JOGOS DIGITAIS NO ENSINO DA MATEMÁTICA: POSSIBILIDADES PARA A APRENDIZAGEM NO ENSINO MÉDIO

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.