Rethinking Homework: A New Approach to Engagement in my Biochemistry and Neuroscience Classes

This year, I’ve been experimenting with a different approach to homework in my classes. I’m currently teaching both a biochemistry class and a neuroscience class, and homework has always been a tricky subject. From my experience, if students don’t have any homework, they can become naturally demotivated. On the other hand, if there’s too much homework, the workload can also lead to a lack of motivation. In the past, I’ve struggled to make homework meaningful and engaging.

I even tried the flipped classroom model, but that turned my classes into direct instruction machines, just delivered online. It felt like we were just doing something boring in a slightly more engaging way. This year, I’ve decided to treat homework as a completely separate “strand” in the class. This means it’s not directly tied to our in-class content but still related enough to supplement what we’re learning. The goal is to introduce more information and enrich the class without creating the expectation that we need to spend a lot of time reviewing it in class.

Here’s how I’ve implemented this in my classes:

In my biochemistry class, students are reading from “The Song of the Cell” by Siddhartha Mukherjee. Each week, they have a set number of pages to read, along with a summary and a favorite quote analysis. This is due on Friday, and I collect their quotes to use as prompts in class occasionally. The book is fantastic and covers recent advancements in medical biology and clinical work regarding the cell. It’s also an easy read. Even though it’s not fully aligned with our class content, it adds valuable context and enriches the learning experience. If students don’t engage fully with the reading, they’re not at a disadvantage in class. I grade these reflections once a week and sometimes use them as substitute assignments.

In my neuroscience class, students follow the same process with “The Brain” by David Eagleman. Again, the book is related to but not directly tied to the course content. It provides additional color and a different strand of learning that doesn’t detract from the in-class pedagogy that I believe is so important.
By making homework a separate, enriching strand, I’m finding that students are more engaged without the added pressure of traditional homework. This approach keeps the content fresh and allows for deeper exploration without sacrificing our core classroom activities. So far, this experiment has been a great way to balance workload and maintain motivation!
Feel free to reach out if you’re interested in discussing this approach or trying something similar in your own classes.