Homework was work assigned by a teacher to a student at a school. Such work was usually assigned to supplement classroom instruction. It was to be accomplished on the student's own time, usually at their home or residence. The instruction page would be on the computer, accessible with a PADD. Failing to complete the homework would usually result in no grade.
Homework was considered by students unpleasant to accomplish but necessary. While doing homework, Jake Sisko's imagination of Buck Bokai became reality. Bokai tried to win Jake for a baseball game but Jake refused and concentrated back on his homework. (DS9: "If Wishes Were Horses")
In case there were no school, any person responsible for instruction could give the student homework. So aboard the USS Voyager, Naomi Wildman received an education from members of the crew including homework. (VOY: "Infinite Regress", "Blink of an Eye", "Memorial" et al)
Control and benefit
Teacher would control if the homework was done in time during class. Nog once failed to complete an essay about ethics for a class taught by Keiko O'Brien, but he escaped serious punishment by taking advantage of the substitute teacher, her husband Miles. (DS9: "The Nagus")
Parents would look after their children's homework, making sure they did it, even though students were often unwilling to complete their homework. Sometimes, children would invent pretexts that did not sound very credible, such as the deletion of the instructions on the computer or that the work was stolen by Vulcans. (DS9: "If Wishes Were Horses", "The Nagus")
Benjamin Sisko asked his son about his homework, when he tried to leave home to meet his friend Nog. It turned out Jake had not listened to the Klingon opera as requested of him. His father asked him then to do so, not only because of the test in school but also to appreciate Klingon culture, a skill that might be useful later in life. Yet, Benjamin Sisko had to admit he never heard such music since he was his son's age. Eventually he suggested that Jake invite Nog over to do their homework together, as they were in the same class. (DS9: "The Alternate")
Homework was not part of the way Ferengis instructed their children and Rom did not care about his son's homework. Nog once asked to be excused from a gathering of adults to do homework, which shocked them. (DS9: "The Nagus")
The holographic child of The Doctor was considered a model son because he always did his homework and got good grades.(VOY: "Real Life")
Subjects
Homework could be done in possibly any subjects the students attended at school and the exercises could take different forms:
- Keiko O'Brien's class had to listen to a klingon opera. (DS9: "The Alternate")
- Nog had to write an essay about ethics on a PADD. (DS9: "The Nagus")
- In Ten Forward, Wesley Crusher took his PADD claiming it was his math homework. (TNG: "The Vengeance Factor")