Abstract:
The present study investigated the use of digital games as pedagogical resources to enhance
learning in Mathematics in High School. In different contexts, high school students face
persistent difficulties in learning Mathematics, which generate insecurity, lack of motivation,
and low academic performance. This issue is vigorously discussed in the scientific literature on
the subject and in analyses that propose ways to address the problem, yet there remains a
pressing need to confront it through resources and tools that foster learning particularly digital
games. Thus, this study was developed to investigate the following question: what are the
potentialities of digital games as mediators that contribute pedagogically to Mathematics
learning in High School? The general objective was to analyze the potentialities of digital games
as mediating instruments capable of maximizing mathematical learning in High School,
highlighting their pedagogical contributions. The specific objectives were: (i) to identify how
the scientific literature discusses the relationship between digital games, pedagogical
mediation, and mathematical learning; and (ii) to map and discuss free digital games focused on
High School Mathematics, pointing out their potentialities and limitations for learning. The
theoretical foundation was the historical-cultural theory of Vygotsky (2001; 2007), particularly
the concepts of cultural mediation, tool and sign, and the Zone of Proximal Development. The
study also engaged with the ideas of Leontiev (1983; 2004) and Elkonin (2012), considered
relevant for understanding human activity and adolescent development. To analyze the role of
digital technologies in schooling, highlighting their limitations and possibilities for supporting
learning, the works of authors such as Borba and Villarreal (2005), Peixoto (2016), Vieira Pinto
(2005), and Skovsmose (2000) were employed. Methodologically, the research was conducted
as a literature review and bibliographic study, with critical analysis of books, articles, and
dissertations, in addition to the analysis of digital games. The analytical categories reveal the
existence of different perspectives on the use of technology: the technocentric approach, the
salvationist view, and the critical perspective of mediation. The results indicate that digital
games can serve as important mediating resources if used to foster the development of
mathematical thinking and the student’s motivation to learn mathematics—especially when
teaching practices take into account the learner’s zone of proximal development, concept
formation process, and main human activity as an adolescent. The different digital games
analyzed can support learning and mental calculation as a psychological function, promoting
further development and deepening of Mathematics learning in High School. It was concluded
that games critically understood as mediating instruments grounded in historical-cultural theory
can serve as mediating tools to maximize mathematics learning, contributing to address the
persistent learning difficulties in this subject in High School.