Elaboração de materiais didáticos como estratégia de ensino e aprendizagem na disciplina de Parasitologia da Faculdade de Ciências Médicas da UERJ

Abstract

Health Education encompasses a set of knowledge and practices focused on both health prevention and promotion. It is possible to deliver Health Education by means of ludicity and educational games. The use of technology in education has been highlighted during the Covid-19 pandemic, with appealing and interactive technological innovations aiding the teaching and learning process. Parasitology is a subject often included in undergraduate programs such as Nutrition, Biological sciences, school of Nursing and school of Medicine, besides taking part in post-graduate and extension courses. The present study aims to develop an educational tool to enhance the discipline of parasitology. The project has been approved by Pedro Ernesto Hospital (HUPE) Ethics Committee. In order to assess critical issues regarding the teaching and learning process in Parasitology, a questionnaire was developed, comprised by 26 items focusing on how students perceived Parasitology and the use of educational tools. Biological sciences undergraduate students who were enrolled at the time or had previously taken the course responded the questionnaire online. The total of participants were 40 students (30 undergraduate e 10 who had recently graduated), encompassing 9 men e 31 women, aged 23 years, approximately. “Biological cycle" was deemed to be the most complex theme, and 67,5% of the participants considered that a good and unique educational tool enables content comprehension. Didactic games were chosen as the students favorite. Based on the questionnaire responses and on the bibliographic survey, the following digital games were designed “Parasitological Domino”, “ParasiteQuizz”, "Parasitological Memory” and Protozoan x Helminth”, as well as the microsite “Interactive Parasitology" (https://parasitologiainterativa.pageinfo.co/), where the aforementioned games are hosted. The educational tool herein designed consists of delivering Parasitology in a dynamic and interactive fashion. The topics covered were Photomicrographs analysis, os the main scientific names, evolutionary forms and the biological cycle. Moreover, in this study we conducted an integrative review, searching papers in Portuguese and English, that had been published from 2010 to 2022, aiming to answer the following research question: “How the use of active learning methodologies and didactic games may enable the Parasitology teaching and learning process?”. The studies analyzed (n= 13) reported that panel discussions, educational videos, interactive platforms, flipped classroom and gamification were the most often used active learning strategies by professors who lecture Parasitology globally in undergraduate courses such as Veterinary schools of Medicine, schools of Medicine, Biological sciences, Biomedicine, and Pharmacy schools. These innovative teaching resources regardless of being digital may be employed in different ways to support traditional lecture-based learning formats. Thus, the Interactive Parasitology site and the games designed in this dissertation may contribute as facilitators and enablers in the teaching and learning process, acting as tools to enhance Parasitology classes so that students feel able to interact independently under diverse perspectives.