Mundo virtual Minecraft: Um contexto de aprendizagens de conceitos geométricos

Abstract

This study proposed a pedagogical intervention, to verify if the digital game Minecraft, in its commercial version, contributes to the advance of the levels of development of the Geometric thought of Van Hiele. The model they created describes a five-level hierarchy that explains the thought processes used in geometric contexts. The study is based on the principles of learning Gee (2010), the construction of Papert (1986, 2001, 2008) and Van Hiele's (1989) Geometric Thought development model. As a methodology, we used a sequence of activities to build the concept of perimeter, area and volume, carried out with the support of Minecraft, which were carried out by the subjects of the research, students of the 9th grade of Elementary School, of a public school. It is a qualitative research that sought to answer the following question: Considering the levels of development of Van Hiele Geometric thinking, how can Minecraft facilitate the advancement of these levels? To do so, the following methods and instruments were used: Game research and analysis, geometric survey, questionnaire application, participant observation and pedagogical intervention with Minecraft. The results obtained lead us to conclude that the Game, in question, can be a fruitful context for learning geometric concepts, because it allows a collaborative work with simulations of daily applications, among other functionalities, and can even contribute for the awareness of the use of technology and digital games as learning resources, especially for teaching mathematics, thus proving our hypothesis that Minecraft favors the understanding of mathematical concepts, including the concept of perimeter, area and volume and elevates the students' Geometric Thought Level.