And I don't believe that the methods which are intended to produce people "capable of evaluating the claims of politicians and making the most desirable choice (for that person) in the voting booth" are really effective at that.

You can't teach creativity. OK, maybe you can, but the approach of "throw the students in a group, and tell them to do something creative" is probably not exactly optimal.

Do teachers give any kind of useful guided instruction on high-level skills? Or do they just grade the assignments based on presentation?