Utilizando jogos clássicos adaptados como recurso docente no ensino de genética

Abstract

There is a great difficulty in the teaching-learning process of the content of genetics, both in elucidating the concepts by the teachers, where several reasons are evidenced, as well as in the understanding of these by the students, as it requires a high level of abstraction, lack of context and meaning in the daily. As an alternative of intervention as a facilitating tool for the apprehension of themes related to genetics, four games were developed based on classic games (dominoes, memory game, pick-up sticks, battle ships and uno). Three of the games were previously developed by the teacher (Dominetics, Pega-alleles and Chromosome battle) and one by the students (Trinca) through an investigative teaching approach, thusen encouraging the student protagonism stimulated by the new teaching trends, which are applied in the scope of planning didactic sequences. The Dominetics game is a dominoes game adapted with the aim of developing the themes of nucleotide base pairing, transcription and translation, as well as concepts such as mutation, SNP (single base polymorphism) and restriction enzyme. The game Pega-alleles wich is na adaptation wich integrates the classic pick-up sticks game and memory game, consists of developing themes such human karyotype, phenotype, genotype, gene locus, alleles, genes, dominance, recessivity and spatial configuration of proteins. The third game, Chromosomes battle, intends to develop in the student the notion of chromosomal ensemble and chromosomal morphology, associating it with types of cell division and those with genetic disease. The game Trinca, developed by the students, was based on the game uno, where they proposed to work in the development of the concept of DNA replication, transcription and translation. The research took place in a public school in the state of Rio de Janeiro, located in the municipality of São Gonçalo with 41 students from the 3rd year of high school. 18 teachers from the public and private schools also participated in the research. All participants, students and teachers, answered a questionnaire with semi-structured questions to assess the feasibility of the games in relation to their potential as a teaching tool. The results obtained indicated that didactic games facilitate the learning of genetics, even if they present some limitations in conceptual terms related to the analogies that infer and open paths for the adoption and research of active methodologies in the teaching of genetics.