Think about a time in your life when you've been assigned a project to do over summer, and think about how much of a learning experience it was, and where you could have improved. There are many schools that require students to complete summer projects during their break. The reason they do this is to assure that their students continue to learn new information throughout their summers. Implementing summer projects, however, inevitably raises the question, should student projects be teacher-designed or student-designed? Teachers should grant students a possible selection between multiple topics, and have guidelines as to what each student's project should include, so students would be able to pick and choose which topic they'd like to complete, and the way they'd like to complete their project in order to meet the mandatory guidelines instructed by their teacher, to give students real life skills, to enforce learning even more, and to give students the ability to choose a project that fits their own schedule over break.

Firstly, one reason teachers should give a selection of topics with mandatory guidelines and have students decide which one they'd like to complete is because this would prepare students in an effective way for their futures. A big responsibility of schools is to prepare their students for the future. Every student should be granted a positive learning environment that enforces learning, as well as preparing its students for college, and life in the real world. In giving students the selection of topics to choose from, it would teach students how to be responsible, because it would be up to them to decide which project they're going to do, and how they'd get it done. It'd also give students a sense independence. By assigning projects in this way, students aren't being hand held through every step, and they're going to have to do some things on their own, like deciding which project to do. This also gives students the opportunity to think for themselves, and it teaches them advocacy, as they make the decision to do their project their own way.

Secondly, another reason teachers should give students a selection of topics with guidelines that they can chose from is because it would enforce learning even more. As a student, being given a problem that they're told to solve does enforce learning. However, being told to create a problem themselves is much more challenging, as it causes the student to deeply process the way the problem is structured, and what their next step would be in creating a problem. Similarly, being told to do their own project may be challenging, but the one instruction that would be even more challenging is asking students to create their own project from a selection of topics. The process students will go through in creating their own project will take much deeper encoding of the information given, and this will ensure that they continue learning during their breaks.

Finally, the last reason students should be given a selection of possible topics and guidelines that they can choose from is that they can do a project tailored to what they have planned during break. Too many times, teachers fail to acknowledge the fact that students have different plans over their breaks, and every student has a life outside of school, especially over their summer breaks. Therefore, if students are given a selection of topics they can do their project on, they can choose from whichever one that fits their plans accordingly. For example, if one student is going on a trip to the tropical rain forests, and they notice that one of their project topic choices is on the different leaves of the tropical rain forest environments, they can choose this choice. To contrast, if a student isn't planning on leaving their house much over the summer, then they can choose a topic that has to do with particulate matter in the closed atmosphere. Giving students a choice of topics allows them to make the decision that best fits their schedule, and provides an enjoyable learning experience during their summer breaks.

To counter this position, one might claim that students who are given too much freedom by allowing them to create their own project will only lead to students submitting sloppy, unsatisfactory work. Whereas, students given a fixed project that every student has to complete over their break means that students can't shortcut their way around putting in the work to create a decent project, and will have more positive results. However, enforcing mandatory guidelines that every student must meet ensures that students will have structure in their projects while maintaining the individuality that comes with creating their own projects. As a result, students won't be able to cheat off of one another, or try to copy others' work, because every project should be unique, as long as it's meeting the set guidelines.

To conclude, learning is a concept that has adapted throughout the years, and is still changing every day. We must be conscious of these changes, and the process of teaching students needs to grow and change with it, because the same procedures that worked best in the past aren't necessarily the best teaching methods of the present, or the future. It is a school's responsibility to create a positive learning environment that instills learning in the best possible way for its students, to prepare its students for the real world, and to equip its students with all the necessary tools and skills they need to survive and thrive as the next future leaders of the world. This being said, schools should assign summer projects where teachers give a selection of the possible topics a student can choose from with mandatory guidelines to equip students with effective skills, to enforce learning in a more effective method, and to give students the ability to choose a project that best fits their own shcedules over their breaks.