Use choice in homework assignments as an opportunity to develop students' self-awareness about how well they know the material and how much they need to practice.

While choice in learning can be important for many reasons, this particular strategy is designed to teach students how to self-assess their knowledge and needs to become more self-directed learners.

Offer assignments of varying difficulty, and let the students choose the level of difficulty. For example, if you are still learning choose set A; if you think you know it but you want more practice, choose set B; if you know it well and want a challenge, choose set C.

Allow students the privacy of making the decision that is best for them. A student might not want to be seen choosing set A if his friends are all choosing set C. Consider allowing students to pick up the assignment after class, or you can circulate the room and let them point to the one they want, or make it available online.

Anticipate that students will need to learn how to make good-fit choices. Research shows that most students are unlikely to self-assess correctly. Struggling learners might over-estimate their knowledge, while stronger students might under-estimate their mastery. While this might take time, helping your students develop good self-awareness is an incredibly beneficial life skill.

Discuss as a class how to make a good choice. Or give students a list of items to consider in making their decision, e.g. How you did on the last test, How you did on the problems in class today.

If you see a student makes a choice that is too easy or too challenging, discuss it privately. Ultimately, it is important to let the student make the final choice, but giving your student specific reasons to consider will help them learn to make decisions that are beneficial to their learning.

Make time to reflect on their choices, as a class or individually. Did they make a choice that felt right or was it too hard or too easy? If they felt it wasn't right, did they change the set at home (if available). What might they consider the next time they are given the choice?