Students are required to complete summer projects for some classes. How can these projects be modified so that the student entirely benefits from them? Some say that these summer projects should be teacher-designed, while others say they should be student-designed. These projects should fit the student's individual needs. Summer projects should be student-designed because this will provide students with an opportunity to engage in their own learning and enjoy the process while they are at it.

Student-designed projects allow the student to take on a role in their own learning. It allows students to be creative and to think outside of the box. As the student is learning, a specific brain region, the frontal lobe is growing; this benefits the student. The student has flexibility while working on their assignment and is able to work at their own pace. It makes the student feel like their ideas matter and they are being heard because they are the ones taking on the initiative. Students have the ability to produce something great and they do not feel like they are just assigned busy work over break. As a student, I enjoy forming my own ideas and having the opportunity to learn on my own.

On the other hand, not only do these student-designed projects allow students to engage in their own learning, but they also provide enjoyment for the student. Since it is designed by the student, they will be willing to do the assignment on their own. Self-motivation will come into play because as a student, I know that if I enjoy doing something, I will put in my best effort. Upon completing the project, the student will have a sense of fulfillment and accomplishment. Many students do not put in time and effort into projects which are designed by teachers because they do not have the motivation and interest that is needed to complete the project. They do poorly on the project and that ends up taking a huge toll on their grade for the year.

Others argue that projects should be teacher-designed because the teacher knows what is best for the individual student and what material needs to be covered in the project. Doing a project which is teacher-designed allows the teacher to help the student if the student has any questions; the teacher has knowledge about the subject of the project. Teacher-designed projects allows the teacher to instruct students to include certain ideas in their projects which will benefit them for the topics that will be covered during the school year. Another great benefit is that the teacher is allowed to set deadlines which helps keep the student on track. Sometimes from a student-designed project, students might not get a lot of learning out of it because they might do a project on a topic that has nothing to do with the class that they have been assigned to do a project for. This will not assure continued learning during summer break, in fact, it will have an adverse effect.

Overall, considering the pros and cons of both; the benefits of student-designed summer projects outweigh the benefits of teacher-designed summer projects. Students will be able to articulate their own ideas and who knows; maybe they might make something great out of it. Summer is for enjoyment and a student-designed summer project allows the student to do just that. By the time the school year starts, students will be able to take on whatever comes their way; their learning process will be strengthened due to their self-designed summer project.