Aprendizagem significativa de geometria: uma experiência com o uso do GeoGebra em uma escola do campo

Abstract

Mathematics is often perceived by students as an abstract subject that is disconnected from their reality, which contributes to learning difficulties and disinterest. This challenge becomes even more evident in rural education, where school practices do not always relate to students’ daily lives and access to digital technologies is limited. In this context, there was a need to investigate alternatives that bring mathematics closer to students' experiences and promote meaningful learning. Thus, we present this work, in which we list as a general objective to investigate the possible contributions of the use of GeoGebra combined with practical applications experienced by students for the meaningful learning of concepts of volume and capacity in the context of a rural school. The qualitative research was conducted in a rural school located in the municipality of São João do Oeste, Santa Catarina, with the participation of six 8th-grade students. To this end, we developed and applied a didactic sequence in digital book format in GeoGebra, composed of Virtual Learning Objects (OVA) and contextualized activities that address the calculation of the volume of rectangular blocks and cylindrical containers, as well as the understanding of the relationships between units of volume and capacity. Data collection was carried out through responses to two questionnaires, written records, researcher observations, and participants' digital productions, with analysis conducted based on Bardin's Content Analysis. The results indicated that the use of GeoGebra enhanced the visualization, manipulation, and understanding of the concepts studied, favoring the articulation between prior knowledge and new concepts, while contextualized activities, inspired by everyday agricultural practices, increased engagement in the proposed activities and the perception of the relevance of geometry content. However, it was also found that technology alone does not guarantee learning, and that active mediation by the teacher and the adoption of diversified strategies are essential to avoid distraction and demotivation. We conclude that the integration of GeoGebra and contextualized activities favors meaningful learning of geometry in Rural Education and strengthens the link between mathematics and the reality experienced by these students.