Implementação de unidades de ensino potencialmente significativas sobre física térmica para alunos do 2º ano do ensino médio

Abstract

Learning difficulties in apprehending concepts of temperature and heat can be regarded as problems faced by teachers in various teaching levels. Even though learning is an activity proper to learners, a teacher can help her⁄his students, to grasp meanings but also learn through her⁄his teaching approach. Thus, teaching should make use of diversified well-planned strategies so that the teaching-learning process is enhanced. The present study has, as its main objective, the development of a classroom didactics strategy that may help a teacher build thermodynamics concepts of heat and temperature with her⁄his learners. It consists in the planning, presentation ⁄production and evaluation of two potentially meaningful teaching units (PMTU). Firstly, learners‟ previous knowledge was assessed; secondly, the specific content was presented on a general basis; thirdly, each topic was developed more specifically so that a progressive differentiation was achieved followed by an integrative reconciliation. PMTUs are didactic sequences couched on several learning theories, mainly Meaningful Learning, which is the main theoretical support of the present study. The project was applied in an 11th grade group in a Senior State High School in the city of Santa Maria/RS. The first PMTU, applied at the end of the second quarter, dealt with the principal concept of temperature, and the second PMTU, applied in the third quarter, had the concept of heat as its focus. The collected data of this research showed that PMTUs can enhance meaningful learning; however, they demand, in their planning and consequent teaching (implementation), not only a thoroughly structured planning but also teaching management on the part of the teacher since activities should be developed according to learners‟ conceptual evolution. Analyses elaborated based on obtained results through employed activities in the two PMTUs showed that meaningful learning was achieved.