4 Reasons to Encourage Your Student to Deep Dive on an Academic Project This Summer
As the school year is wrapping up, things are getting busy! May and June are months filled with projects, presentations, tests, and final exams. At this point in the year, a lot of students might be craving a new opportunities to explore their ideas and passions outside of these core academic responsibilities. Luckily, summer is just around the corner, and after catching up on rest, family time, and vacation, summer can be a prime time for students to have valuable intellectual experiences that help them answer the big questions like What am I curious about? What drives the world around me? How can I contribute?
While college summer programs, academic camps, research and internships tend to get all the attention, many students have at least a few weeks of downtime between opportunities, or may not have access to these traditional opportunities because of age, cost, or other reasons. Here at Principia, we love encouraging students to use their free time to go beyond the classroom on their own. Without the pressure of grades, exams, deadlines, and extracurriculars, students can explore a subject to not just “get ahead,” but to build curiosity, confidence, and ownership of their own learning. Here are a few ways that students can explore a subject they have always wanted to learn more about or have never had the opportunity to learn about in school.
But First…What Is A Summer Deep-Dive?
A deep dive into an academic subject is not just doing extra worksheets or passively watching videos or listening to a lecture. It is an intentional, focused, guided exploration of a topic that allows time for students to reflect, question, and build skills.
For example, a high schooler interested in computer science might choose to build a website, game or app. A middle-schooler interested in science might learn about astronomy or astrophysics and download data from a real telescope to research a particular phenomenon. And a rising freshman student interested in writing might create a collection of essays, short stories, or creating their own blog. The list go student interested in math might explore cryptography, graph theory, game theory, or competition-style problem solving.
4 Key Ways That A Summer Deep Dive Can Make a Difference
They help students discover what they actually enjoy: Most students only have the opportunity to explore subjects that are offered in their school, and that can be limited to the standard curriculum and requirements for middle school or high school in their area. Having time to work on an academic project, study a subject they have never read about before, or look into a different topic inside a subject they already enjoy can help them discover what they actually find interesting. For example, a student who “likes science” might discover that they are especially interested in neuroscience or public health, a student who “likes reading and writing” might learn they enjoy doing research and creating opinion pieces.
They build confidence: Getting to know yourself and your interests builds character and confidence in students. Especially if building a project from scratch and finishing it in one summer can be an invaluable experience for a student who might be strong academically but have not yet had the chance to pursue independent ideas. This can also be true for students who have more challenges in academics, as they can be in a positive academic environment where a tutor can guide them instead of test them or question them, which often hinders students’ ability to enjoy school to the fullest.
They help develop real academic skills: Depending on the project, students may practice independent studying techniques and taking notes, research, coding, problem-solving, design, analysis, and presentation skills. These are all skills that are not only valuable for their future academic endeavors, but to build their independence and ownership of their own learning and integrate a multidisciplinary approach to their education.
They support future high school or college applications: A thoughtful project can help students clarify their future academic interests. Colleges are looking for students who demonstrate genuine curiosity, initiative, and follow-through, and having a summer project or academic pursuit can help build these qualities.
How Guidance Can Help With A Summer Project
If you think that having your student do a summer deep-dive sounds great, but that you don’t quite know how to help them get started, an academic tutor or mentor in their area of interest can help! A mentor or tutor can help to teach skills like strategic research and outreach, time management and timeline development, assist with challenging concepts or topics, or provide structure for a meaningful summer of exploration.
Time with a mentor can be used to help students:
Narrow a broad interest into a concrete question.
Choose an appropriate project format for summer research and exploration.
Build the necessary background knowledge to produce quality research and findings.
Set a timeline and weekly goals to help provide accountability.
Work through challenges together so your student doesn’t get burned out by the natural ebbs and flows of the research process.
Polish a final product that can be used for submission to competitions and prizes, or rendered into an activity for the Common App.
How do you find a mentor for your student? Most of Principia’s tutors and consultants have diverse academic backgrounds in a wide variety of topics, from astrophysics to creative nonfiction to environmental engineering,and are happy to support students in their personal endeavors. Individual sessions can provide a crucial sounding board for their ideas to ensure that they develop and flourish in ways that support long-term development.
Outside of formal tutoring, students can also reach out to family members, older friends (college students are a great fit!), and even local professors to seek support. So make it a summer worth remembering and start brainstorming the next steps!
