.

STEP 3:  Set a clear, realistic, and achievable goal.

Unfortunately, children with ADHD learn through experience that they often do not accomplish the goals adults set for them. This results in low motivation to try and reach future goals. The only way to combat this is to show children that this time is different, and that they can and will be successful. In order to do this, you need to take into consideration where the child is starting, or their current level of the behavior. For example, it is not reasonable to expect a child to go from recording homework for zero classes to recording homework accurately for all classes. Start small, with setting a goal of accurately recording for at least one class to help motivate the child by showing them that they can succeed. It is also important to set short-term goals (daily) rather than long-term goals (weekly or longer).

For example, let’s say you tell a child that if all homework assignments are recorded accurately during the week, the family will go out to dinner to celebrate. This seems reasonable, but a child who makes a mistake on the first or second day then has no motivation to continue trying the rest of the week (the goal is now out of reach). In contrast, if the goal is a daily (assignment recording is checked each day aft er school) and the child makes a mistake, you can simply respond, “Don’t worry about it, recording assignments can be difficult to remember, I am sure you will get them all tomorrow.” In this scenario, the child’s motivation to continue trying is hopefully maintained.

STEP 4:  Establish rewards if needed to help motivate the child.

As noted earlier, children with ADHD often struggle with motivation. This is partly the nature of the disorder, and partly learned life experience (“why try if experience tells me I will just fail”). When children lack internal motivation to meet goals set by parents and teachers, it can be important to make external rewards available, until the child sees that they can have success and internal motivation takes over.

These rewards don’t have to be material items that you buy. The best rewards are typically privileges children already have access to on a daily basis. For example, television or videogame time can be earned daily as a reward (for example, thirty minutes of screen time each day after school when at least three out of four assignments are recorded correctly).

Try to get creative with reward options. For example, the child could earn such privileges or activities as going to bed thirty minutes later than usual, being read to by a parent for an additional twenty minutes, choosing what is for dinner, or a get-out-of-walking-the-dog pass. It is important to be clear that material rewards are not always needed. Some children are motivated to achieve goals simply for the opportunity to receive verbal praise from parents and teachers.

FOUR STEPS TO SUCCESSFUL HOMEWORK INTERVENTION

1. Pick one or two specific homework behaviors to focus on first.

2. Carefully define what you want to see the child do.

3. Set clear, realistic, and achievable goals; short-term (daily) goals work best.

4. Identify a privilege-based reward that the child can earn for goal achievement.

ADDITIONAL READING

Gallagher, R., Abikoff, H.B., & Spira, E.G., Organizational Skills Training for Children with ADHD: An Empirically Supported Treatment . Guilford, 2014.

Langberg, J.M. Improving Children’s Homework, Organization, and Planning Skills (HOPS): A Parent’s Guide . Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists Publications, 2014.

Power, T.J., Karustis, J.L., & Habboushe, D.F. Homework Success for Children with ADHD: A Family–School Intervention Program . New York, NY: Guilford, 2001.

If you’re interested in reading research articles on the evaluation of the strategies, see:

Evans, S.W., Langberg, J.M., Schultz, B.K., Vaughn, A., Altaye, M., Marshall, S.A. & Zoromski, A.K., (2016). Evaluation of a school-based treatment program for young adolescents with ADHD. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology , 84(1), 15-30.

Langberg, J. M., Dvorsky, M. R., Molitor, S. J., Bourchtein, E., Eddy, L. D., Smith, Z. R. . . . & Eadeh, H. M. (2018). Overcoming the research-to-practice gap: A randomized trial with two brief homework and organization interventions for students with ADHD as implemented by school mental health providers. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology , 86(1), 39.

Merrill, B. M., Morrow, A. S., Altszuler, A. R., Macphee, F. L., Gnagy, E. M., Greiner, A. R., . . . & Pelham, W. E. (2017). Improving homework performance among children with ADHD: A randomized clinical trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 85(2), 111.

Pfiffner, L. J., Rooney, M., Haack, L., Villodas, M., Delucchi, K., & McBurnett, K. (2016). A randomized controlled trial of a school-implemented school– home intervention for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms and impairment. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry , 55(9), 762-770.

Power, T. J., Mautone, J. A., Soffer, S. L., Clarke, A. T., Marshall, S. A., Sharman, J., . . Jawad, A. F. (2012). A family-school intervention for children with ADHD: Results of a randomized clinical trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology , 80, 611–623.

Sibley, M. H., Graziano, P. A., Kuriyan, A. B., Coxe, S., Pelham, W. E., Rodriguez, L. . . . & Ward, A. (2016). Parent–teen behavior therapy + motivational interviewing for adolescents with ADHD. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology , 84(8), 699.

Joshua M. Langberg, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and associate professor of psychology at Virginia Common wealth University. At VCU, he directs the child/adolescent concentration of the clinical psychology program and the Promoting Adolescent School Success (PASS) research group, and co-directs the Center for ADHD Research, Service, and Education. He developed the Homework, Organization, and Planning Skills intervention and published the HOPS treatment manual and a companion guide for parents.

Other articles in this edition.

The Truth about ADHD and Lying

Brain Management as a Developmental Path

Understanding and Supporting Your Emerging Adult

Girl on Fire: Hope Is a Strategy

Failure to Launch: Treating It as a Process, Not a Failure

CBT & College Students

Still Distracted After All These Years

Why Does Sam Struggle with School Projects?

Recent Issues

• Attention Magazine April 2024
• Attention Magazine February 2024
• Attention Magazine December 2023
• Attention Magazine October 2023
• Attention Magazine August 2023
• Attention Magazine June 2023
• Attention Magazine April 2023
• Attention Magazine February 2023
• Attention Magazine December 2022
• Attention Magazine October 2022

The Legend of the 'Unsolvable Math Problem'

A student mistook examples of unsolved math problems for a homework assignment and solved them., david mikkelson, published dec. 3, 1996.

About this rating

A legend about the "unsolvable math problem" combines one of the ultimate academic wish-fulfillment fantasies — a student not only proves himself the smartest one in his class, but also bests his professor and every other scholar in his field of study — with a "positive thinking" motif that turns up in other urban legends: when people are free to pursue goals unfettered by presumed limitations on what they can accomplish, they just may manage some extraordinary feats through the combined application of native talent and hard work:

A young college student was working hard in an upper-level math course, for fear that he would be unable to pass. On the night before the final, he studied so long that he overslept the morning of the test. When he ran into the classroom several minutes late, he found three equations written on the blackboard. The first two went rather easily, but the third one seemed impossible. He worked frantically on it until — just ten minutes short of the deadline — he found a method that worked, and he finished the problems just as time was called. The student turned in his test paper and left. That evening he received a phone call from his professor. "Do you realize what you did on the test today?" he shouted at the student. "Oh, no," thought the student. I must not have gotten the problems right after all. "You were only supposed to do the first two problems," the professor explained. "That last one was an example of an equation that mathematicians since Einstein have been trying to solve without success. I discussed it with the class before starting the test. And you just solved it!"

And this particular version is all the more interesting for being based on a real-life incident!

One day in 1939, George Bernard Dantzig, a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Berkeley, arrived late for a graduate-level statistics class and found two problems written on the board. Not knowing they were examples of "unsolved" statistics problems, he mistook them for part of a homework assignment, jotted them down, and solved them. (The equations Dantzig tackled are more accurately described not as unsolvable problems, but rather as unproven statistical theorems for which he worked out proofs.)

Six weeks later, Dantzig's statistics professor notified him that he had prepared one of his two "homework" proofs for publication, and Dantzig was given co-author credit on a second paper several years later when another mathematician independently worked out the same solution to the second problem.

George Dantzig recounted his feat in a 1986 interview for the College Mathematics Journal :

It happened because during my first year at Berkeley I arrived late one day at one of [Jerzy] Neyman's classes. On the blackboard there were two problems that I assumed had been assigned for homework. I copied them down. A few days later I apologized to Neyman for taking so long to do the homework — the problems seemed to be a little harder than usual. I asked him if he still wanted it. He told me to throw it on his desk. I did so reluctantly because his desk was covered with such a heap of papers that I feared my homework would be lost there forever. About six weeks later, one Sunday morning about eight o'clock, [my wife] Anne and I were awakened by someone banging on our front door. It was Neyman. He rushed in with papers in hand, all excited: "I've just written an introduction to one of your papers. Read it so I can send it out right away for publication." For a minute I had no idea what he was talking about. To make a long story short, the problems on the blackboard that I had solved thinking they were homework were in fact two famous unsolved problems in statistics. That was the first inkling I had that there was anything special about them. A year later, when I began to worry about a thesis topic, Neyman just shrugged and told me to wrap the two problems in a binder and he would accept them as my thesis. The second of the two problems, however, was not published until after World War II. It happened this way. Around 1950 I received a letter from Abraham Wald enclosing the final galley proofs of a paper of his about to go to press in the Annals of Mathematical Statistics. Someone had just pointed out to him that the main result in his paper was the same as the second "homework" problem solved in my thesis. I wrote back suggesting we publish jointly. He simply inserted my name as coauthor into the galley proof.

Dr. Dantzig also explained how his story passed into the realm of urban legendry:

The other day, as I was taking an early morning walk, I was hailed by Don Knuth as he rode by on his bicycle. He is a colleague at Stanford. He stopped and said, "Hey, George — I was visiting in Indiana recently and heard a sermon about you in church. Do you know that you are an influence on Christians of middle America?" I looked at him, amazed. "After the sermon," he went on, "the minister came over and asked me if I knew a George Dantzig at Stanford, because that was the name of the person his sermon was about." The origin of that minister's sermon can be traced to another Lutheran minister, the Reverend Schuler [sic] of the Crystal Cathedral in Los Angeles. He told me his ideas about thinking positively, and I told him my story about the homework problems and my thesis. A few months later I received a letter from him asking permission to include my story in a book he was writing on the power of positive thinking. Schuler's published version was a bit garbled and exaggerated but essentially correct. The moral of his sermon was this: If I had known that the problem were not homework but were in fact two famous unsolved problems in statistics, I probably would not have thought positively, would have become discouraged, and would never have solved them.

The version of Dantzig's story published by Christian televangelist Robert Schuller contained a good deal of embellishment and misinformation which has since been propagated in urban legend-like forms of the tale such as the one quoted at the head of this page: Schuller converted the mistaken homework assignment into a "final exam" with ten problems (eight of which were real and two of which were "unsolvable"), claimed that "even Einstein was unable to unlock the secrets" of the two extra problems, and erroneously stated that Dantzig's professor was so impressed that he "gave Dantzig a job as his assistant, and Dantzig has been at Stanford ever since."

George Dantzig (himself the son of a mathematician) received a Bachelor's degree from University of Maryland in 1936 and a Master's from the University of Michigan in 1937 before completing his Doctorate (interrupted by World War II) at UC Berkeley in 1946. He later worked for the Air Force, took a position with the RAND Corporation as a research mathematician in 1952, became professor of operations research at Berkeley in 1960, and joined the faculty of Stanford University in 1966, where he taught and published as a professor of operations research until the 1990s. In 1975, Dr. Dantzig was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Gerald Ford.

George Dantzig passed away at his Stanford home at age 90 on 13 May 2005.

Sightings:   This legend is used as the setup of the plot in the 1997 movie Good Will Hunting . As well, one of the early scenes in the 1999 film Rushmore shows the main character daydreaming about solving the impossible question and winning approbation from all.

Albers, Donald J. and Constance Reid.   "An Interview of George B. Dantzig: The Father of Linear Programming."     College Mathematics Journal.   Volume 17, Number 4; 1986   (pp. 293-314).

Brunvand, Jan Harold.   Curses! Broiled Again!     New York: W. W. Norton, 1989.   ISBN 0-393-30711-5   (pp. 278-283).

Dantzig, George B.     "On the Non-Existence of Tests of 'Student's' Hypothesis Having Power Functions Independent of Sigma."     Annals of Mathematical Statistics .   No. 11; 1940   (pp. 186-192).

Dantzig, George B. and Abraham Wald.   "On the Fundamental Lemma of Neyman and Pearson."     Annals of Mathematical Statistics .   No. 22; 1951   (pp. 87-93).

Pearce, Jeremy.   "George B. Dantzig Dies at 90."     The New York Times .   23 May 2005.

By David Mikkelson

David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.

Article Tags

• Artificial Intelligence /

Google’s Circle to Search will help you with your math homework

Circle to search on android can now help students learn to solve mathematical word problems thanks to google’s new learnlm model..

By Umar Shakir , a news writer fond of the electric vehicle lifestyle and things that plug in via USB-C. He spent over 15 years in IT support before joining The Verge.

Share this story

Google is enhancing Android’s Circle to Search — the feature that lets you literally circle something on your Android phone’s screen to search it on Google — with a new ability to generate instructions on how to solve school math and physics problems .

Using an Android phone or tablet, students can now use Circle to Search to get AI assistance on mathematical word problems from their homework. The feature will help unpack the problem and list what the student needs to do to get the correct answer. According to Google, it won’t actually do the homework for you — only help you approach the problem.

Over the past year, the use of AI tools like ChatGPT has become a hot topic in the field of education, with plenty of concern over how students can and will use it to get work done quickly. Google, however, is explicitly positioning this as a feature to support education, potentially walking around some of the concerns about AI doing all of the work for students.

Later this year, Circle to Search will also gain the ability to solve complex math equations that involve formulas, diagrams, graphs, and more. Google is using LearnLM, its new AI model that’s fine-tuned for learning, to make the new Circle to Search abilities work.

Circle to Search first launched on  Samsung’s Galaxy S24 series in January and then on the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro later the same month. It’s one of the star new features of Android, and although iOS users can’t yet circle their math homework for help, anything is possible .

iPhone owners say the latest iOS update is resurfacing deleted nudes

Google sheets’ new formatting feature has excel switchers excited, the mac vs. pc war is back on, google opens up its smart home to everyone and will make google tvs home hubs, samsung mocks apple’s crushing ipad pro ad with its own ‘uncrush’ pitch.

More from this stream Google I/O 2024: all the news from the developer conference

Adt’s new security system has facial recognition powered by google nest, eve’s android app is finally almost here, thanks to google’s new home apis, intel’s thunderbolt share lets two pcs control each other over a usb cable.

Request More Info

Fill out the form below and a member of our team will reach out right away!

" * " indicates required fields

Is Homework Necessary? Education Inequity and Its Impact on Students

The Problem with Homework: It Highlights Inequalities

How much homework is too much homework, when does homework actually help, negative effects of homework for students, how teachers can help.

Schools are getting rid of homework from Essex, Mass., to Los Angeles, Calif. Although the no-homework trend may sound alarming, especially to parents dreaming of their child’s acceptance to Harvard, Stanford or Yale, there is mounting evidence that eliminating homework in grade school may actually have great benefits , especially with regard to educational equity.

In fact, while the push to eliminate homework may come as a surprise to many adults, the debate is not new . Parents and educators have been talking about this subject for the last century, so that the educational pendulum continues to swing back and forth between the need for homework and the need to eliminate homework.

One of the most pressing talking points around homework is how it disproportionately affects students from less affluent families. The American Psychological Association (APA) explained:

“Kids from wealthier homes are more likely to have resources such as computers, internet connections, dedicated areas to do schoolwork and parents who tend to be more educated and more available to help them with tricky assignments. Kids from disadvantaged homes are more likely to work at afterschool jobs, or to be home without supervision in the evenings while their parents work multiple jobs.”

[RELATED] How to Advance Your Career: A Guide for Educators >> 

While students growing up in more affluent areas are likely playing sports, participating in other recreational activities after school, or receiving additional tutoring, children in disadvantaged areas are more likely headed to work after school, taking care of siblings while their parents work or dealing with an unstable home life. Adding homework into the mix is one more thing to deal with — and if the student is struggling, the task of completing homework can be too much to consider at the end of an already long school day.

While all students may groan at the mention of homework, it may be more than just a nuisance for poor and disadvantaged children, instead becoming another burden to carry and contend with.

Beyond the logistical issues, homework can negatively impact physical health and stress — and once again this may be a more significant problem among economically disadvantaged youth who typically already have a higher stress level than peers from more financially stable families .

Yet, today, it is not just the disadvantaged who suffer from the stressors that homework inflicts. A 2014 CNN article, “Is Homework Making Your Child Sick?” , covered the issue of extreme pressure placed on children of the affluent. The article looked at the results of a study surveying more than 4,300 students from 10 high-performing public and private high schools in upper-middle-class California communities.

“Their findings were troubling: Research showed that excessive homework is associated with high stress levels, physical health problems and lack of balance in children’s lives; 56% of the students in the study cited homework as a primary stressor in their lives,” according to the CNN story. “That children growing up in poverty are at-risk for a number of ailments is both intuitive and well-supported by research. More difficult to believe is the growing consensus that children on the other end of the spectrum, children raised in affluence, may also be at risk.”

When it comes to health and stress it is clear that excessive homework, for children at both ends of the spectrum, can be damaging. Which begs the question, how much homework is too much?

The National Education Association and the National Parent Teacher Association recommend that students spend 10 minutes per grade level per night on homework . That means that first graders should spend 10 minutes on homework, second graders 20 minutes and so on. But a study published by The American Journal of Family Therapy found that students are getting much more than that.

While 10 minutes per day doesn’t sound like much, that quickly adds up to an hour per night by sixth grade. The National Center for Education Statistics found that high school students get an average of 6.8 hours of homework per week, a figure that is much too high according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It is also to be noted that this figure does not take into consideration the needs of underprivileged student populations.

In a study conducted by the OECD it was found that “after around four hours of homework per week, the additional time invested in homework has a negligible impact on performance .” That means that by asking our children to put in an hour or more per day of dedicated homework time, we are not only not helping them, but — according to the aforementioned studies — we are hurting them, both physically and emotionally.

What’s more is that homework is, as the name implies, to be completed at home, after a full day of learning that is typically six to seven hours long with breaks and lunch included. However, a study by the APA on how people develop expertise found that elite musicians, scientists and athletes do their most productive work for about only four hours per day. Similarly, companies like Tower Paddle Boards are experimenting with a five-hour workday, under the assumption that people are not able to be truly productive for much longer than that. CEO Stephan Aarstol told CNBC that he believes most Americans only get about two to three hours of work done in an eight-hour day.

In the scope of world history, homework is a fairly new construct in the U.S. Students of all ages have been receiving work to complete at home for centuries, but it was educational reformer Horace Mann who first brought the concept to America from Prussia. 

Since then, homework’s popularity has ebbed and flowed in the court of public opinion. In the 1930s, it was considered child labor (as, ironically, it compromised children’s ability to do chores at home). Then, in the 1950s, implementing mandatory homework was hailed as a way to ensure America’s youth were always one step ahead of Soviet children during the Cold War. Homework was formally mandated as a tool for boosting educational quality in 1986 by the U.S. Department of Education, and has remained in common practice ever since.  

School work assigned and completed outside of school hours is not without its benefits. Numerous studies have shown that regular homework has a hand in improving student performance and connecting students to their learning. When reviewing these studies, take them with a grain of salt; there are strong arguments for both sides, and only you will know which solution is best for your students or school. 

Homework improves student achievement.

• Source: The High School Journal, “ When is Homework Worth the Time?: Evaluating the Association between Homework and Achievement in High School Science and Math ,” 2012. 
• Source: IZA.org, “ Does High School Homework Increase Academic Achievement? ,” 2014. **Note: Study sample comprised only high school boys. 

Homework helps reinforce classroom learning.

• Source: “ Debunk This: People Remember 10 Percent of What They Read ,” 2015.

Homework helps students develop good study habits and life skills.

• Sources: The Repository @ St. Cloud State, “ Types of Homework and Their Effect on Student Achievement ,” 2017; Journal of Advanced Academics, “ Developing Self-Regulation Skills: The Important Role of Homework ,” 2011.
• Source: Journal of Advanced Academics, “ Developing Self-Regulation Skills: The Important Role of Homework ,” 2011.

Homework allows parents to be involved with their children’s learning.

• Parents can see what their children are learning and working on in school every day. 
• Parents can participate in their children’s learning by guiding them through homework assignments and reinforcing positive study and research habits.
• Homework observation and participation can help parents understand their children’s academic strengths and weaknesses, and even identify possible learning difficulties.
• Source: Phys.org, “ Sociologist Upends Notions about Parental Help with Homework ,” 2018.

While some amount of homework may help students connect to their learning and enhance their in-class performance, too much homework can have damaging effects. 

Students with too much homework have elevated stress levels. 

• Source: USA Today, “ Is It Time to Get Rid of Homework? Mental Health Experts Weigh In ,” 2021.
• Source: Stanford University, “ Stanford Research Shows Pitfalls of Homework ,” 2014.

Students with too much homework may be tempted to cheat. 

• Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education, “ High-Tech Cheating Abounds, and Professors Bear Some Blame ,” 2010.
• Source: The American Journal of Family Therapy, “ Homework and Family Stress: With Consideration of Parents’ Self Confidence, Educational Level, and Cultural Background ,” 2015.

Homework highlights digital inequity. 

• Sources: NEAToday.org, “ The Homework Gap: The ‘Cruelest Part of the Digital Divide’ ,” 2016; CNET.com, “ The Digital Divide Has Left Millions of School Kids Behind ,” 2021.
• Source: Investopedia, “ Digital Divide ,” 2022; International Journal of Education and Social Science, “ Getting the Homework Done: Social Class and Parents’ Relationship to Homework ,” 2015.
• Source: World Economic Forum, “ COVID-19 exposed the digital divide. Here’s how we can close it ,” 2021.

Homework does not help younger students.

• Source: Review of Educational Research, “ Does Homework Improve Academic Achievement? A Synthesis of Researcher, 1987-2003 ,” 2006.

To help students find the right balance and succeed, teachers and educators must start the homework conversation, both internally at their school and with parents. But in order to successfully advocate on behalf of students, teachers must be well educated on the subject, fully understanding the research and the outcomes that can be achieved by eliminating or reducing the homework burden. There is a plethora of research and writing on the subject for those interested in self-study.

For teachers looking for a more in-depth approach or for educators with a keen interest in educational equity, formal education may be the best route. If this latter option sounds appealing, there are now many reputable schools offering online master of education degree programs to help educators balance the demands of work and family life while furthering their education in the quest to help others.

YOU’RE INVITED! Watch Free Webinar on USD’s Online MEd Program >>

Be Sure To Share This Article

• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• Share on LinkedIn

Top 11 Reasons to get Your Master of Education Degree

Free 22-page Book

• Master of Education

Related Posts

Google's Circle to Search can help students with their homework, here is how to use the feature

I n January this year, Google announced the Circle To Search feature for Android devices, which allowed users to search for anything on their phones without having to switch applications. Users can simply outline items on their screen with their fingers to prompt a Google search. The feature debuted on Samsung's Galaxy S24 series and was then introduced on the Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro, and the recently-launched Pixel 8a. Last night, during Google's annual developer conference, Google I/O, the company introduced new updates for the Circle to Search feature. 

Google is boosting the capabilities of Android's Circle to Search and it can now prove to be useful for students. The feature now includes a new tool designed to guide students through solving math and physics problems from their homework. Google says that while the feature aids in understanding the problem, it doesn't complete the homework for students and is there to help them learn how to tackle the problems themselves.

By using an Android smartphone or tablet, students can activate Circle to Search to receive AI-driven assistance with mathematical word problems. The function breaks down the problem and outlines steps necessary to find the correct solution. 

This enhancement comes at a time when the use of AI tools in education, like ChatGPT, has sparked debate. There are widespread concerns about how students might use these tools to expedite their homework. Google is keen to position this new capability as a supportive educational tool, addressing some of these concerns by focusing on helping students learn rather than doing their work for them.

Circle to Search is set to expand further. The company announced that later this year, Circle To Search will be equipped to handle more complex math equations involving formulas, diagrams, graphs, and more. To power these advanced features, Google is leveraging LearnLM, its latest AI model specifically fine-tuned for educational purposes.

"Starting today, Circle to Search can now help students with homework, giving them a deeper understanding, not just an answer — directly from their phones and tablets. When students circle a prompt they're stuck on, they'll get step-by-step instructions to solve a range of physics and math1 word problems without leaving their digital info sheet or syllabus. Later this year, Circle to Search will be able to help solve even more complex problems involving symbolic formulas, diagrams, graphs and more. This is all possible due to our LearnLM effort to enhance our models and products for learning," the company noted in its blog post announcing the feature.

Watch Live TV in English

Watch Live TV in Hindi

Circle to Search is now a better homework helper

It’s a teacher’s worst nightmare: The AI is doing the kids’ homework. At the Google I/O 2024 developer conference on Tuesday , the company announced that its AI-powered Circle to Search feature, which allows Android users to get instant answers using gestures like circling, will now be able to solve more complex problems across psychics and math word problems. 

The new capabilities are made possible thanks to Google’s new family of AI models for learning, LearnLM . 

The addition expands the capabilities of the new search feature, first introduced at Samsung’s Unpacked event in January . Circle to Search is designed to make it more natural to engage with Google Search from anywhere on the phone by taking some action — like circling, highlighting, scribbling, or tapping. But it’s also a way to ensure users engage with Google Search over other information-retrieval tools in the age of AI.

Today, Circle to Search will be able to better help kids with their homework directly from supported Android phones and tablets. Now if they get stuck on a particularly hard problem, they’ll be able to use Circle to Search to pull up step-by-step instructions that guide them through solving it. Google says the feature will be able to handle problems such as those with symbolic formulas, diagrams, graphs, and more.

Since launching earlier this year, Circle to Search has expanded to more Samsung and Google Pixel devices, making the feature available to more than 100 million devices in total. Google says it expects to double that number by year-end. 

We’re launching an AI newsletter! Sign up here to start receiving it in your inboxes on June 5.

More TechCrunch

Get the industry’s biggest tech news, techcrunch daily news.

Every weekday and Sunday, you can get the best of TechCrunch’s coverage.

Startups Weekly

Startups are the core of TechCrunch, so get our best coverage delivered weekly.

TechCrunch Fintech

The latest Fintech news and analysis, delivered every Sunday.

TechCrunch Mobility

TechCrunch Mobility is your destination for transportation news and insight.

A US Trustee wants troubled fintech Synapse to be liquidated via Chapter 7 bankruptcy, cites ‘gross mismanagement’

The prospects for troubled banking-as-a-service startup Synapse have gone from bad to worse this week after a United States Trustee filed an emergency motion on Wednesday.  The trustee is asking…

Seraphim’s latest space accelerator welcomes nine companies

U.K.-based Seraphim Space is spinning up its 13th accelerator program, with nine participating companies working on a range of tech from propulsion to in-space manufacturing and space situational awareness. The…

OpenAI inks deal to train AI on Reddit data

OpenAI has reached a deal with Reddit to use the social news site’s data for training AI models. In a blog post on OpenAI’s press relations site, the company said…

X pushes more users to Communities

X users will now be able to discover posts from new Communities that are trending directly from an Explore tab within the section.

Mark Zuckerberg’s makeover: Midlife crisis or carefully crafted rebrand?

For Mark Zuckerberg’s 40th birthday, his wife got him a photoshoot. Zuckerberg gives the camera a sly smile as he sits amid a carefully crafted re-creation of his childhood bedroom.…

Strava taps AI to weed out leaderboard cheats, unveils ‘family’ plan, dark mode and more

Strava announced a slew of features, including AI to weed out leaderboard cheats, a new ‘family’ subscription plan, dark mode and more.

Astronauts fall over. Robotic limbs can help them back up.

We all fall down sometimes. Astronauts are no exception. You need to be in peak physical condition for space travel, but bulky space suits and lower gravity levels can be…

Microsoft’s custom Cobalt chips will come to Azure next week

Microsoft will launch its custom Cobalt 100 chips to customers as a public preview at its Build conference next week, TechCrunch has learned. In an analyst briefing ahead of Build,…

Tesla keeps cutting jobs and the feds probe Waymo

What a wild week for transportation news! It was a smorgasbord of news that seemed to touch every sector and theme in transportation.

Sony Music warns tech companies over ‘unauthorized’ use of its content to train AI

Sony Music Group has sent letters to more than 700 tech companies and music streaming services to warn them not to use its music to train AI without explicit permission.…

GrubMarket buys Butter to give its food distribution tech an AI boost

Winston Chi, Butter’s founder and CEO, told TechCrunch that “most parties, including our investors and us, are making money” from the exit.

Bolt founder Ryan Breslow wants to settle an investor lawsuit by returning $37 million worth of shares

The investor lawsuit is related to Bolt securing a $30 million personal loan to Ryan Breslow, which was later defaulted on.

With the end of Workplace, it’s fair to wonder if Meta was ever serious about the enterprise

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, launched an enterprise version of the prominent social network in 2015. It always seemed like a stretch for a company built on a consumer…

Meta Threads is testing pinned columns on the web, similar to the old TweetDeck

X, formerly Twitter, turned TweetDeck into X Pro and pushed it behind a paywall. But there is a new column-based social media tool in town, and it’s from Instagram Threads.…

Google expands hands-free and eyes-free interfaces on Android

As part of 2024’s Accessibility Awareness Day, Google is showing off some updates to Android that should be useful to folks with mobility or vision impairments. Project Gameface allows gamers…

Hacker claims theft of India’s Samco account data

A hacker listed the data allegedly breached from Samco on a known cybercrime forum.

Ireland privacy watchdog confirms Dell data breach investigation

A top European privacy watchdog is investigating following the recent breaches of Dell customers’ personal information, TechCrunch has learned.  Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) deputy commissioner Graham Doyle confirmed to…

Ampere teams up with Qualcomm to launch an Arm-based AI server

Ampere and Qualcomm aren’t the most obvious of partners. Both, after all, offer Arm-based chips for running data center servers (though Qualcomm’s largest market remains mobile). But as the two…

Google I/O was an AI evolution, not a revolution

At Google’s I/O developer conference, the company made its case to developers — and to some extent, consumers — why its bets on AI are ahead of rivals. At the…

Meet the Magnificent Six: A tour of the stages at Disrupt 2024

TechCrunch Disrupt has always been the ultimate convergence point for all things startup and tech. In the bustling world of innovation, it serves as the “big top” tent, where entrepreneurs,…

Khosla Ventures, Pear VC triple down on Honey Homes, a smart way to hire a handyman

There’s apparently a lot of demand for an on-demand handyperson. Khosla Ventures and Pear VC have just tripled down on their investment in Honey Homes, which offers up a dedicated…

TikTok tests 60-minute video uploads as it continues to take on YouTube

TikTok is testing the ability for users to upload 60-minute videos, the company confirmed to TechCrunch on Thursday. The feature is available to a limited group of users in select…

Flock Safety’s solar-powered cameras could make surveillance more widespread

Flock Safety is a multibillion-dollar startup that’s got eyes everywhere. As of Wednesday, with the company’s new Solar Condor cameras, those eyes are solar-powered and use wireless 5G networks to…

Agora raises $34M Series B to keep building the Carta for real estate

Since he was very young, Bar Mor knew that he would inevitably do something with real estate. His family was involved in all types of real estate projects, from ground-up…

Poshmark’s ‘Promoted Closet’ tool lets sellers boost all their listings at once

Poshmark, the social commerce site that lets people buy and sell new and used items to each other, launched a paid marketing tool on Thursday, giving sellers the ability to…

Google adds Gemini to its Education suite

Google is launching a Gemini add-on for educational institutes through Google Workspace.

YC-backed Recall.ai gets $10M Series A to help companies use virtual meeting data

More money for the generative AI boom: Y Combinator-backed developer infrastructure startup Recall.ai announced Thursday it has raised a $10 million Series A funding round, bringing its total raised to over…

CoLab’s collaborative tools for engineers line up $21M in new funding

Engineers Adam Keating and Jeremy Andrews were tired of using spreadsheets and screenshots to collab with teammates — so they launched a startup, CoLab, to build a better way. The…

Reddit reintroduces its awards system

Reddit announced on Wednesday that it is reintroducing its awards system after shutting down the program last year. The company said that most of the mechanisms related to awards will…

Sigma is building a suite of collaborative data analytics tools

Sigma Computing, a startup building a range of data analytics and business intelligence tools, has raised $200 million in a fresh VC round.

• Uber introduces Uber Shuttle
• Google Cast on Android Auto
• Apple 10th-gen iPad deal
• The best Nintendo Switch games
• iPad Pro M4 (2024) review

Android's Circle to Search can now help students solve math and physics homework

It can show step-by-step instructions on how to solve a range of math and physics problems..

Google has introduced another capability for its Circle to Search feature at the company's annual I/O developer conference, and it's something that could help students better understand potentially difficult class topics . The feature will now be able to show them step-by-step instructions for a "range of physics and math word problems." They just have to activate the feature by long-pressing the home button or navigation bar and then circling the problem that's got them stumped, though some math problems will require users to be signed up for Google's experimental Search Labs feature.

The company says Circle to Search's new capability was made possible by its new family of AI models called LearnLM that was specifically created and fine-tuned for learning. It's also planning to make adjustments to this particular capability and to roll out an upgraded version later this year that could solve even more complex problems "involving symbolic formulas, diagrams, graphs and more." Google launched Circle to Search earlier this year at a Samsung Unpacked event, because the feature was initially available on Galaxy 24, as well as on Pixel 8 devices. It's now also out for the Galaxy S23, Galaxy S22, Z Fold, Z Flip, Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 devices, and it'll likely make its way to more hardware in the future.

In addition to the new Circle to Search capability, Google has also revealed that devices that can support the Gemini for Android chatbot assistant will now be able to bring it up as an overlay on top of the application that's currently open. Users can then drag and drop images straight from the overlay into apps like Gmail, for instance, or use the overlay to look up information without having to swipe away from whatever they're doing. They can tap "Ask this video" to find specific information within a YouTube video that's open, and if they have access to Gemini Advanced, they can use the "Ask this PDF" option to find information from within lengthy documents.

Google is also rolling out multimodal capabilities to Nano, the smallest model in the Gemini family that can process information on-device. The updated Gemini Nano, which will be able to process sights, sounds and spoken language, is coming to Google's TalkBack screen reader later this year. Gemini Nano will enable TalkBack to describe images onscreen more quickly and even without an internet connection. Finally, Google is currently testing a Gemini Nano feature that can alert users while a call is ongoing if it detects common conversation patterns associated with scams. Users will be alerted, for instance, if they're talking to someone asking them for their PINs or passwords or to someone asking them to buy gift cards.

Catch up on all the news from Google I/O 2024 right here !

Latest Stories

Openai strikes deal to put reddit posts in chatgpt.

The partnership will “enable OpenAI’s tools to better understand and showcase Reddit content, especially on recent topics,” both companies said in a joint statement.

Grand Theft Auto 6 will arrive in fall 2025

Grand Theft Auto VI’s return to Vice City is officially scheduled for fall 2025. On Thursday, parent company Take-Two Interactive saidit’s narrowed GTA 6’s previously announced 2025 window to autumn of next year.

US House passes TICKET Act to force event pricing transparency

On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives passed a bill that could provide at least some accountability for Ticketmaster and other live event vendors. It moves on to the Senate, which is considering two similar bills.

HBO’s upcoming MoviePass documentary is a must-watch for fans of tech trainwrecks

HBO is set to release a documentary about the beleaguered MoviePass subscription service. It premieres on May 29.

What to expect from Microsoft Build 2024: The Surface event, Windows 11 and AI

Microsoft has a Surface showcase and its Build developer conference planned for early next week. Here's what we expect.

Sony’s new smartphone could entice shutterbugs away from Apple and Google

Sony just announced a new smartphone, the Xperia 1 VI. The company used to be a major smartphone manufacturer until falling off.

EA Sports' dormant College Football will reemerge, cicada-like, on July 19

EA Sports has revealed the release date for College Football 25, the first game in the series in over a decade.

YouTube reportedly agrees to block videos of Hong Kong’s protest song inside the region

YouTube said it would comply with an order blocking access to videos of Hong Kong’s protest anthem inside the region. The decision comes after an appeals court banned the protest song “Glory to Hong Kong,” which the largely China-controlled government predictably framed as a national security issue.

Meta's Threads gets its own Tweetdeck clone

Meta is starting to test custom Tweetdeck-like feeds that will allow users to track multiple topics, searches and accounts.

Activision forms a studio to develop a brand-spanking new IP

Activision just announced the formation of a new development studio called Elsewhere. This group will work on a brand-new franchise and IP.

The Meater Plus smart meat thermometer drops to a record-low price

The Meater Plus smart meat thermometer has dropped to $70, its lowest price to date.

Google’s accessibility app Lookout can use your phone’s camera to find and recognize objects

Google has updated some of its accessibility apps to add capabilities that will make them easier to use for people who need them.

8Bitdo's Ultimate Controller with charging dock is back on sale for $56

8Bitdo's Ultimate Controller with dock is back on sale for $56. That's 20 percent off and close to a record low.

Solo Stove Memorial Day sales cut up to $280 off Pi Ultimate pizza oven bundles

Ahead of Memorial Day, Solo Stove has discounted its Pi Ultimate pizza oven bundles as part of a side-wide sale.

Samsung's Music Frame gets its first discount on Amazon

Samsung's new Music Frame speaker is is $25 off its sticker price on Amazon.

The best immersion blenders for 2024

Here's a list of the best immersion blenders you can buy, as chosen by Engadget editors.

Netflix is becoming an ad-tech company

Netflix has relied heavily on Microsoft for its ad-supported tier, but will now bring much of this work in-house.

Intel's Thunderbolt Share makes it easier to move large files between PCs

Intel has launched a new software application called Thunderbolt Share that will make controlling two or more PCs a more seamless experience.

EU investigating Meta over addiction and safety concerns for minors

Meta faces an EU probe into its handling of addiction and safety for young people using its apps.

Meta’s Oversight Board will wade into the debate over political content on Threads

Meta’s Oversight Board has accepted its first case involving a post on Threads and it will allow the group to weigh in on the debate over the role of political content on Threads.

Experience Google AI in even more ways on Android

May 14, 2024

[[read-time]] min read

By building AI right into the Android operating system, we're reimagining how you can interact with your phone.

• Bullet points
• Circle to Search gets smarter, helping students solve physics and math problems directly from their phones and tablets.
• Gemini on Android improves context understanding, allowing users to drag and drop generated images and ask questions about videos and PDFs.
• Gemini Nano with Multimodality coming to Pixel, bringing multimodal capabilities for richer image descriptions and scam alerts during phone calls.
• Android 15 and ecosystem updates coming tomorrow.
• Basic explainer

Google is making Android phones smarter with AI.

Circle to Search can now help students with homework.

Gemini, a new AI assistant, can understand what's on your screen and help you do things.

Android phones will soon be able to alert you to suspected scams during phone calls.

Explore other styles:

We’re at a once-in-a-generation moment where the latest advancements in AI are reinventing what phones can do. With Google AI at the core of Android’s operating system, the billions of people who use Android can now interact with their devices in entirely new ways.

Today, we’re sharing updates that let you experience Google AI on Android.

Circle to Search can now help students with homework

With Circle to Search built directly into the user experience, you can search anything you see on your phone using a simple gesture — without having to stop what you’re doing or switch to a different app. Since launching at Samsung Unpacked , we’ve added new capabilities to Circle to Search, like full-screen translation , and we’ve expanded availability to more Pixel and Samsung devices.

Starting today, Circle to Search can now help students with homework, giving them a deeper understanding, not just an answer — directly from their phones and tablets. When students circle a prompt they’re stuck on, they’ll get step-by-step instructions to solve a range of physics and math 1 word problems without leaving their digital info sheet or syllabus. Later this year, Circle to Search will be able to help solve even more complex problems involving symbolic formulas, diagrams, graphs and more. This is all possible due to our LearnLM effort to enhance our models and products for learning.

Circle to Search is already available on more than 100 million devices today. With plans to bring the experience to more devices, we’re on track to double that by the end of the year.

Gemini will get even better at understanding context to assist you in getting things done

Gemini on Android is a new kind of assistant that uses generative AI to help you be more creative and productive. This experience, which is integrated into Android, is getting even better at understanding the context of what’s on your screen and what app you’re using.

Soon, you’ll be able to bring up Gemini's overlay on top of the app you're in to easily use Gemini in more ways. For example, you can drag and drop generated images into Gmail, Google Messages and other places, or tap “Ask this video” to find specific information in a YouTube video. If you have Gemini Advanced, you’ll also have the option to “Ask this PDF” to quickly get answers without having to scroll through multiple pages. This update will roll out to hundreds of millions of devices over the next few months.

And we’ll continue to improve Gemini to give you more dynamic suggestions related to what’s on your screen.

Full multimodal capabilities coming to Gemini Nano

Android is the first mobile operating system that includes a built-in, on-device foundation model. With Gemini Nano, we’re able to bring experiences to you quickly and keep your information completely private to you. Starting with Pixel later this year, we’ll be introducing our latest model, Gemini Nano with Multimodality. This means your phone will not just be able to process text input but also understand more information in context like sights, sounds and spoken language.

Clearer descriptions with TalkBack

Later this year, Gemini Nano’s multimodal capabilities are coming to TalkBack, helping people who experience blindness or low vision get richer and clearer descriptions of what’s happening in an image. On average, TalkBack users come across 90 unlabeled images per day. This update will help fill in missing information — whether it’s more details about what’s in a photo that family or friends sent or the style and cut of clothes when shopping online. Since Gemini Nano is on-device, these descriptions happen quickly and even work when there's no network connection.

Receive alerts for suspected scams during phone calls

According to a recent report , in a 12-month period, people lost more than $1 trillion to fraud. We’re testing a new feature that uses Gemini Nano to provide real-time alerts during a call if it detects conversation patterns commonly associated with scams. For example, you would receive an alert if a “bank representative” asks you to urgently transfer funds, make a payment with a gift card or requests personal information like card PINs or passwords, which are uncommon bank requests . This protection all happens on-device, so your conversation stays private to you. We’ll share more about this opt-in feature later this year.

More to come on Android

We’re just getting started with how on-device AI can change what your phone can do, and we’ll continue building Google AI into every part of the smartphone experience with Pixel, Samsung and more. If you’re a developer, check out the Android Developers blog to learn how you can build with our latest AI models and tools, like Gemini Nano and Gemini in Android Studio.

Related Article

10 updates coming t…

From Theft Detection Lock to casting on Rivian to Wear OS 5 updates, here’s what’s coming to Android 15 and its device ecosystem.

Here’s a look at everything we announced at Google I/O 2024.

Get more stories from Google in your inbox.

Your information will be used in accordance with Google's privacy policy.

Done. Just one step more.

Check your inbox to confirm your subscription.

You are already subscribed to our newsletter.

You can also subscribe with a different email address .

More Information

Available for some math word problems when opted into Search Labs.

Related stories

Bringing Gemini to Google Workspace for Education

8 new accessibility updates across Lookout, Google Maps and more

100 things we announced at I/O 2024

10 updates coming to the Android ecosystem

Android’s theft protection features keep your device and data safe

How Google’s AI model Gemini got its name

Let’s stay in touch. Get the latest news from Google in your inbox.

Search results for

Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission. Learn more.

Circle to Search is the new cheat sheet for your Math and Physics homework

Published on May 14, 2024

• Circle to Search can now help students with homework, making it easy to search for instructions and answers without leaving the digital homework screen.
• Later this year, Circle to Search will be able to solve even more complex problems involving symbolic formulas, diagrams, graphs, and more.

Circle to Search was one of the flagship features of the Galaxy S24 series . It lets users easily access Google Search on practically any screen. The feature then expanded to the Pixel 8 series and then to other Samsung Galaxy phones and Pixel devices. If you have Circle to Search on your phone, you can now use it to help with your homework.

As part of its Google I/O 2024 announcements, Google has announced that Circle to Search can now help students with homework. When students need help, they can open their camera or their digital homework on their phones or tablets and circle the question they are stuck on. Circle to Search will then present a step-by-step instruction to solve their homework question.

Subjects covered include physics and match word problems. This will make searching far easier, as you no longer have to leave your digital homework screen or input the question yourself. The fine print says that right now, this is available for some math word problems when opted into Search Labs.

Google says that later this year, Circle to Search will be able to solve even more complex problems involving symbolic formulas, diagrams, graphs, and more. This will be made possible through LearnLM, Google’s new family of AI models fine-tuned for learning.

Circle to Search is currently available on over 100 million devices, and Google aims to double its reach to 200 million devices by the end of 2024. With new features like homework help, Circle to Search becomes even more useful, and it is available only on (select) Android devices.

Do you use Google or other search engines to help with your homework? Will you now switch to Circle to Search for your homework? Let us know in the comments below!

You might like