Games in chemistry teaching: A study on the presence/absence of teaching and learning theories in the perspective of Gowin's Epistemological V

Abstract

From the first decade of the twenty-first century, it was noticed a significant increase in the quantity of games applied to the teaching of Chemistry, however, there are games without pedagogical objectives. In this sense, a documentary analysis was used in the main periodicals of Chemistry Education/Teaching a heuristic instrument in the perspective of the Gowin’s Epistemological V, which consists of analyzing the structure and process of knowledge construction, in order to identify possible theories of teaching and learning in the game construct. The results indicated the presence of Genetic Epistemology (54,17%) and Cultural Historical Psychology (29,17%), as well as the theoretical-epistemological reference absence (16,66%). However, we identified the need for a deeper understanding of the frameworks used, since most articles explore only some elements of the theories. In this way, the results indicate the imminence of the use of learning theories, not being possible to speak in an epistemology of the game.