Improving Consumer Education Workshops through Challenge Based Learning in Primary Education Degree

Abstract

Introduction: Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) is an active methodology in which students collaborate with teachers and local stakeholders to solve local or global social problems, with the aim of preparing students to solve current problems with lasting effects. Methodology: In our case study, CBL was implemented in a Primary Education subject with the School of Consumption of Catalonia (SCC) as an agent of the territory. 250 students applied child development theory to improve consumer education workshops for children. They used Design Thinking in three phases: Engage, Investigate and Act. Results: The solutions proposed by the student teams included: modifying workshops, modifying activities, creating child development guides for the ECC, eliminating age bands in the workshops, improving ECC teaching guides, creating surveys on students' consumption habits, creating a checklist for the ECC to evaluate their workshops, and creating a magazine aimed at families to educate on sustainable consumption. Conclusions: The advantages of the CBL include the relevance of the theory and collaboration with specialists. However, limitations such as lack of depth of solutions and scheduling constraints were also discussed.