As Coleções Zoológicas no Ensino de Ciências e Biologia: Análise das pesquisas publicadas nos Anais do Encontro Nacional de Ensino de Biologia - Enebio (Período 2014 - 2021)

Abstract

Zoological Collections (ZC) house preserved animal specimens and can be used for scientific and educational purposes. Considering the challenges related to the lack of teaching materials, infrastructure, and practical lessons in Zoology teaching, the use of collections presents itself as an alternative to address these issues. However, there are obstacles to accessing this educational resource, highlighting the urgent need for research on its pedagogical use and potential. In this regard, the general objective of this work was to analyze the contributions of using Zoological Collections in Science and Biology Teaching based on research published in the proceedings of the Encontro Nacional de Ensino de Biologia (Enebio) from 2014 to 2021. The research consists of a bibliographic review with a qualitative approach and is based on categorical content analysis. The results indicated that the actions utilizing this resource are concentrated in southeastern Brazil (52,50%). Regarding areas, education levels, and modalities, there was a highlight on Non-Formal Education, especially in museums and universities, with a predominantly elementary school audience. The educational research analyzed primarily addressed the thematic areas of Biodiversity (28,57%) and Biology (22,45%). Concerning methodological approaches, 90.91% of the expanded abstracts did not specify the methodology adopted. Additionally, it was found that the vertebrate group was the most frequent in three of the four analyzed Enebio editions (47,46%), and arthropod invertebrates were the subgroup with the highest frequency (18,08%). As for the type of use of the ZC, the predominance of demonstrative use (43,21%) was observed. We highlight that this classification according to the type of use (Demonstration, Exhibition, and Handling) is extremely important for understanding how Science and Biology teaching occurs through the use of this resource, since the traditional distinction between collection types (scientific and educational) is not sufficient to elucidate the complexity of their uses. Thus, it is conceived that these collections play an essential role in teaching, with broad educational potential yet to be explored. However, for this potential to be fully developed, investments in infrastructure and teacher training are essential to enable the use of ZC in pedagogical practice.