Atividades experimentais como ferramenta metodológica para melhoria do ensino de ciências: anos iniciais do ensino fundamental

Abstract

Studies show that the experimental activities based on problem solving improve student performance on the nature of scientific knowledge. In this context, this study evaluated the impact of experimental activities based on scientific method and previous conceptions in the early years of learning concepts and phenomena associated with the fermentation process. The activities were carried out through an experimental course of 20hs, with students of 1st and 2nd year of the Elementary Education of Municipal School Deacon João Luiz Pozzobon in Santa Maria-RS. The research involved 20 students aged 6 and 7 years, overseen by monitors (students and post graduate teachers) who played the role of instigating students to use reasoning and creativity for creating hypotheses and design experiments. Overall, the course emphasized the process of doing science by middle of questioning and search for answers for assembling simple experiments. The evaluation of the results was performed by comparing the interviews responses performed before the course (pretest) and after the course (post-test), post-tests being applied at the end of the experimental course, 6 and 12 months later. The obtained data set show that the activities have facilitated acquisition and construction of new concepts and caused changes in pre-conceptions of the students on the subject, which can be considered more scientifically correct. In addition, we observed that the issue worked through experimental activities was assimilated and memorized by the students in the short and long term. We assume that manipulation, observation and experimentation associated motivation are factors that bring cognitive benefits and facilitate the process of writing and scientific literacy in this school stage.