So long as the difficulty level is reasonable, new learning happens. When I have a student who complains about the limitations of an assignment, I explain the learning theory as the rationale for the limitations. If a student persists, I also tell them that I can accept student proposals that violate the limitations if they propose things that are at least as creative and as difficult as the thing I assign. Student teacher, Paul Kuharic, discusses a composition assignment created by a high school student. Students are restricted to using their own cut paper shapes to develop an original abstract composition.
Compositions are to illustrate assigned design concepts discussed prior to the media work.
She concludes that imitation is our natural way to learn. Village children are given over to the care of slightly older children. By imitating slightly older children, they learn to survive and thrive. Many of us have experienced astounding successes by imitating a very successful example for an assignment or task. There can be lots of natural success when we imitate successful examples.