To be a teacher-designed or student-designed project, is the question many have sought to answer. A teacher-designed project, has the guidance students need to create a great project. A student-designed project, has the freedom that many students desire for. Students want to pick any topic that interests them. Nonetheless, both of these choices, are a great way to keep students engaged over the summer. Although some say student-designed projects are the way to go, however, teacher-designed project are much more relevant and helpful for the students.

The benefit of a student-designed project is that the students have the freedom of choosing whatever topic that interests them. They get to focus on the things that they want to bring to light. This makes student-designed projects much more enjoyable for the students. Humans being humans, they love the ability to pick and choose. This is no exception for students. Not to mention that they could have more creativity when it comes to creating a project. Suppose if a student wanted to demonstrate the affect of stomach acid on vegetables, it would be much more interesting for the student to demonstrate via pictures and experiments as opposed to writing a paper about it.

A teacher-designed project however, could be much more helpful for students. The guidance that teacher-designed project offer, is undeniable in the fact that it helps students create the best piece of work they possibly can. More often then not, teacher-designed projects offer an outline or a list of things students need to include in their projects. This by itself, guarantees students a top grade. Students can use that outline to guide them and go off by the outline. Students can also make sure that they include everything in their projects that the teacher had asked for.

Relevancy is another benefit that teacher-designed projects offer. Teachers can give students a list of current or important issues to write a paper about. This will solidify the fact that everyone will want to read that paper. If a student picked the topic of for example, the amount of rainfall Virginia gets each year, it is less likely to appeal to a large number of audience. As opposed to the topic of the Corona virus, everyone is crazy to read about the Corona virus right now. If a student were to pick Corona virus as a topic to write about, everyone will want to read that paper. Similarly, a teacher can give students a list of topics that are currently important or relevant to write about so that it attracts much more attention.

The argument between teacher-designed projects, versus student designed projects have sparked much debate. But given the advantages and disadvantages of each of them, it is clear that one of them is more beneficial to students than the other. Many believe that student-designed projects offer more freedom for students, but, teacher-designed projects are far more beneficial due to the fact that it provides guidance and relevancy. Nothing can beat the guidance of a teachers given to their students.