Inquiry-based learning and digital storytelling in virtual exchange: an approach for reflecting on food consumption in the Global South and Global North

Abstract

Virtual exchange (VE) in higher education provides an underemployed opportunity for fostering consumer and sustainability competencies. We explore how a crosscultural teaching-learning environment can be designed to encourage students to reflect on a complex global challenge - food consumption patterns - and their role in it. We discuss challenges regarding food consumption as a topic for VE and describe a didactic concept that employs inquiry-based learning and digital storytelling as the framework for student exploration and expression. Initially developed for VE in food studies and nutrition education, the concept can be readily transferred to other disciplines and topics. We present insights from a pilot implementation with 16 food science students from Laos and 26 pre-service teachers from Germany. The analysis of students’ responses from pre- and post-questionnaires and their digital stories suggest that the concept is promising, although some factors require improvement and careful attention, such as technologies and the lingua franca of the learning environment. Findings and lessons learned might inform other projects that similarly seek to address complex global challenges.