Challenges and possibilities of digital games in mathematics teaching: a situational overview of recent years in Brazil

Abstract

This paper is an extended version of the literature review already presented by the authors in SBGAMES 2023 and had as objective to investigate the possibilities and challenges that researchers face during the use of digital games in mathematics teaching in Brazilian basic education. The digital games, whether in Smartphone or Personal Computer, are example of activates that are part of the students’ life, and for being immersed in this universe they can have difficulties in the classroom, that’s why some teachers and researchers have tried to use the digital games in the classroom to make the classroom more comfortable for the students who are already immersed in the world of Information and Communication Technologies. The research object, the research string, the time, and the platforms on which the research would be conducted were defined. 129 studies were found, and after three steps of reading, six of them were selected for the data analysis. It was noticed that the students liked the activities conducted, because the game brought context to the concepts and turned possible that they could have a more open dialogue between them and with the teacher to take questions or explain the logics used to reach a certain result. It was also noted that they had challenges, but these were overcome with adaptations in the activities.