Fostering Consumer-Citizens

― Developing Students’ Debating Skills and Having Them Run Consumer Education Workshops ―

Abstract

The objective of this research was to develop debating skills as a method of educating consumers. We taught 15 sections of the university general education class, “Learning creative debating techniques.” Students learned and experienced various debate techniques during the first eight classes, and we carried out four types of five-to-six person workshops on money management education in the second half of the course. Based on a questionnaire completed by students at the end of the course, we determined what they had learned in each of the classes, and noted any changes in their awareness of money management issues. We observed that by organizing the learning so that the students taught themselves about consumer education, they were able to learn decision-making processes independently. This approach enhanced learning effects.