Some schools require that students complete educational projects over the summer in order to continue learning during the long summer break. Although students may not enjoy it, summer assignments can be beneficial to students and teachers. Students are able to refresh their memory on topics that they have learned before the break which can help teachers with teaching material quickly when the new school year starts. Although summer assignments and projects can benefit both teachers and students, there is debate on whether the assignments should be tinkered to fit students or teachers. Summer assignments and projects should be designed to fit students instead of teachers. If student-designed assignments were made, students would have motivation and genuine interest in the topic. Along with that, student-designed assignments will help students learn because they actually put effort into the assignment. Some teachers may argue that assignments tailored to students may cause difficulties in teaching, but that can be solved with proper planning that can fit every student. Students impatiently wait for summer every year and adding an assignment that kids have no interest in, would no longer be beneficial to both parties. It would harm them instead.

Most students are given summer assignments that do not fit their interests at all. This leads to many kids not having any motivation to do the summer assignment to begin with. If their assignments were mostly fitted to their interests and students had more freedom of choice, that can change. For example, a language arts class may need to read a book over the summer in order to discuss literary components when the new school year begins. If students were able to select a book that they are genuinely interested in, they would have motivation to read it and analyze it. Not only would they get the assignment done, they will also do it to the best of their ability. Whereas other students who are assigned a book that their teacher may prefer, will not have the same desire to read it analyze it. Those students will also do bare minimum in order to get the task done quickly. Another benefit from having student-designed summer assignments is that they will retain all the information that they learn. Due to the interest and motivation that they have, students will be able to retain the information they've learned in order to apply it to their class. In most cases, students who do not get to choose an assignment that they are interested in will most likely forget the information they learned by the time school begins.

Some teachers may argue that student-designed assignments may be hard to teach and hard to control since every student is different, but there can be ways to give students what they want and teachers what they need. For example, a language arts class may have read different books over the summer, but a teacher can ask students to find the same literary devices and components in their individual books. Having a diversity of assignments and information can also be beneficial for students since they are able to learn from their peers. This also benefits teachers. Teachers are constantly looking for new ways to teach and they can gather information on their class and what their interests are in order to shape their teaching style for that specific class. There are more benefits to student-designed assignments compared to teacher-designed ones. Not only are students learning through their interests and passions, but also teachers are able to learn from their class.

Lastly, students are able to learn better when they have fun. Creating an summer assignment that is fun for a student will allow them to learn more. For example, a science class needs to write an essay on ecosystems over the summer. Many student will probably do the essay depending on their computers for information. Once the essay is done, most students will not remember the information in it because they had no personal connection to the information they learned. According to psychology, one needs to make an emotional connection with information in order to save it in long term memory. If the assignment required students to find real world examples and observations of an ecosystem, they will not only have fun while learning, they will also retain the information better which can help in the learning process after school starts.