SIMULATION-BASED TEACHING:

AN ALTERNATIVE TEACHING STRATEGY FOR EXPERIMENTAL CHEMISTRY CLASSES

Abstract

In the COVID-19 pandemic, schools had to be closed, teaching became remote and social isolation was the rule, while a vaccine was developed to be approved and distributed, which lasted throughout the 2020 school year and jeopardized that of 2021. Many methodologies were used to overcome the deficiency caused by the lack of face-to-face classes, but not everyone had Internet access or a computer at home, making an already bad situation even worse. One cannot fail to observe that theoretical classes are easier to be taught online than experimental practical classes, especially when it comes to Chemistry. Thus, our research began with a reading of the main difficulties pointed out by the researchers in articles published in the literature, and a search for a teaching strategy and a methodology that could be carried out outside the school, without the teacher, starting from simple techniques and procedures, with homemade materials and with a motivational context, linked to a profession. From Simulation-Based Teaching, which uses the simulation technique, with the use of simulators, experimental classes were elaborated, which proved to be the ideal alternative. We adapted the touch analysis technique and used red cabbage extract and an aqueous solution of ferric chloride as simulators, together with homemade materials, to simulate real results in chemical practices. The results were classes contextualized by professions and their respective trades, which can be carried out in any situation, remotely, in person or in a hybrid way.