A produção científica e o discurso de professores em ciência, tecnologia e sociedade: um estudo na Universidad Pedagógica Experimental Libertador (UPEL) da Venezuela

Abstract

At present, the scope of scientific education has witnessed diverse teaching tendencies. Among them is the STS approach which was selected in this research because of its purpose of developing a differentiated science teaching practice with the need to generate changes in the classroom. The research tries to show a systematic view on the panorama in which the Universidad Pedagógica Experimental Libertador (UPEL) is immersed with respect to the STS line. For the development of the research, initially, a bibliographic survey was made in UPEL magazines in order to obtain evidence of the STS perspective. Besides the review, we interviewed three professors-researchers from this university to know their conceptions about such an approach within the university. We used Laurence Bardin's Content Analysis to conduct a qualitative analysis of the data collected. Some ideas of Paulo Freire and authors of texts on STS served as a theoretical-epistemological reference, helping us to understand the ideas present in scientific productions and in teachers' discourses. In general, the results indicate that: there are few productions published in this area of knowledge in UPEL journals, only 12 out of 2718 documents present on the site. The interviewees showed an adequate knowledge of the STS approach and recognized the importance of this approach in teacher training at UPEL; among other information, the existence of a discipline entitled Education, Science and Technology that was offered at one of UPEL's institutes was identified, so there is a history of STS discipline at the university. For the organization of the analyzes, the following categories were created: Disciplines on / with STS approach, Elements of the STS approach and Pedagogical practice with STS approach, to answer the following guiding questions: How is the development of scientific production on the science, Technology and Society (STS) in journals of the Universidad Pedagógica Experimental Libertador (UPEL)? How are the scientific productions about the Science, Technology and Society (STS) approach present in the journals of the Pedagogical Experimental University of Venezuela? What are the views of some professors of the Universidad Pedagógica Experimental Libertador (UPEL) on Science, Technology and Society (STS) approach to the training of science teachers? The evidence gathered and the data analyzed lead us to infer that UPEL is currently in a good position to develop teacher training with the STS approach and that there are prospects for progress. This is highlighted by the level of appropriation of the area referential in the research findings and by the researchers' arguments in line with the context of teacher education in UPEL.