Uma proposta para o letramento matemático através do aplicativo App Inventor com vistas à aprendizagem significativa

Abstract

The study investigated the impact of creating mathematical applications using the MIT App Inventor platform, both on student learning and on teachers' pedagogical practice. The research was divided into two stages: the first involved the construction of applications by the students themselves aiming at the application of mathematical concepts in a playful and interactive way and were used as prototyping for the next stage. The second consisted of the construction and consolidation of Educational Products: The Continuing Education Course called ‘The Art of Building Mathematical Applications with App Inventor’, consisting of five online workshops, aimed at training mathematics teachers, allowing them to develop their own applications in order to improve their technology skills and promote innovation in their classes; and an Interactive Manual, intended for teachers taking the course, divided into five modules with tutorials containing videos, which serve as support for the Teacher. In addition to the course and the Interactive Manual, an artifact was created, more specifically an Activity Book, entitled “Mathematicizing with Apps: “The Art of Digital Construction”, the result of the production of the students. The Educational Products resulting from the research were applied from the initial prototyping phase and evaluated/validated by the Mathematics Teachers who took the course and had access to the Interactive Manual. The methodology adopted was Action Research, with the researcher acting as a teacher of the classes investigated. This experience provided an opportunity for participant and in-depth observation. Data were collected through online questionnaires for both students and teachers participating in the course, using Bardin and Likert scales to categorize and analyze the results. The study demonstrated that creating applications provided students with more meaningful learning, in addition to developing skills such as problem-solving, computational thinking, and teamwork. The results of the analysis and interpretation of data confirm that both the Continuing Education Course and the Interactive Manual, by promoting the construction of mathematical applications, not only achieved their objectives, but also opened new perspectives for pedagogical practice. This focus shows that differentiated approaches can have a positive and significant impact on the teaching-learning process. In this way, it was possible to demonstrate that the use of MIT App Inventor as a tool for teaching mathematics has great potential for improving the quality of teaching and learning, both in the classroom and in teacher training. It is hoped that the study has contributed to the renewal of teaching methodologies, making mathematics classes more dynamic and attractive, improving the quality of teaching and learning, for students and teachers.