THE TEACHING OF CLASSICAL THERMODYNAMICS: CURRENT TECHNOLOGIES AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES

Abstract

Theoretical knowledge associated with classical thermodynamics is present in the most diverse branches of science and engineering, being extremely important for the understanding of daily phenomena and more complex phenomena. However, it is common to observe high difficulties in the teaching and learning process of this theme, connected, in a lot, to the usage of the traditional teaching methodology and the students’ lack of motivation. In this context, this study aims to map active methodologies and the main educational technologies currently used to make the teaching of classical thermodynamics playful and visual for students. Therefore, we sought to carry out a systematic review of the literature on the Mendeley research platform, in the time frame from 2018 to 2021 and in Portuguese. In addition, a search for free access games, applications and web pages was carried out, on Google play and Google search digital platforms, resulting in five (5) games/applications/electronic sites that were included to compose the similar analysis step of this study. We concluded that there are few reports on the use of active methodologies in the teaching of classical thermodynamics and that they do so in a way that makes it more playful and more visual. In addition, the five games/applications/web pages analyzed showed a non-playful and visual interface, and thus there is a need to develop new, more playful and visual educational technologies aimed at the teaching of classical thermodynamics at the most diverse levels of education, among these the games stand out.