“Learning for living”: engaging in disaster risk reduction education – a comparative study between modalities and teaching styles

Purpose The study aimed to evaluate the effects of different teaching styles and delivery mechanisms on popularly covered disaster risk reduction themes, drawing educators’ attention to relevant qualities of the learning process critical for emergency decision-making and mental health promotion. Design/methodology/approach A pre-post-quasi-experimental design was used to compare the effects of information- and experience-centered styles and traditional face-to-face and online delivery mechanisms among 51 local high school students in Pichucalco, Mexico. The activities focused on risk awareness development, disaster-prevention map-making, hazard monitoring and early warning. The effects on student engagement, self-efficacy, evacuation behaviors, preparedness actions and others were compared using novel tools. Findings The results indicated that “experience” played a critical role in promoting disaster-prevention activities, increasing interest in community response and enhancing students’ self-efficacy beliefs regarding emergency response, outperforming the information-centered track, which is relevant for decision-making in stressful situations and for delivering disaster risk content. In line with this, engagement improved when activities allowed students to manipulate content with a high degree of freedom, regardless of the delivery modality. A critical finding was that both groups showed a shift toward longer evacuation initiation time disposition after the strategy was applied. It is proposed that due to the increases in self-efficacy, situational awareness and hazard information, students felt capable of responding faster to the development of events, which, combined with lack of trust and fear of thievery, influenced early evacuation decision-making negatively. Originality/value The study provides original educational insights focused on the particularly complex subject of disaster risk reduction education.