Neglected Diseases in Brazilian Biology Textbooks

Felipe do Espirito Santo Silva-Pires^1, , Valéria da Silva Trajano¹ and Tania Cremonini de Araújo-Jorge¹

¹Laboratory of Innovations in Therapy, Education and Bioproducts, Oswaldo Cruz Institute / Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

Cite this paper:
Felipe do Espirito Santo Silva-Pires, Valéria da Silva Trajano and Tania Cremonini de Araújo-Jorge. Neglected Diseases in Brazilian Biology Textbooks. American Journal of Educational Research. 2017; 5(4):438-442. doi: 10.12691/education-5-4-13

Abstract

According to epidemiological and economic relevance, either by direct or indirect cost, six neglected diseases (ND) were elected by the Brazilian government as major research problems: dengue, tuberculosis, leprosy, malaria, leishmaniasis and Chagas disease. These diseases are presented in Brazilian schools basically with the help of textbooks that are evaluated, acquired and distributed freely in public schools by the National Textbook Program (PNLD). Thus, we investigated how these six diseases and their structural concepts were presented in the biology textbooks approved by PNLD 2012/13/14. The six selected diseases were found in almost every collection approved in the PNLD 2012/13/14, exceptions being tuberculosis and leprosy, and we found 30 problems out of 144 insertions. In this sense, we emphasize the need more rigorous evaluation processes in the textbooks so that the content can be understood as potentially significant material.

Keywords:
neglected diseases textbooks meaningful learning structural concepts

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