Modelagem matemática como método para contextualização de problemas no ambiente dos jogos educacionais digitais

Abstract

The changes that occurred due to the insertion of digital technologies in society allowed the formation of a new social group, in which culture, way of thinking and habits of interaction caused changes in the ways of seeking information and entertainment. With this, the knowledge of the world of the current generation allows it to learn in a different way from the past generations. Going in the opposite direction, education continues with traditional teaching methods that show little progress in the learning indices related to Mathematics, a discipline that provides strategic knowledge for the development of science. This demonstrates a certain mismatch between what educational institutions offer and what society needs. On the other hand, some researches have shown positive results through the use of active methodologies, such as, for example, learning based on digital games. However, digital games developed for educational purposes are, for the most part, considered uninteresting. This is due to the fact that this category of games differs considerably from the proposal of games aimed at entertainment, thus not captivating the interest of students and, consequently, does not promote a meaningful learning of the mathematical content explored in them. Therefore, to contribute to the development of immersive games that are really able for motivating students in the learning process of Mathematics, this research aims to employ Mathematical Modeling to develop an innovative proposal to be applied in the mechanics and challenges of digital educational game programs, providing thought-provoking problems to be solved by students. This proposal aims to give the possibility for students to perform real experiments in virtual worlds, formalizing concepts through abstractions, stimulating creativity and providing a meaningful, fun and simultaneous learning of Geometry, Algebra and Arithmetic. To validate the proposal of this work, mathematical models were conceived during the development phase of a 3D platform game, called Pharos, whose objective is to assist in the teaching and learning process of Mathematics in the courses of the Open University of Brazil. Pharos presents a mathematics integrated to its scenario and its mechanics, having puzzles that allow it to simulate the mathematical models so that the students understand their operation in practice. The game was evaluated with teachers and students, through a short course in online format, in order to present evidence of the results of the use of mathematical modeling in the context of digital educational games. A positive assessment was obtained regarding the teaching and learning potential of Pharos.