Os memes da internet como ferramenta didática para o ensino de ciências: uma análise na perspectiva vygotskyana

Abstract

The meme is a new genre of communication that has become popular in digital media in recent years due to technological development and the advent of the internet and social networks. They are very popular and constantly related to humorous situations, however, the meme is not just an instrument for fun on the internet as most people think. Recent studies have evaluated the potential of its application in the formal teaching and learning process, however, these studies are still scarce and recent, especially with regard to education centers located in the North Region. Mapping and studying the use of memes in the teaching process can provide an understanding of the possible applications of this new genre in the area of education, in addition to spreading its educational potential among teachers and students. The general objective of this study was to analyze the potential of internet memes as a teaching tool, based on the experience reports of Science teachers. The specific ones, in short, were identifying the ways in which memes are used in Science classes; research whether memes are present in textbooks adopted by the public school system in Manaus; collect experience reports from Science teachers regarding the use of memes in their classes and list the skills and competencies that can be explored in the examples of memes collected, based on the specific competencies and skills specific to Science provided for in the National Common Curricular Base (BNCC). This was a qualitative, descriptive and exploratory research, based on the concepts of Lev Vygotsky's Historical-Cultural Theory. The participants were Science teachers in the final years of elementary school at public schools located in the Manaus (AM) region. The study was divided into three phases: (1) Descriptive field survey that aimed to map the occurrence of the use of memes in classes and textbooks; (2) Descriptive Phase in which teachers' experience reports on the use of memes in their classes were collected and some examples were used; (3) Study of the relationship between the collected memes and the skills and competencies of the National Common Curricular Base (BNCC), with analysis using Bardin's Content Analysis methodology (1977). Data collection was done through two online Google Forms questionnaires that could be accessed by participants by sharing the link via social media, instant messaging applications and email. The data collected was analyzed by direct interpretation of the results of the field survey and in a comparative way to the teachers' experience reports. It was possible to notice that memes are already being used as a teaching tool in teaching science in some public schools in Manaus, even if still infrequently and in different forms of application. Finally, the majority of Science teachers recognized that the meme has educational potential for teaching, if applied in classes in a contextualized and planned way, otherwise it could represent a disadvantage for the development of the class.