Interesting to read the Zagat’s model here. I just heard a talk by Sir Ken Robinson at NAIS where he used a metaphor for educational quality about two methods of maintaining quality in restaurants: Standardization (i.e. McDonalds) and Generalized standards tailored to individualized / localized needs and tastes (i.e. Zagats).

But in America, this is how we elect leaders…

It is also naive to assume that all (or even a majority) of students who were born after a certain date will shun more traditional methods of instruction. My experience has been that in project based, constructivist learning environments, the project must be created very carefully so as not to be seen as a contrived environment with a pre-determined outcome. Students need a variety of learning activities including some that are teacher centric to help to build the scaffolding and scope of reference needed to enable them to be successful on more peer-to-peer related projects. When they are employed, constructivist projects must be designed to be authentic, meaningful, and have a purpose that is clear to the student.