Abstract:

Introduction:
Conventional teaching approaches have not yielded satisfactory results with respect to health education, and such paradigm calls for reform in Brazil. Curriculum-based guidelines designed for health-related courses highlight this shift towards learner-based learning. However, the implementation of such change in undergraduate courses is still incipient, and it reflects on health education activities. Oral health as well as basic education are still critical.

Aim:
To describe an educational activity in order to develop students’ knowledge on oral health by means of problem-based learning.

Methods:
An action-research descriptive study undertaken with 12-year-old students from a public school from Central Brazil registered in the Health at School program. The educational activity was based on the Problematization Methodology using Maguerez Arch (COLOMBO, BERBEL, 2007), in five stages: observation of reality, key points, theorization, solution hypothesis and application to reality. Playful strategies were applied over five 50-minute meetings. Data was gathered by means of a questionnaire and field journaling with the account of the activities developed and carried out by the students. Data analysis was undertaken continually and simultaneously to data gathering, which fed the re-planning of the Maguerez Arch stages. The data thematic analysis was performed (MINAYO, 2004). The study was ethically compliant with the Brazilian legislation.

Results:
74 students actively participated in the 05 stages of the Arch, and knowledge on oral health was built over each of them.
The results were encoded which enabled to systematize two core themes:
1) Action towards knowledge – occurred over the reality problematization stage, and enabled the students to identify their needs and elaborate everyday questions that aided the organization of the learning process.
2) From knowledge building to autonomous action – the problem-based questions created the opportunity to lead to reflections which provided the students with the necessary autonomy for action.

By being challenged to make associations, draw conclusions and present explanations, students built their own knowledge in an independent way. This led to a greater ability to brush teeth, an increase in daily tooth brushing, flossing, and a decrease in dental plaque.

Conclusion:
The educational activity based on an active methodology was an experience into students’ oral hygiene habits, which enabled the researchers and participants to build crucial knowledge. Students had an active role in the learning process, in a contextualized way, which contributed to their autonomy towards oral health as well as the development of new ways of teaching and perceiving oral health issues on the part of the researchers.

References:
[1] COLOMBO, A. A.; BERBEL, N. A. N. A Metodologia da Problematização com o Arco de Maguerez e sua relação com os saberes de professores. Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Londrina, v. 28, n. 2, p. 121-146. 2007.
[2] MINAYO, M. C. S. O desafio do conhecimento: pesquisa qualitativa em saúde. 8. ed. São Paulo: Hucitec, 2004.

Keywords:

Problem-Based Learning, Oral Health, Preventive Dentistry, Innovation.