Percepções sobre Ciências e Pseudociências entre estudantes de licenciaturas em Ciências Naturais

Abstract

This research aims to identify the perception of preservice science teachers about the nature of science and their abilities to assess pseudoscientific claims. This research is classified as quali-quantitative in what regards its nature and exploratory in terms of its objectives. The data were collected through a self-developed questionnaire, with open and closed questions, applied at the end of the 2022 academic year to 173 students from undergraduate courses in Natural Sciences (Biology, Physics, and Chemistry), in the face-to-face modality, from institutions in Brazil. For the data analysis, we will use: content analysis and the construction of a quantitative scale based on success and mistakes. This allowed us to identify the perceptions of these subjects about science and pseudoscience, as well as to compare the answers between first-year and senior students. Our results indicate that the students demonstrated a good understanding of the importance of scientific validation and critical analysis in science, so they had relatively good average scores on this scale. Regarding pseudoscience, there was a variety of perceptions, with some students demonstrating critical understanding and others accepting pseudoscientific claims without questioning. However, the average acceptance of pseudosciences, especially involving objects of study of natural sciences, was concerning. An improvement in scientific literacy was observed over the years, especially among senior students, with consistent advances in Biology and Physics, but mixed results in Chemistry. Thus, it is concluded that, despite the significant increase in the understanding of science in general, during the initial education of teacher of natural sciences, beliefs in pseudoscientific practices persist and, in some cases, are amplified.