Parental Beliefs on the Efficacy of Productive Struggle and their Relation to Homework-helping Behavior

Productive struggle is expending effort to make sense of something that is beyond one's current level of understanding. Research shows that productive struggle aids in learning math concepts and procedures. The goal of this investigation was to understand parental beliefs regarding productive struggle and how these beliefs are associated with parental homework involvement. One hundred and ninety-seven parents with children in the first to fifth grade were recruited and surveyed online. Parental beliefs about productive struggle were assessed via questionnaire and rating of a video portraying instruction involving productive struggle. Parents also reported on the extent to which they helped with math homework, their child's ability in math, and their views on the affective nature of homework-helping interactions with their child. Results indicate that parents have diverse beliefs about the efficacy of productive struggle, with fathers favoring productive struggle more than mothers. A significant relationship was found between parents' beliefs about productive struggle and reports of their child's ability at math and affect of the homework-helping interaction.