Teaching-Learning and Special Education Active Methodologies

Account of an Experience in Hearing Physiology in Higher Education

Abstract

In recent years, we have seen progress in access and retention policies for young people and adults with special educational needs in Higher Education. To meet the demands of these students, teachers have sought new methodologies and materials that can facilitate the teaching-learning processes. In this context, the use of active methodologies, by placing the student at the center of educational actions and knowledge as the result of a collaboratively constructed process, has proven to be an important strategy for Special Education. The creation of environments and resources, which can be explored by the student, allows interaction, problematization, and reframing of knowledge. Given this, this work aimed to report the development of a tactile resource and its use as an active teaching-learning methodology of hearing physiology. Although more dialogic and interactive learning movements can be developed in classes, physiology teaching has traditionally been based on the exclusive use of audiovisual resources, in which students with visual impairments are not adequately assisted. This resource was made of biscuit, with its main structures involved in auditory transduction included. The use of adapted concrete materials allowed students to explore the content covered, and to mentally represent what was explored. Furthermore, the didactic model allowed interaction between students, the simulation of the functioning of the auditory process under normal conditions, and the problematization of pathological physiological contexts of the system, enabling the active participation of students in the construction of knowledge.