Uso do “jogo dos casos” como recurso didático na compreensão de reações químicas: uma abordagem experimental da gamificação

Abstract

Chemistry education, as a component of the Natural Sciences curriculum area, presents a significant challenge within the Brazilian educational context. lthough the discipline is outlined in the National Common Curricular Base (BNCC) and plays a fundamental role in the students’ critical and scientific development, its teaching is still marked by considerable gaps. These include inadequate school infrastructure, a lack of pedagogical resources, student disengagement, and difficulties in contextualizing content. Furthermore, the abstract and highly symbolic nature of Chemistry can make learning even more complex, especially when there is no effective connection between scientific knowledge and students’ everyday experiences. In this context, it becomes essential to rethink the methodologies adopted in the classroom, seeking alternatives that make teaching more dynamic, accessible, and meaningful. This study was conducted with first-year high school classes from a public state school located in Fortaleza (CE), aiming to investigate not only the effectiveness of an educational game in mediating chemical content but also its impact on student engagement during Chemistry lessons. The implementation of the methodology was carried out successfully, enabling a wide range of classroom discussions that involved the contextualization of examples and experiments. The qualitative analysis of the responses obtained from the post-test indicated that students were able to integrate key concepts related to chemical reactions into their theoretical framework. Moreover, they demonstrated the ability to contextualize the experimentally studied phenomena in real-life situations; several students even referred to their own kitchens as “living laboratories,” acknowledging the close relationship between chemistry and daily life. Statistical analysis of the data collected from both administered questionnaires revealed an extremely low p-value (p ≈ 7.69 × 10−11), indicating that the difference between pre- and post-test results is not due to chance and is statistically significant at the 5% level. In addition, a Hake gain of 0.87 was observed, pointing to a high level of learning as a result of the application of this methodology.