Most students do not like homework over the summer, so it can be difficult to get students to do the work. Many schools just give students a generalized project to keep their brains working. If you got students involved in the choice of their homework, they would be more likely to really work their brains on it. Schools that require projects over the summer should be student designed because it will increase enthusiasm and expand variety, students will go into more detail, and cheating will be decreased.

First, if schools made summer projects student designed, it would increase enthusiasm and expand the variety from the students. For example, Generic_Name who loves outer space is more likely to put effort and research into a project about space than he or she would about the water cycle. Each student has their own interests, and the best way to reach the minds of all students is to let them design their own project. The originality of the students should not be diminished by putting their creative ideas in a box because we want a generalized subject. Teachers also don't want to read the same report over and over 30 times. Student designed projects would allow the grading process to be more interesting for teachers. In the event a student discovered something very interesting, you could actually do something with it.

Also, student designed projects would improve the likelihood of students going into more detail. Students want the opportunity to expand their knowledge in topics that interest them. Why not let them teach themselves and you something along the way? Students doing a project on something that doesn't interest them would be a vague and boring version of something that could be chosen by the student. In the science fair people aren't given a topic, they are told to run free with all the ideas they can think of. That's how a summer project should be.

Finally, student designed projects would decrease the level of cheating. Student designed projects wouldn't allow for the same cheating as teacher designed projects because the ideas would have to come originally from the researcher. You might think student design versus teacher design has nothing to do with cheating, but there are many reasons as to why this is a component. Say you are a big vacationer and choose not to do your project until the end of the summer, you might just call up a friend and ask them to share their ideas with you. With teacher designed projects, that is very easily done. If you chose your project and did all the research on it, you would be less likely to give up all the information to a lazier student.

Schools should have student designed summer projects because enthusiasm and variety increase, there will be more details on the projects, and cheating is less likely to happen. Students want to have fun over their summer with as little stress as possible. Giving students the chance to design their own projects would not only get their brains working but would allow the research to be fun. Turning a task into an exciting opportunity for learning is what would happen if projects were student designed.