Dissertação mest., Biologia e Geologia, Universidade do Algarve, 2007It is the aim of this study to know the perceptions of a group of teachers of the ?3? Ciclo
do Ensino B?sico? about the contribution of practical activities in Science for the pedagogic and
didactic innovation in teaching this discipline.
In order to do so, a group of teachers of those school levels was interviewed. The
interview, applied individually to the six subjects who make up the sample, was a semi-
structured one. The collected data were the object of a qualitative analysis and the results show
that this group of teachers validates the official curriculum of Physical and Natural Sciences for
those levels of education, especially in what concerns the compulsory implementation of
practical scientific activities, suggesting implementation through scenarios favouring mainly
cooperative and constructivist working methods, but also recognizing the importance of the more
interactive forms of the delivery mode of teaching .
Simultaneously, the subjects recognise the importance of scientific activities as a valuable
practice for the process of teaching and learning, not only because of their intrinsic qualities, but
also because they give the students the possibility of learning how to learn, of thinking
scientifically and developing important attitudes and competences, stimulating students and
teacher to become more autonomous and more motivated for practicing action-research.
The study also reveals the subjects? perceptions about some of the aspects they think can
make the implementation of scientific activities in class easier or more difficult. In the first group
of factors, the very nature of science and the scientific attitude of the teacher stand out; the latter
factors consist, mainly, of the length of curricula, the poor logistics and the reality of classes at
our schools.
Finally, there is a discussion of the conclusions of this study, where innovative aspects
found in the practice of scientific activities, and consequences of their application, are analysed.
The real classroom situation, according to the teachers? perception, is confronted with the ideal
situation. Finally, a reflection is made on the meaning of the present study, as well as some
suggestions for further investigation
