Uso de aplicativos em dispositivos móveis como recurso didático aplicado à botânica no ensino médio

Abstract

Mobile devices make up a portion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), they allow the insertion of applications (Apps) which have potential use in education. The “Apps” can be used as didactic resources in active learning approaches, something that can be feasible for teaching Botany. Tests can investigate the scientific evidence of application interference in the teaching and learning process. The purpose of the research was to verify if the use of educational applications can positively interfere in the teaching and learning process in Botany for high school students. The study was carried out in a public school located in Parnaíba-PI after approval by the Research Ethics Committee of the State University of Piauí (CAAE: 15729819.6.0000.5209). Two samples of 30 students participated in the research, each: an experimental group (EG) and a control group (CG). For GE, didactic approaches were produced that contemplated the use of “Apps”. For GC, the contents were covered in expository classes with usual resources. Three questionnaires were applied: Q1 - socioeconomic (pre-test, in both groups); Q2 - knowledge of Botany (pre and post-test, in the two samples) and Q3 - self-perception of students (post-test, only for the SG). The qualitative results show that the majority of GE students are easy to manipulate applications and are able to make use of “Apps” to solve problems and actively build knowledge related to Botany. It was found that the two samples showed statistically significant learning after the classes performed, with no differences between the learning levels of the two groups. It was found that most students: have an interest in methodologies involving mobile devices; they thought it was easy to manipulate the applications used in teaching strategies; and claim to have incorporated new knowledge of Botany after the didactic use of “Apps”. An instructional user manual was created containing scripts for didactic approaches developed using applications, this material will be made available in digital format.