Abstract

Traditionally, the interrelation between teaching and learning has focused on studies that seek to define the correlation between students' learning achievements and methodologies of teachers to transmit information. The teacher delivers knowledge and students are passive receivers. This article refers to the reflexive critical analysis carried out by a group of researchers from the education and design sector, regarding the advantages, disadvantages, and improvements to the pedagogical model Design Based-Learning (DBL). Implemented in rural primary schools in Chile. Design-based learning focuses on integrating design projects into the classroom to promote creative problem-solving skills and to support students with the learning of curricular content through engagement in real-world, and cross-curricular challenges. The objective is to contrast the DBL pedagogical model with traditional teaching methodologies in rural primary schools. This definition would help so that teaching and learning would be better connected to the reality of schools. Today, educational curricula is applied in the same way in urban areas as in rural ones, with inconsistencies that confuse rural students. The data collection methodology is based on design research methods and allows measuring the impact generated by the new synergies between teachers and students derived from the experimental implementation of the DBL pedagogical model. The applied methods are based on exploration that allows students and teachers to be protagonists jointly, among them Role interpretation, Try it yourself, Cultural comparisons, Daily photos and videos, ethnography. While the researchers observe the planning of these activities carried out with the support of collaborators trained in the ABED methodology. Researchers apply research methods in design to gather information related to the experience, such as Focus Group and Cultural Probes. The results of the implementation of the ABED methodology shows an increase in learning dynamics in classrooms, through communication and collaboration, which are tools of design as a discipline. Students are able to propose ideas, express leadership in their learning, develop skills such as public speaking, communicate ideas to their peers, develop prototypes that allow communicating proposals that make sense for their community. Teachers are indispensable guides in this process since they know well the resources, needs, and opportunities of the context in which the school is inserted. The conclusions refer to the relevant areas of impact on the thinking capacity of students and teachers, who put into practice new skills to develop an educational curriculum through participatory synergies. Design offers students a way to apply tools to solve real-world problems and also propose new ways of thinking.