Escape Room: Economic crisis

Objective: This worksheet aims to help learners understand the pros and cons of a particular profession and prepare them for a job interview.

Content and Methods: A text describes the profession, including its advantages and disadvantages. A dialogue scenario for a job interview serves as a basis for learners to practice in a role-play. Detailed role cards provide guidance on emotions and goals. A checklist supports preparation for the job application.

Competencies:

• Vocational knowledge: Understanding the requirements of the profession
• Communication: Preparing for and conducting a job interview
• Self-reflection: Reflecting on one’s own abilities

Target group and level: Spanish learners at A2 level

Objective: This worksheet aims to provide learners with a basic understanding of the Spanish economy and gross domestic product (GDP).

Content and Methods: It covers a country’s economy (sectors, challenges, opportunities) and explains the concept of GDP. Methods include reading comprehension, multiple-choice questions, and describing the economy.

Competencies:

• Reading comprehension
• Understanding of basic economic concepts
• Written expression

Target audience and level: Spanish learners at A2 level

ESD:

• SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth): Addressing sustainable economic opportunities for the future
• SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure): Promoting innovation in the green economy

Objective: The worksheet aims to educate learners about the use of artificial intelligence in medical diagnostics. Learners should understand how AI systems support professionals, increase efficiency, and what ethical questions arise regarding responsibility and trust.

Contents and methods: The content includes an introduction to AI-supported imaging based on informational texts, analysis tables on areas of application, a practical case study, and an overview of the pros and cons of opportunities and risks. Methodologically, the content is taught through a combination of technical text work, structured analysis, case studies, and reflective exchange formats such as opinion rounds and evaluation surveys.

Competencies:

• Technical competence: Understanding how AI works in medical imaging and diagnostics.
• Ethical reflection competence: Critical examination of the question of who bears ultimate responsibility for AI-supported wrong decisions.
• Assessment competence: Weighing up the opportunities and challenges of technological innovations.

Target group and level: From grade 10 onwards.

Learners critically examine the economic, social, and environmental consequences of large-scale events using a selected example and weigh up the opportunities and risks.

Contents and methods: 

Based on informational texts about various roles (e.g., city administration, citizens' initiative, environmental officers), learners develop subject-specific arguments. The method includes preparing a structured discussion using tables and concluding with the creation of an informational statement to announce the decision.

Skills:

• Multiperspective analysis of complex economic issues
• Argumentation and judgment skills in socio-political debates
• Transfer of theoretical economic data to municipal decision-making processes
• Cooperation and communication skills within a role simulation

Target group:

Grade 8 and above

Learners analyze the concept of soft power as a modern instrument of foreign trade policy and understand how cultural appeal is systematically used to increase national exports and global influence.

Contents and methods:

Using a factual text and a fictional eyewitness account, the differences between hard and soft power as well as mechanisms such as nation branding, public diplomacy, and the halo effect are explored. The methodological implementation involves text analysis, the reconstruction of chains of effects, research in the “Global Soft Power Index,” and a concluding critical assessment of state cultural control.

Competencies:

• Technical competence: Distinguishing and explaining international power categories (hard vs. soft power)
• Analytical competence: Investigation of the economic impact of cultural exports (e.g., K-pop) on gross domestic product
• Judgment competence: Critical reflection on the opportunities and dangers of state influence on culture and national identity
• Media and research competence: Dealing with global comparative studies to measure the intangible assets of nations

Target group:

Grade 10 and above

Learners critically examine the impact of generative artificial intelligence on the creative industries and develop their own well-founded position on the subject.

Content and methods:

The material provides an introduction to how generative creative content works. In a discussion, students take on different roles (e.g., politicians, tech industry, cultural workers), analyze subject-specific arguments, and compile them in a table. An optional practical task allows them to experiment with AI tools themselves.

Skills:

• Critical examination of technological innovations and their social consequences
• Change of perspective and ability to argue within the framework of a debate
• Media literacy through reflection on copyright, authenticity, and the dangers of manipulation
• Use of digital tools for creative content creation

Target group:

Grade 10 and above

Learners analyze the concept of data capitalism, identify the economic value of personal data, and evaluate the key opportunities and risks of data trading.

Contents and methods:

The worksheet deals with data capitalism and the role of personal data as a “currency.” Using the example of the fictional character Nala, the types of data shared and their economic interest for companies are examined. The economic value of data, the role of data brokers, and the use of profiles by companies are discussed. A sorting exercise traces the flow of data from release to corporate use. Subsequently, argumentative texts highlight the perspectives of consumer representatives, business representatives, and small business owners on the opportunities and risks of data trading in order to summarize the most important arguments in a concluding table and write a reasoned statement.

Skills:

• Analysis of data flow and economic interdependencies in data capitalism.
• Assessment of the opportunities and risks of trading personal data from different perspectives.
• Reasoned statement on a socially relevant economic topic.
• Summary and structuring of complex factual texts.

Target group:

Grade 9 and above

Objective: The worksheet raises learners' awareness of how artificial intelligence is changing the world of work, focusing on the chosen profession as an example. The aim is to understand the shift from routine tasks to demanding human skills and to evaluate the resulting opportunities and risks.

Content and methods: The worksheet deals with the world of work, using a selected profession as an example. Methodologically, tasks that can already be performed by computers today are collected and structured in a mind map in order to examine changes in the job profile, such as the elimination of routine tasks or the emergence of new professions. In addition, opportunities (e.g., support with complex tasks) and risks (e.g., job loss for simple tasks) are critically examined, and a new job profile is developed that combines the strengths of humans and AI.

Competencies:

• Analytical skills: Ability to examine occupational fields for their potential for automation
• Technological adaptability: Recognition of the need for technical training in the use of AI system
• Critical thinking: Weighing economic efficiency against social impacts on employees
• Future planning: Development of innovative professional roles in a digitalized working world

Target group and level: Grade 10 and above

Learners should understand the concept of the digital footprint, become aware of its risks, and learn specific strategies for reducing it and protecting their online reputation.

Content and methods: 

The worksheet introduces the topic of digital footprints (active/passive) and cookies and highlights the associated social and individual risks. The methods used include a video, a practical self-assessment of one's own digital footprint, analysis of a specialist text on a selected risk, and concluding tips on digital security and reducing one's footprint.

Skills:

• Acquiring and applying knowledge about active and passive digital footprints
• Critical reflection on one's own online presence and the potential risks
• Analysis of the social and individual effects of data misuse
• Implementation of practical strategies to improve digital security and protect privacy

Target group and level:

Grade 10 and above

Students investigate how artificial intelligence is transforming a specific field, gaining an understanding of both the benefits and challenges of AI. The goal is to develop critical awareness of AI’s capabilities, ethical issues, and the ongoing need for human judgment in decision-making.

Content and Methods:

The worksheet guides students through an exploration of AI in a specific field by examining real-world examples. Students analyze ethical concerns. Methods include comprehension questions, multiple-choice tasks, comparison of benefits and risks, open-ended reflection questions, and a short argumentative essay about AI’s role in that field.

Competencies:

• Understanding technological applications of AI in a real-world professional field
• Critical evaluation of the benefits and risks of AI in that field
• Ethical reasoning about data privacy, bias, and human–machine interaction
• Analytical thinking about the balance between AI capabilities and human expertise
• Argumentative and reflective writing skills

Target Group and Level:

Grade 8 and up.