What is the aversion to assessment? If I did work in a class, or in any context with a mentor, and did not receive assessment, I would feel cheated.

This is a great thing to do. I did something similar teaching English writing abroad - 80% free time (except it had to be writing of some sort) and I assessed heavily. This doesn't mean dry numbers tied to a near-sighted rubric.

Giving students ownership over their learning is essential, and this is the right direction. You have to extend this paradigm to all aspects of teaching (including assessment) rather than just leaving some parts out.

Simply receiving feedback without grades means the only factor that leads to action is an intrinsic motivation, meaning learning and accomplishment are the most important things for the student. Assessment/evaluation always has a component of extrinsic motivation present (ie. an artificial targets), which often leads to the importance of grades over learning. Importance of grades over learning leads to shallow-learning practices, which often leads to horrible retention and a dislike for learning... and so the self-destructive process often proceeds.

When young students improve as writers, they broaden their executive function in which, in large part, they learn distance themselves from the writing. They learn to assess it independently from themselves as the writer. As a teacher of writing, one of your goals is to develop these functions, to teach the student how to assess their own writing. Usually this comes in the form of pointing out when they have done in naturally, or showing them how you do it by writing in real time in front of them (or using other students as examples).

I think it's the same in other subjects. Giving students time and freedom is just the start, and we agree about the importance of providing some sort of assessment/evaluation/feedback about the work that's outside the realm of grades and external consequences. But formal assessments done well in such a program are one of the most important things you are teaching.

To relate this specifically to the article, to just give students time and rely (essentially) on public shaming to hold them accountable isn't enough. In addition to giving the student ownership of the project topic and ownership of time management, we can give the student ownership over his/her (formal and informal) assessment, too, and of course use it.

I don't think this is true.

Based on the behavior of my students (back when I taught), they all seemed to care a great deal about assessment that would help future employers evaluate them (i.e., their grade). In contrast, they cared very little about actual learning or feedback that helped them to achieve it.

I wish that, starting with high school, most teaching was project-based and schools worked to enable students to discover and learn stuff they care about, rather than shoving knowledge down one's throat. Want to make video games? Learn woodwork? Build an electronic device? Learn cooking? Schools should strive to provide a framework to make those things happen!

I think teaching people to be passive and keeping them from being productive until their twenties is a huge factor in school failure, dropping out and lots of social issues (at least in France where I'm from).

I chose to learn Java and then HTML. 15 years later, I'm making websites and writing Android apps at my own company.

I cannot think of a single experience in all of my education that had anywhere near the impact on my life as that assignment.

My prediction: You'll have 1/3 of the class do something completely stupid just to pass the course, 1/3 put in some good effort but a mediocre idea, and 1/3 who do something pretty interesting.

The thing about 20% (supposedly, I don't have first-hand experience) that most of results would go straight to the trash. Because you had this idea but it didn't end with anything. And that's the beauty.

Also, you're not forced to do it. You can't allocate creativity in time slots.

Secondly, you can allocate creativity in time slots, it just takes time. Given consistent and predictable blocks of time everyday or a few times a week, students or anyone else will get better at using said time. You get used to it; you get better at context switching into the necessary mode and, importantly, since it's predictable your brain will also consider and prepare outside of the designated time blocks.

The accountability is in the documentation and the presentations. More of a peer accountability than anything else (which I think is powerful). I'd be happy to hear any suggestions!