Ensino de ciências por investigação: interações sociais e autonomia moral na construção do conhecimento científico em um clube de ciências

Abstract

This research aims to analyze the social interactions of the students participating in the Prof. Dr. Cristovam W. P. Diniz Science Club in order to identify the principles of their moral autonomy presented during a research activity on the phenomenon of capillarity in plants. The space investigated is considered an alternative environment destined to the teaching, research and extension of didactic actions directed to Sciences and Mathematics of UFPA Castanhal Campus. The theme arose from the researcher’s reflections during her personal and professional experiences that contributed to the constitution of her identity as a science teacher. Thinking about that, a Sequence of Investigative Teaching was planned and applied based on the stages of the investigative experimentation of Carvalho et al (2009), through which we verified the purposes and the pedagogical actions that favored the interactions between the students during the interventions carried out as monitoring teacher in the Science Club. The research was characterized as participatory (FLICK, 2009; RICHARDSON, 2014). The subjects participants were eight students in the sixth grade of elementary school. The following instruments were used to collect data: audio and video recordings, photographs and field notes, with subsequent transcription of the subjects' speeches. For the interpretation of the collected information, we chose to use Bardin's Content Analysis method (2011). During the analysis, we identified that our interventions as monitoring teacher were subjacent to develop the pedagogical purposes and, thus, to organize and conduct the investigative activity in a way that could promote the emergence of interpersonal relationships. We observed in the students' speeches and attitudes the principles of moral autonomy enhanced by the interpersonal relationships that were stimulated by the monitoring teacher’s actions. Then, based on Piaget (1994) and Kohlberg (1992) theoretical framework, it was possible to analyze the students’ moral development during the construction of scientific knowledge. It was evident the intense participation of the students, as well as the cooperation between them. Conflicts have emerged that have helped us to understand decentration and the important role of mediation in collective work. The experience resulted in the elaboration of a product that consists of a pedagogical book and a video that demonstrate the stages of the investigative experimentation and evidences the attitude of the educator to the emergence of the interactions aiming to contribute with the teaching work in the development of practical activities that stimulate the environment research in science classes.