Self-regulated learning involves making decisions about how to study, but students often choose suboptimal strategies. Our experiment investigated how preferences for instructional methods—video, practice, or both combined—affect learning outcomes. We randomly assigned 130 participants to either receive their preferred method of instruction (honoring initial choice) or a different method (dishonoring initial choice). Contrary to previous research showing preferences for lectures, our participants initially selected practice-based approaches. However, when asked again after instruction, the majority of participants chose the combined approach. This shift in preferences suggests that students may overvalue comprehensive approaches, even when practice alone was equally effective and reduced instructional time by 66%. Whether preferences were honored or dishonored did not significantly affect performance or efficiency, thus control over instructional methods may be less important than the methods themselves. Based on our findings, future research should focus on guiding students to utilize practice to optimize learning efficiency.