Estratégias digitais: evidências, impacto socioeconômico e validação tecnológica para o ensino de histologia

Abstract

Various educational institutions have been embracing digital technologies to support and enhance the practical teaching of histology, allowing students to have more extensive exposure to its content. This thesis aimed to investigate the use and impact of digital technologies on the process of teaching and learning histology. To this end, an integrative review was conducted, with the objective of summarizing scientific evidence regarding the use of information and communication technologies in histology education and discussing its implications. The research was carried out in May 2020, utilizing the databases PubMed, SciELO, LILACS, WOS, and SCOPUS. After inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, 11 articles were identified for in-depth analysis, discussing the use of various technologies, such as digital platforms, mobile applications, virtual microscopy, and video lectures for histology education. Investigate the impact of socioeconomic origin on study habits and access to technology for learning histology by Brazilian and African students and the general educational outcome in

the histology discipline at UNILAB during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was a cross- sectional, descriptive study with a quantitative approach, conducted with nursing, pharmacy,

and biology students at the University of International Integration of Afro-Brazilian Lusophony (UNILAB). Among the 72 participating students, the majority were female, unmarried, and had incomes equal to or below the minimum wage. Smartphones and portable computers were the preferred devices for internet access, and YouTube videos were the preferred resource for studying histology. A significant association was found between internet usage and socioeconomic factors, particularly for lower levels of parental education. When comparing learning outcomes before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, all students who took the course during this period showed significantly higher scores in their assessments. The validation of the content and technique of a virtual atlas for histology education underscored the importance of developing new teaching strategies. A methodological study was conducted from June 2021 to April 2022, involving expert judges in the fields of morphofunctional sciences and information technologies. The study included 22 expert judges, with 11 from the morphofunctional sciences area and the rest from the information technology field. The Content Validity Index (CVI) totals were 0.85 for the subject and 0.91 for the technique of the atlas, respectively. Digital technologies are becoming increasingly common in educational settings. During the pandemic, the use of these technologies allowed students to continue engaging with the study of histology slides using virtual microscopy. Our results suggest that the validated virtual atlas was able to promote histology learning autonomously and independently of the physical laboratory. However, there is still a pressing need to expand the use of these technologies among students in socioeconomically disadvantaged conditions.