Estratégia interdisciplinar para o ensino de microbiologia no ensino médio

Abstract

One of the greatest challenges for teachers is to raise students' awareness of the importance of topics addressed in the classroom and encourage them to understand the world around them, being critical and participatory. Microbiology is the branch of biology that studies microscopic organisms such as bacteria, fungi and viruses, as well as the benefits and losses resulting from their interactions with others living beings and the environment. One of the difficulties in learning about microorganisms is the apparent lack of connection between this “microscopic world” and the students' daily lives. In addition, the fact that microorganisms cannot be seen with the naked eye requires a certain level of abstraction sometimes causing a lack of interest in the classes. The use of interdisciplinary teaching strategies represents a way to motivate students and facilitate the acquisition of knowledge. With the interaction between several disciplines, a subject that was originally studied from a single perspective can be understood in a contextualized way and analyzed from the perspective of the different fields of knowledge. In order to contribute to the development of strategies that facilitate the teachinglearning process about microorganisms, it was proposed the realization of a Thematic Exhibition, focusing on interdisciplinarity and investigative teaching. The strategy was applied with the participation of teachers from a public high school and evaluated through the analysis of responses to two questionnaires. The project involved the participation of 13 teachers from 11 disciplines. The teachers were actively involved in the project and contributed ideas for the application of the proposed strategy. Through the analysis of the questionnaires, it was observed that the teachers showed to have a good understanding about the concept of interdisciplinarity. The strategy was positively evaluated by the teachers, who showed that it enabled students to make connections between different areas of knowledge and that, through their research, they were able to extrapolate their views beyond the didactic content. With autonomy and cooperation, the students understood, in a more pleasant way, how important microorganisms are and how they are involved in various aspects of our daily lives and society. The Thematic Exhibition proved to be an excellent strategy to facilitate the acquisition of knowledge about microbiology and the dissemination of scientific information, affecting not only teachers and students of the educational institution where it was developed, but also students and teachers from other public schools in the region.