Avaliação de jogos digitais como ferramenta no aprendizado de ecologia

Abstract

A game is a system in which players engage in an abstract challenge, defined by rules, interactivity, and feedback, that results in a quantifiable outcome, often provoking an emotional reaction. Digital games are games available on digital platforms such as computers, cell phones and video games, and have been part of world culture for many years, and can bring several cognitive benefits. The use of digital games in biology teaching has been increasingly studied, and positive results have already been demonstrated, and more specifically, in the area of ecology the results are also positive. The goal of this study was to carry out a bibliometric evaluation of the literature indexed in the Web Of Science platform on digital games in the teaching of ecology, as well as to carry out an evaluation of digital games available on this subject that can be applied in the classroom, especially in higher education. The bibliometric analysis was carried out from searches of the literature indexed on the Web of Science platform about digital games in ecology teaching. A survey of digital games involving Ecology was also carried out on different platforms (Google, Google Play Store, Steam), the games then underwent an evaluation of their potential for learning ecology in higher education, taking into account some aspects: Theme , gameplay, form of access and educational or non-educational main purpose. Through bibliometric analysis, it was observed an increase in the number of publications over the years, that most of the works were concentrated in journals and events and of origin in the United States, and that most were focused on conservation and the environment.When evaluating the digital games, a significant portion presented environmental and conservation issues as a theme, but several games with other themes related to ecology were also found. From this study it was possible to perceive that there is currently a large increase in production on the use of games in ecology teaching. As it was found that there are several games that can potentially be used for teaching ecology to higher education students, including as a form of indirect learning, in the case of games with no initial educational purpose.