REPRESENTATIVE DRAWING AS A DIDACTIC STRATEGY FOR TEACHING ABOUT CITRUS PESTS AND DISEASES: A CASE STUDY

Abstract

In an increasingly digital educational context, some student groups show reduced interest in exclusively digital materials and difficulties with sustained attention, which may hinder learning of technical content. This case study assessed the use of representative drawing as a teaching strategy for citrus pests and diseases in the course unit Perennial Crops, delivered to two classes of the 2nd year of a Technical High School Program in Agriculture at the Federal Institute of Mato Grosso (IFMT), Barra do Garças campus. Fifty-seven students participated. After a lecture supported by reference images, students produced nine A4 drawings representing symptoms and key features of three pests (fruit flies, coleoborer and scale insects) and six diseases (gummosis, citrus canker, citrus variegated chlorosis, huanglongbing, citrus sudden death and black spot). One week later, a closed-book learning assessment was administered. Seventy-two percent of the students achieved a satisfactory performance, indicating recall of the main symptoms covered. The findings suggest that well-planned manual activities aligned with learning goals may support visual encoding and conceptual elaboration, improving engagement and achievement in plant health topics in technical education.