Education is critical at any age, but especially to those who remain still in grade school. Taking time off such as summer break, poses issues for teaches to make sure their students are still growing their knowledge on this time off. Many school have begun to introduce summer assignments to their students as an attempt to decrease this time that is spent not completely focused on school. Although many believe that these projects should be driven by the teacher, students should be the one to design these projects because it sparks creativity, motivation, and a greater understanding of the topic.

By giving students the opportunity to design their own projects, they get the chance to display their creativity. This topic of creativity is important because it is what separates peers from each other so that not one person is the same. Each student has their own style that is different from those around which is what makes them unique. When student driven projects are created, it forces those who complete the project to think outside of the box. This is significant because it is what grows the knowledge of each student; by doing this they are learning the new material as the project is being completed. By implementing these sort of projects the students creativity is apparent because teachers are not giving the student the task; rather the student is the one designing and completing the assignment all on their own. Creativity is an essential piece to the puzzle of learning for children and by creating student-designed projects, each child will benefit across the board.

When projects are given by teachers, especially over the summer, students are not motivated to complete the task. Over summer break, many students just want to be able to relax and not do work that they may have little interest in that has been assigned by their teacher. By having student-driven projects, it gives students an opportunity to create something that they are passionate about. This is important because when a student is passionate about what they are working on, it creates motivation for them to complete the assignment. A student is highly likely to complete an assignment that they are involved in because it is relative to their life. Many projects that are handed around by teachers have little to no relevance to the lives of students. If students get the opportunity to create their own assignment, they will feel a sense of pride because they are passionate about the topic. This leads to greater motivation internally for any student which leads to better overall results.

Material that has been researched by the student and completed on their own has been proven to show greater results in the grade attached to the project. When an assignment has been handed to a student to complete that has been created by someone else, they are likely only to do the minimum of what has been assigned. By doing this they are not able to gain full knowledge of the topic and fully understand what is going on. On the flip side, when a student has to design a project on their own and research the material, they gain a greater understanding of the task at hand. By having little to no teacher involvement, it forces students to have to learn the material all on their own which has been proven that the student retains the information longer. This does not just help students for this topic, but helps them in life as well because if they are able to learn on their own they will be able to hold all of this information instead of just retaining it for one assignment and then being done with it after. In the end, student-driven projects causes students to better understand the material for not only one project.

Although some may say that teachers should be the ones to design summer projects for their students, it is not in the students best interest for this to take place. By creating student driven projects, many students get the opportunity to show off what they can do without being confined into the same box as their peers. For them, it is a way to stand out among those students around them. When the student can create something that they are passionate about, they will want to complete it to the best of their ability. But, since they are learning this material on their own, they are more likely to have a strong foundation on the topic which is only something that is beneficial to them in the end. By schools implementing student-designed summer projects, their students will be better off in the end.