At what point does it become unacceptable for a mentor to design/build the robot

[jwallace15]

I support Mentors changing students' ideas, as long as they provide an explanation for why. If they just change an idea someone has without giving reason, the students don't learn from it. If an explanation is provided, it's ok, because the student is learning from a "mistake" they made (I put quotations around mistake because it isn't really a mistake, I don't know another word to call it).
If the student learns from the mentor who changed their idea, they will remember the reasoning for why it wouldn't work, or why it wouldn't be as effective as this other idea. Then the next year, when it comes time to build another robot, the student will remember the concept he was taught the previous year, and incorporate that into their new design.

I was building an electrical enclosure for my train set (not related to robotics, but the story relates, trust me). I was proud and showed my Dad, who has a lot of knowledge about electrical enclosures (as the company he works for, ABB, has both a robotics division (in which he works), and an electrical division, which he comes into contact with frequently). He pointed out that my enclosure wasn't grounded. So I listened to his advice, remembered it for future reference, and grounded my enclosure. A month later (last week, to be exact), I was making an electrical panel to mount switches on (also for my train set). I went to show my Dad my work, and he asked if it was grounded. Fortunately, I remembered his advice, and had already grounded it.

In this build season, I was making spacers for our robot. I went on making it, and got two done, when my mentor Gary showed me a more effective way to make it (it had to be cut, have holes drilled on each side, and be threaded). Yesterday I was remaking shafts for our wheels. They were made nearly the same way as the spacers, just three times as long. I remembered Gary's method for making the spacers, and used that method while making the shafts.

I do not represent my team in this post, I represent myself and my own ideas.