Teaching Competencies of Pre-Service Spanish Language Teachers through the ECO method

Developing the teaching competencies of pre-service Spanish Language and Literature teachers is one of the current demands in higher education. A teaching-learning experience has been developed through the ECO method (Explore, Create, Offer), which is an innovative methodology inspired by Human Centred Design, Design Thinking, and challenge-based learning. The aim of the study was twofold: a) to check whether pre-service teachers perceive that their teaching competencies have improved after this experience; b) to find out the relationships between their perception of the different competencies and certain socio-demographic characteristics. A Likert-type questionnaire on teaching competencies before and after the experience was conducted. 92 participants took part in the pre-test and 66 in the post-test. The results show an improvement in the perception of their competencies at the end of the experience and high levels of motivation throughout the course. These improvements occurred regardless of socio-demographic characteristics such as age or educational background. It is concluded that the ECO method favours the acquisition of competencies, fosters motivation, and offers equal learning opportunities, thus fulfilling the democratising function of the university.