“Práticas em microbiologia básica-LADMI” - material teórico-prático para o ensino de microbiologia

Abstract

Microbiology is the Biological Sciences’ area of expertise connected to the study of microorganisms. This field rose recently, almost by accident, due to the slow evolution of the optical instruments that allowed the visualization of minute structures. After the discovery of the first microorganism, its golden age began, in which dozens of new species of bacteria and fungi were discovered daily. The relationship between microorganisms and diseases, discovered by Pasteur, was essential for the conception of microbiology as a science as we have nowadays. Its ascension as a discipline permeates all spheres of teaching, in which the professor is fundamental, because his/her pedagogical knowledge is essential in identifying better ways to achieve excellence in the teaching of microbiology. From this point of view, the present paper makes a reading about the pedagogical formation of the professor, on the evolution of the concept of what would be considered a quality class, and the change of the focus of the teaching system, which tends to abandon classical learning, focused in the content, to the active learning, in which the student is the center of the class. Then, the interaction between the significant learning and the teaching of microbiology applied to the target reality of the project, the discipline of Basic Microbiology offered by the Biology Department, is brought. This theory is based on the fact that students must have a repertoire of prior knowledge, the subsumers, which must be accessed to give meaning to the new knowledge. Here enters the present paper, in which the creation of a theoretical-practical didactic material was the found way of providing this initial formation to the student before and during his/her practical class. Its result was the Práticas em Microbiologia Básica-LADMI, a theoretical-practical material that addresses all of the discipline's practices, in which the use of a direct approach, with language adapted to the students' level, as well as the rich detail of allied illustrations to a theoretical foundation of quality were satisfactory for the improvement of the quality of the classes of the discipline.