Ensino de ciências e matemática, II: temas sobre a formação de conceitos

Coletânea de textos apresentados no Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação para a Ciência, sediado na Faculdade de Ciências da UNESP, na área de ensino de Ciências e Matemática. O núcleo de pesquisa do Programa concentra-se em estudos sobre a ciência, a educação científica e nas relações entre o saber científico e seu ensino. Assim, incentiva a reflexão sobre os processos envolvidos na construção dos conhecimentos científicos e tecnológicos, além de contribuir para a produção de um corpo de conhecimentos filosóficos, científicos e pedagógicos destinados à formação de professores e outros profissionais da área

Presentation and representation of biological phenomena from a vegetable garden

This paper proposes a methodology for science education based on the triad perceive/associate/experience. The analysis performed relied upon Charles Sanders Peirce’s semiotics framework. The research was develop at elementary school (nine-yar old students) showing that the described methodology enable them the students to percieve, to set up relationships and to experience the natural phenomena, built up from the experienced sequences

Aesthetic dimension about tropical forest in ecology teaching

The research analyzes the aesthetic dimension on teaching about natural environment on Ecology disciplines. The semiotics of Charles Sanders Peirce guided data analysis, regarding to suggested values on the answers of interviewees. The analysis has revealed that, in terms of methodological approaches, Ecology instructors tend to valorize scientific and objective criteria, demonstrating a certain embarrassment on including aesthetic dimension in their teaching, although they recognize the relevance of aesthetic dimension for ethic implications on teaching and for the conservation of natural environment

Conhecimento científico e conhecimento escolar: as dificuldades docentes na transposição didática

A compreensão dos aspectos epitemológicos da produção científica e tecnológica, atreladas a capacidade de compreender as relações existentes entre a Ciência, a Tecnologia e a Sociedade, se apresentam como demandas de uma educação científica que busque a formação de alunos aptos ao exercício pleno de sua cidadania. Nesse sentido, o importante processo de transposição didática do conhecimento científico em conhecimento escolar, inerente à sua prática docente, foi nosso objeto de estudo. Também procuramos elucidar quais as principais adaptações que são feitas em caráter didático e compreender como esse professor enxerga as relações científicas e tecnológicas na sociedade e qual o enfoque dado ao ensino de ciências e biologia nesse sentido. Através de entrevistas com sete professores e, utilizando a metodologia de análise do conteúdo, foi possível verificar que alguns fatores como o interesse do aluno pelo aprendizado e a valorização docente afetam diretamente em sua motivação, além de uma urgente revisão nos objetivos da educação CTS e nos conteúdos apresentados pelo currículo escolar. Esses e outros aspectos devem ser incluídos na formação incial desse professor que deverá ser capaz de promover a transposição de conteúdos, considerados complexos, à realidade e capacidade de compreensão do aluno

Inter-specific relationships in Ecology: from traditional definitions to three-dimensional analysis

O ensino e a aprendizagem tradicional do conhecimento biológico há muito tempo vem sendo criticado na área de ensino de Ciências, por ser muito complexo e não possibilitar a construção de conhecimentos relacionais entre os seres vivos. Nessa perspectiva, o objetivo desse estudo foi investigar como um grupo de acadêmicos analisa uma figura tridimensional que representa as relações ecológicas interespecíficas. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa cuja coleta de dados empíricos foi realizada por meio de discussões em um grupo de pesquisas. Inicialmente foram apresentadas aos acadêmicos, as definições tradicionais das relações ecológicas interespecíficas e, em seguida, um diagrama tridimensional em que essas relações são representadas com várias sobreposições. Os resultados apontam que, a princípio, os acadêmicos tiveram dificuldade no enfrentamento do diagrama proposto, porém, após discussões e análises coletivas de exemplos das interações ecológicas, os estudantes desenvolveram um olhar mais abrangente dessas relações.The traditional teaching and learning of biological knowledge has long been criticized in the area of science teaching, as it is very complex and does not enable the construction of relational knowledge among the living beings. In this perspective, the objective of this study was to investigate how a group of scholars examines a three-dimensional figure representing inter-specific ecological relationships. It is a qualitative research, which empirical data collection was conducted through discussions in a research group. Initially, the traditional definitions of inter-specific ecological relationships were presented to academics, and then a three-dimensional diagram showing these relations were represented with multiple overlays. The results show that, in principle, scholars had difficulty in coping with the diagram, however, after collective discussions and analysis of example ecological relationships, the students development one look plus comprehensive of those relationships.CIEC - Centro de Investigação em Estudos da Criança, UM (UI 317 da FCT

Construction and validation of a questionnaire for the analysis of bioethical conceptions

In this paper we describe the stages of a quantitative questionnaire development that allows the investigation of conceptions about bioethical values inherent to the scientific activity. This questionnaire was statistically and semantically validated and developed according to the Likert scale. The relevance of this instrument is given by the fact that, unlike what happens in European countries, quantitative research in Brazil has little educational traditions. Therefore, this work is intended to subsidize the use of quantitative methods in Education research that lack such tools.CIEC – Research Centre on Child Studies, UM (FCT R&D 317

Brazilian teachers’ conceptions about creationism and evolution

The identification of teachers’ conceptions about evolution is important because it enables understanding, for example, how they cope with issues related to the creationism versus evolution conflict inside the classroom. This work was developed within the framework of the European project BIOHEAD-CITIZEN, which considers that scientific knowledge and teachers’ attitudes and values can influence teaching practices. A questionnaire was designed for 19 countries in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. This current paper extends the BIOHEAD-CITIZEN project to a South American country, Brazil, aiming to assess the evolutionist and creationist conceptions of six groups of in-service and future teachers. The questions on evolution were worked out as dependent variables and multivariate analysis was carried out. The results agree with previous results obtained from 12 other countries, in that in-service and future biology teachers give more importance to natural selection and the evolutionary process than other groups of teachers. Compared with those countries, however, the total Brazilian sample shows a higher percentage of creationist conceptions, particularly for Brazilian biology teachers and future teachers. As discussed herein, this may not be an obstacle to teaching evolution as these teachers accept both creationism and evolutionism concomitantly.Centro de Investigação em Estudos da Criança da Universidade do Minho (CIEC) - UI 317 da Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Creationism and evolution views of brazilian teachers and teachers-to-be

This paper aims at assessing the evolutionist and creationist conceptions of Brazilian teachers. The work was developed within the framework of the European project BIOHEAD-CITIZEN, which takes into account that scientific knowledge and teachers’ attitudes and values can influence the teaching practices. The large questionnaire BIOHEAD-CITIZEN, which was constructed to be applied in 19 countries in Europe, Africa and in Middle East, was applied, in this study, to six groups of Brazilian teachers: Primary school teachers, Biology teachers and Portuguese language teachers and corresponding teachers-to-be. For this paper the answers to questions about evolution were used as dependent variables. Descriptive and multivariate analyses were carried out. Biology teachers and Biology teachers-to-be give more importance to the natural selection and the evolution process than the other groups of teachers. Comparing to the BIOHEAD-CITIZEN countries, the total Brazilian sample showed a higher percentage of creationist conceptions, particularly the Brazilian Biology teachers and teachers-to-be. As discussed herein, this may not be an obstacle for teaching evolution as they accept both creationist and evolutionist concomitantly.CIEC – FCT Research Unit 317