O cordel no ensino de microbiologia: a cultura popular como ferramenta pedagógica no ensino superior

Teachers act as “mediators” in the teaching-learning process, and they try to develop expertise and skills with new methodologies, where cordel literature which has an alternative language and strong popular appeal is used to promote effective teaching.  This paper aims to describe the process of construction and dramatization in the cordel genre as an educational tool. Between the 2010 and 2012 years, professors  of  Microbiologya discipline of the course in Biological Sciences  at Universidade Estadual do Ceara, Brazil, and their assistants have challenged students to work themes using the cordel form. To do this work, the students were divided into groups, which picked  different themes at random. The creations were prepared adapting technical concepts to rhymes and poetic metres of popular language, helping to bring Pasteur science closer to popular expressions. We conclude that the use of cordel literature in the teaching of microbiology connects the creativity with the inexpensive costs and the popular tradition, providing playful and contextualized learning, thus becoming viable and interesting pedagogical alternative for science and biology professors.