Abstract:

The discipline of Biochemistry of Food aims to improve the understanding of the biochemical processes involved in the processing and chemical/physical deterioration of food, serving as a basis for environmentally correct management, that is, the processing, hygiene, quality control of foodstuffs and distribution. It has an extensive and comprehensive menu that brings a certain degree of learning difficulty to the programmed time of the Course and, therefore, requires the use of interactive and educational tools in order to awaken enjoyable and technical triggers under the curious and participative eyes of the students, aiming, above all, the fixation of the contents in a fun and effective way. Therefore, the gamification process may become, in this new search for alternative pedagogical contexts, the key point to assist in the teaching-learning process, and in the cognitive development of students, which will directly and effectively impact on the reduction of failure and dropout rates. In this sense, the methodology used was the development and application of activities linked to bonus points for the composition of partial grades, in order to maintain student engagement in terms of punctuality and constant review of the content taught.

The procedure was:
(i) the “Quick Thinking” test, which consists of questions referring to the topics covered, applied at the beginning of each class, requiring short and direct answers; (ii) traditional quiz of questions and answers, and
(iii) betting game "Choose Poker", semi-structured and modified for questions on the subjects taught, which are played collectively. Alternatively, the humanitarian crisis imposed by the Covid 19 pandemic, didactic tools such as gamification has been through adaptations, via technology, which gained an online interface, a prominent role in the process.

Classes, reviews and games of “Quiz” and “Choose Poker” migrated to the Google Meet Academic platform, keeping its duration structure and interaction similar to face-to-face. The “Quick Thinking” test used the kahoot.com tool, which allows the individualization and timing of responses while preserving the spirit of the original game. Extending and corroborating this new teaching-learning aegis, the use of the Whatsapp tool, interconnected in the daily life of young people, was extremely important and a booster to facilitate communication between all participants, being a fundamental vehicle for the creation of bonds and interactivity in this period of social distance. The results of the pedagogical adaptations showed that, even with the difficulties found in the isolation environment, the dynamics of the virtual universe motivated the students, broke the monotony of online classes (which were sometimes merely content exposure by the teacher), and resulted in less evasion, fewer failures and an average increase in the grades achieved by the classes of this alternative didactic-pedagogical methodology.

Keywords:

Interactive technology, Gamification, Social isolation.