O Jogo de Realidade Alternada Curto (Short ARG) na Temática Café na Educação Básica

Resumo

Educational games offer relevant strategies for increasing engagement and promoting meaningful learning in Chemistry, especially when linked to everyday themes. This paper presents the development and application of a Short Alternate Reality Game (Short ARG) in a themed café setting, conducted with a second-year high school class from a public school in Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. The proposal aimed to promote a collaborative discussion of chemical concepts through an enigmatic narrative, structured with a beginning, middle, and end, integrating elements of the real and digital worlds, placing students in the role of players. The activity was developed in groups, seven in total, in both in-person and remote formats, over 12 days, involving eight challenges linked to the game’s narrative. The choice of café setting is justified by its presence in the students’ daily lives and by allowing the approach of chemical content, such as solutions, organic functions, separation of mixtures, and the effects of coffees substances on the body. The qualitative analysis was based on the categories of immersive play function and formative educational function. The results indicate that the Short ARG proved to be a potentially effective resource in teaching Chemistry, promoting collaborative learning, engagement, motivation, and greater meaning to the educational process.