In this article we have used a CD-ROM, which offers the student a multimedia key to identify 22 species of arthropods. We evaluate this key multimedia tool for teaching in classes of elementary school (seventh, eighth and ninth years ) at a private school in the city of Parnamirim in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. The evaluation was divided into two stages: assessment by questionnaire after contact with key media; and a comparison with the marks obtained in the test of students who had and not had contact with the multimedia tool. In all, 89 students participated in both stages of evaluation. We find, overall, a positive evaluation and a significantly higher performance of students in the test who interacted with the multimedia.
Educational technology; Arthropods; Taxonomy; Biology teaching
