Many teachers decide to assign summer projects over the break however there is some discussion to be had over whether these projects should be designed by teachers or by students.

There are many things to consider about the idea of summer projects and what is needed to be gained through them.

While students my be more creative designing their projects, summer projects should still be designed y the teacher because, teachers know the class content better, have history of making projects, and understand what the students need to gain from their projects to do well in class.

To start things off, teachers know the content better.

Unlike students teachers have gone through at least some sort of higher education to be able to teach the class.

More than likely some of that was focused on the subject the teachers instructs.

For example my history teacher went to college to study American history.

This makes her more qualified than me to teach and assign projects.

Since the teachers have received more years of education than the student in the subject they will more than likely assign a project that gets across the necessary material for the class than the students.

Secondly most teachers have taught the class for more than a year.

With this experience they are able to know more than the students because they have heard more insight on the class information and discussed the same topic with multiple groups of students.

With this experience they have a better understanding of the best way for it to be conveyed to the students, allowing them to design a better summer project.

Secondly, teachers have a longer history with projects than their students.

Teachers at one point were students and were educated in almost all cases to a higher degree than their students.

Through this they are able to experience more types of projects and draw ideas in from their former teachers to design projects that a student might not even think of because they have more experience than the students.

Through this if any of the students become teachers the have one more idea for a project than they would have otherwise.

Moreover, teachers have assigned different projects throughout the years and know what works and what doesn't.

A teacher will be able to know if a certain type of project works because they have likely given the same project to another group of students.

Some teachers also go to training to help design projects.

For example my German teacher was out for two days at a conference solely pertaining to project ideas for their students.

With this history and background teachers know what works and what doesn't something that other students haven't been able to experience making them better summer project designers.

Lastly, teachers understand what the students need to gain from the project more than other students.

Teachers as stated earlier have more than likely taught the class for more than one year.

This gives them the ability to know how the students need gain the intended knowledge from the project.

The teacher has seen other students go though the same project and can modify it over the years they are teaching so the students are able to gain more from the project. than if another student designed it.

Another reason is teachers know what they want to teach more than any student would.

If a teacher has a large focus on the civil rights movement than they can assign a project with a specific focus on the civil rights movement.

It allows teachers to assign projects that will, in the log run, be more useful to the students.

To conclude teachers are better summer project designers than students because teachers have had a higher education and know the content better than the students, they have longer history with projects and project design, and they understand what the students need to gain from the class better than another student.

Summer projects are very important in no only learning but also getting to know a teacher.

So while students do have some merit as project designers, teachers should design summer project because of the importance of the project and the important information it needs to convey. 