Uma experiência de desenvolvimento do protótipo de um aplicativo móvel para o estudo de citologia em uma perspectiva interdisciplinar com química no ensino médio

Abstract

In the face of technological evolution and social transformations, documents such as the National Common Curricular Base (BNCC) and the National Curricular Parameters for High School (PCN) recommend exploring interdisciplinarity between curricular components, as well as development of skills and abilities to use technology. In this context, smartphone presence in school environments is configured as a possibility for the mobile learning educational strategy. Smartphone applications can provide resources such as animations, multimedia and interactive simulations that can favor learning. In the study of Biology in High School, Cytology is a subject that stands out for its learning difficulties, mainly involving students' abstract thinking in complex reasoning. Thus, the objective of this work was to learn about the process of developing mobile applications for the study of Biology in High School. To this end, an exploratory descriptive research was carried out with analysis of qualitative and quantitative data using the case study methodology organized in five stages. In the first stage, a documentary research was carried out in which technical and pedagogical aspects of Android smartphone applications available in the Play Store were analyzed. As a technical product of this stage, a catalog with 371 applications that can be used for the study of Biology was created. In the second stage, a bibliographical research was carried out in order to understand and offer support for the three learning difficulties defined in the scope of this work. A set of desirable characteristics that the applications could have to help students face some of their learning difficulties was proposed. In the third stage, the content analysis method was applied to 9 applications that can assist the study of Cytology in High School, within the scope of specific content defined. The technical product produced in this stage was a booklet with good examples to be followed and bad examples to be avoided in the process of developing an application. In the fourth stage, the prototype of an application for the study of Cytology in High School was developed from an interdisciplinary perspective with Chemistry. This stage allowed developers to apply the desired characteristics defined, in addition to realizing the relevance of pedagogical planning in this process. In the fifth stage, this prototype was evaluated by 6 Biology and Chemistry teachers using a questionnaire with quantitative analysis. Overall, the prototype was well evaluated with 72% of positive results. Given all the stages carried out in this work, it can be concluded that it is not easy to develop an educational application, especially with the desire to innovate in teaching resources and address learning difficulties. However, we hope that the desire to seek improvements in the teaching process with the integration of ICTs continues to motivate researchers to advance in future works.