O jogo de tabuleiro “Movimento em Ação” na Educação Física escolar

Abstract

School physical education is constantly evolving in response to social changes. Some of these changes stem from political initiatives that guide pedagogical practice, while others are driven by philosophical shifts within the field. Games are an excellent strategy for connecting the playful aspect with the scientific foundations of the discipline. In the school environment, the use of games is common and routine; however, on rainy days or when professionals are faced with small spaces for conducting their classes, board games emerge as a viable and easily applicable alternative. Innovation is a recurring theme in education. With this in mind, systems like “Gamification” gain prominence as a systematic approach to problem-solving, increasing motivation and engagement among specific audiences by using game elements in various contexts. Combining this increasingly common and attractive system, not only for young people but for all age groups, with school physical education, the objective of this study was to create a board game where participants performed physical activities according to the curricular guidelines for the players' age group, validating the board developed in the study, as well as the activities described in its gameplay context. The board featured 21 spaces for player movement, in a “Point-to-Point Movement” style, 4 avatars to represent each player (up to 4 per game), and 36 customized cards with physical activities. The goal of the game was to reach the podium before other competitors. The physical activities were chosen for 7th-grade students, covering the appropriate physical capacities to be developed at this age according to the guiding documents of pedagogical practice. The study was an action research project with an intervention, using a qualitative, cross-sectional approach. In the first phase, 5 physical education teachers specializing in the school setting participated, assisting in the validation process of the activities proposed in the board game. In the second phase, 25 students from 7th-grade classes in the municipal school system of Barra Velha, Santa Catarina (SC), took part. The results indicate that the experience with the game was largely positive and well-received. However, the analysis of the responses suggests there is room for adjustments in some activities to further optimize engagement and effectiveness of the game as an educational tool. It is worth noting that the study aimed to assess student “satisfaction” without any motor or cognitive evaluation during the activities. Adapting game elements based on student feedback may contribute to increasing the pedagogical relevance and impact of the activity in future studies, which we consider essential for improving this educational product, potentially adjusting it for different age groups/school levels, among other modifications.