TATOS: prancha tátil sustentável de aprendizagem para mobilidade de estudantes com deficiência visual do ensino superior

Abstract

This research presents the development and validation of a sustainable tactile board, named TATOS, designed to support the teaching of Orientation and Mobility (O&M) techniques for students with visual impairments in higher education, within the context of the Federal University of Pará (UFPA). The study is justified by the need to promote greater autonomy and safety in the mobility of these students, considering the absence of fixed tactile maps at the institution. The guiding research question was: what teaching-learning strategies can contribute to the development of cognitive mapping in people with visual impairments who use UFPA’s spaces to orient themselves and move around?The objective was to develop a low-cost and sustainable tactile board as an educational resource to support the learning of Orientation and Mobility techniques. The research is characterized as exploratory and applied, with a qualitative approach and a case study design, using the Design Thinking methodology. The educational product developed was the sustainable tactile board TATOS.The application was conducted in three testing stages with students with visual impairments, followed by evaluation and validation through semi-structured interviews and the use of a Likert scale. The results indicated that the resource contributes to orientation and mobility training, facilitating route mapping and the identification of reference points in both indoor and outdoor environments.The TATOS tactile board was validated by the participants in the study: 89% reported that they would use the resource in their daily activities at UFPA as an educational tool for orientation and mobility, while 11% indicated that they might use it. It is concluded that the product shows potential as an accessible, functional, and sustainable pedagogical resource, contributing to the strengthening of inclusive practices in higher education.