text: The last example of why a teacher-designed project is beneficial to the students is that it doesn't sell the kids short of their academic potential by just taking the easy way out with an easy project. Students, or anyone, only grow and develop when they're exposed to challenges and obstacles it builds their mental capacity and their problem solving skills. If a teacher choices to do a particularly hard project or assignment this pushes the students out of their comfort zone allowing them to make these new connections in their brain and gain new knowledge and working skills. But if a kid is allowed to design their own project for the summer, most kids aren't going to do an extravagant or hard project, but instead take a more simplistic and easier way because the students want to enjoy their summer and not waste it on a school project. This would be a detriment to the students academics and the skills they could've acquired if they were to apply themselves.