All through elementary school and middle school, and in many of my high school classes, I bemoaned that I had to do tedious homework that didn't teach me anythi

All through elementary school and middle school, and in many of my high school classes, I bemoaned that I had to do tedious homework that didn't teach me anything (not in every class--mostly math, science that was primarily math, and grammar). I frequently said that homework should be optional, and if I do well on tests/quizzes/projects/papers/whatever, homework shouldn't bring down my grade. But on the other hand, I think part of the reason that I have such a thorough understanding of calculus is that my Calc AB teacher required us to do large quantities of homework. And I was totally fine with having to turn in weekly problem sets in my Multivariable Calc and ODE courses senior year because I needed the homework to solidify my understanding. I probably would have done the Multivariable and ODE homework on my own because I actually struggled with those classes, but I probably would have done only a small fraction of my AB homework if it weren't required. I still would have gotten A's on most of my AB tests, but I might not have had quite as solid of a foundation. I think I'm better off because I had to do that homework. So that has made me question how I feel about mandatory homework. Plus, that there's the issue of students who aren't disciplined enough/don't care enough to do optional homework even if they know that that will lead them to do poorly on tests. It's possible that a system where homework is optional for people who are doing well could solve the latter problem, but it wouldn't have made me do my AB homework. Plus it might breed even more resentment against the nerds who get to skip the homework just because they know the material. tl;dr: I've experienced many classes where mandatory homework bored me out of my mind and wasted my time, but at other times it has helped me a lot. Also, some people will do as little as they're required, so if homework is optional, they won't do it even if they just failed a test the day before.