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Arts & Communication

ARTICLE
Fostering civic values through short animations:

A didactic resource for elementary students

1
Rocío González-Andrío Jiménez * and María del Valle de Moya Martínez 2
1 Department of Educational Sciences/Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain
2 Department of Didactics of Physical, Artistic and Music Education/Universidad de Castilla-La
Mancha, Albacete, Spain

Abstract

Citizenship education holds paramount importance in Spain’s primary education
curriculum, aiming to prepare students with the skills needed to become discerning
and responsible citizens in an age dominated by widespread misinformation and
unreliable content. Navigating through the vast landscape of online information and
identifying valuable didactic materials represent significant challenges for teachers.
This article presents animated-based learning (ABL) as a didactic resource to foster
civic values in elementary education. The first objective of this article is to explore the
potential of this didactic resource and assess its suitability to promote civic values in
primary schools. In the context of a world, where mistrusting information on social
media is prevalent, the second objective of this article is to evaluate the effectiveness
of this didactic tool in cultivating critical thinking skills from the perspective of
aspiring educators and university students themselves. The study involved a sample
*Corresponding author: of 89 Spanish 3 -year primary education degree students, of whom 92.8% were
rd
Rocío González-Andrio Jiménez women aged between 22 and 30 years old. The instrument utilized to collect data was
(rocio.gonzalezandrio@urjc.es)
an online survey conducted through SurveyMonkey. The analysis of data using SPSS
Citation: González-Andrío software, version 27, reveals that this didactic tool enhances their critical thinking
Jiménez R, de Moya Martínez MV.
Fostering civic values through short skills. Similarly, they recognize the potential of animated short content to instill
animations: A didactic resource human and civic values in children in primary education. The findings also display
for elementary students. Arts & a positive impact of ABL on training future teachers, underscoring the importance
Communication. 2024;2(3):2806.
doi: 10.36922/ac.2806 of incorporating innovative methodologies into teacher training programs and
acknowledging the pivotal role of visual tools and digital resources in guiding the
Received: January 23, 2024
development of future citizens.
Accepted: March 29, 2024
Published Online: June 20, 2024 Keywords: Short animations; Cartoons; Higher education; Primary education; Civic
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s). values; Critical thinking
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution-
Noncommercial License, permitting
all non-commercial use, distribution, 1. Introduction
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is The digital and technological transformation experienced by contemporary society has
properly cited. generated a paradigm shift not only in the methodologies developed and implemented
1
Publisher’s Note: AccScience at all educational stages but also in the organizational structure of classrooms. In this
Publishing remains neutral with scenario, the digital era has also driven teachers to innovate and improve teaching
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional and learning processes. Nowadays, educational videos, virtual and augmented reality,
affiliations. artificial intelligence, and immersive technology have the potential to enhance didactic

Volume 2 Issue 3 (2024) 1 doi: 10.36922/ac.2806