Contribuições de uma sequência de atividades no processo de ensino e aprendizagem de tópicos de gravitação universal na educação básica

Abstract

In the present work, we propose an investigation into the following issue: How to promote the teaching and learning of gravitation topics in basic education in an engaging and efficient manner, with the aim of fostering an education that emphasizes the construction of meaning and the discovery of relationships by high school students? In order to address this question, we hypothesize the implementation of laboratory practices in which students can interact with the experiment and their fellow classmates, including the teacher, who is responsible for encouraging students towards experimentation and group discussions that lead them to construct their own learning. To achieve this, we have developed an educational product (didactic sequence), applied it in a multi-grade class of high school students from a public school in the interior of Paraná, and analyzed the records related to its implementation. This application took place shortly after the return to in-person activities at the school, as the proposal to conduct practical laboratory activities and collectively construct meanings through interaction among the participants became unfeasible during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research aimed to verify the receptiveness and engagement of students during the activities, as well as to seek indications of learning related to the addressed physical concepts. Elements of cognitive theories, such as the concepts of discovery learning and the spiral curriculum proposed by Bruner, assimilation, accommodation, and equilibration proposed by Piaget, and the concepts of the zone of proximal development and the exchange of meanings in social interaction presented in Vygotsky's theory, were essential throughout all stages of the research. Considering the responses provided by students to the questions in the practice guidelines and traditional assessments, as well as the attitudes and behaviors exhibited by students during the implementation of the product—such as attentive looks demonstrating concentrated attention, facial expressions indicating reflection on their ideas and concepts, collaborative work during the practices, questions and ideas shared during discussions demonstrating active student participation, head movements indicating agreement and the redefinition of concepts after exchanges of meanings, smiles and gleams in their eyes displayed during the practices—support the initial hypotheses that the teaching-learning process adopted in this work yielded clear evidence of learning.