Potentially Meaningful Teaching Unit on Geometric Optics supported by videos, apps and games for smartphones

Abstract

The profile of students in the era of digital culture has drastically changed, which shifted the elements that enable their engagement to the adopted teaching methods. However, the need to seek meaningful learning of students in this context, capable of overcoming the mechanical learning that rages through the Brazilian educational system, remains. It is important to articulate elements and procedures of both Digital Information and Communication Technologies and active strategies capable of producing meaningful learning. In this paper, we present a didactic sequence about geometric optics that covers a large part of the content usually presented in high school. Smartphone games, apps and videos are used, modulated by the use of a didactic sequence based on Potentially Meaningful Teaching Units (PMTU), which articulates meaningful learning in the concrete context of the construction of an instructional material. Mechanisms and strategies that can incorporate active methodologies in the context of PMTU are also referenced. The didactic sequence was applied to a group of high school students and the results are presented, along with a reflexive analysis of the application and suggestions for improvement. Overall, PMTU has produced several indications of meaningful learning and it is believed that from the suggestions for improvement, it is capable of engaging students in more episodes of meaningful learning.

Keywords:
DICT; PMTU; Meaningful learning; Geometric optics