Like the end of almost any other class period, you throw your notebook, textbook and writing utensil of choice into your backpack while half-listening to the professor’s closing remarks. You briefly glance at the homework listed on the board as you leave the room. Are you going to complete the assignment by the time your class reconvenes in two days? Probably not—the professor made the homework optional. One less thing for you to do and you’re totally okay with that.

For the majority of students, optional homework assignments typically equal no homework at all. So why should professors even bother assigning optional homework? Depending on your major, you might not receive a single optional homework assignment during your time in college. Certain majors, however—mathematics being a prime example—depend on repetition and constant practice in order to master the concepts being taught. Naturally, a student in such a class should expect to receive homework at the end of every session. Are professors ultimately cheating their students by making homework optional, thus removing the necessity for students to complete the assigned work?

Optional homework is not necessarily a waste but can backfire if it is implemented carelessly. A professor who frequently makes homework assignments optional runs the risk of appearing lazy to his or her students—after all, non-mandatory assignments do not have to be graded. A lazy attitude from the professor will be met with an even lazier response from a classroom full of college students. Certain situations do exist, however, where optional homework benefits the class as a whole.

Students of multitudinous majors, backgrounds and skill-sets enroll in core classes at Elizabethtown College. Considering the broad range of subject area aptitudes among the students taking a core class, optional homework works well in such a scenario. That way, students who have taken significantly harder classes than the core class in question—in the same subject area, of course—will not be bored to tears with menial, mandatory homework assignments. Those who struggle with the material, on the other hand, might benefit from giving the optional homework a whirl. This strategy, though, assumes that students are willing to do the optional work should they struggle with the material. College students taking charge of their own learning? Inconceivable! Optional assignments give us exactly what they suggest: an option. Think you’re good to go on the course material? No extra work for you. Bombed that last test in the class? Maybe you shouldn’t have skipped over that assignment. You do as much work as you care to. No one can blame you for your choice.

Homework should ultimately benefit students’ learning—otherwise, the assignment is just another number in the gradebook. Students who take the time to do the optional work need some way to check their work, whether that is through an answer key, class discussion or some online resource. This may seem like common sense, but it is still an important consideration. Graded homework is returned with marked errors and, sometimes, corrections. If a professor chooses to make an assignment optional rather than graded, he or she has robbed students of a learning experience if they have no way to check their answers.

In a similar vein, a student loses the chance to receive credit for his or her work when an assignment is made optional. If a student has a strong grasp on class material throughout the semester, professors forgo a valuable means of assessing that student’s understanding by not issuing  grades. As such, if the bulk of homework assignments from a class are deemed optional, there should be another method in place to periodically assess students’ understanding. Occasional quizzes work as a viable way to gauge students’ learning as the semester goes on. I can think of as many people who enjoy quizzes as there are windows in Nicarry (hint: not very many), but I think most students appreciate more grades than just a midterm and a final. From a future teacher’s standpoint, professors need to keep tabs on how well students are absorbing and synthesizing the material long before exams hit the desks. Homework grades often fill this role. And at the college level, understanding the material is—justly or not—reflected by one’s grade in each class. Optional assignments sound too good to be true until you consider what often replaces that homework category in the gradebook: some other kind of periodic assessment.

So do I like optional assignments? In concept, I don’t. I dislike the idea of being asked to do work that will go un-credited, regardless of whether or not I actually do the work. At the same time, I understand the value of optional assignments in more difficult majors, where eschewing those practice problems is like a death sentence. The benefits of doing optional homework are purely intrinsic. Non-mandatory assignments certainly have a place in the classroom, but only when utilized appropriately and carefully by the professor. Otherwise, that homework might as well be graded or simply not assigned at all.