Playful Parasitology: The game as a facilitator in the learning of parasitic diseases

Abstract

For decades, traditional teaching methodologies contributed to the students' disinterest in learning, mainly in the discipline Sciences, whose frame is compounded by the complexity of the scientific language and numerous concepts. Intestinal parasitic diseases, besides being obligatory curriculum subjects, are a major public health problem, affecting adults and children worldwide. In this work, we developed playful didactic tools to promote significant learning the parasitic diseases to students from the 6th and 7th years of elementary education in a public school in the city of Aracaju city. The obtained data ratified the playfulness as an important strategy for promoting learning content. Besides offering an environment more dynamic and enjoyable, the game provides the student an intrinsic motivation to the learning process.