The Mancala game in mathematics teaching for youth and adult education

Abstract

This work is an experience report with the African-based game Mancala, built by two scholarship holders from the Institutional Teaching Scholarship Program (PIBID), who are students of the mathematics degree course at the Federal Institute of Paraíba - Cajazeiras Campus. The objective of applying the game was to strengthen a set of strategies and techniques that aim to develop logical reasoning, counting, decision making, cooperation and interaction between players. This game was chosen because it can also be used as a teaching resource to address topics such as Africanity, culture, history and mathematics. The game was implemented in a public school in the city of Cajazeiras, located in the interior of Paraíba, for a class of 10 students from Cycle III and IV of Youth and Adult Education (EJA), being divided into three stages, in which, The first consisted of building the game, the second explaining the rules of the game to the students and the third was holding a championship. Initially the participants had difficulty understanding the rules of the game, however, soon after playing the first round, they managed to understand them. This game provided a satisfying experience, where students were committed to learning. The applied game provided discussions about Africanity and mainly mathematical content in the classroom, and was fundamental for stimulating group cooperation and facilitating the exchange of knowledge between students and teachers.