Eduardo Fleury Mortimer

Constructing Scientific Knowledge in the Classroom

The view that knowledge cannot be transmitted but must be constructed by the mental activity of learners underpins contemporary perspectives on science education. This article, which presents a theoretical perspective on teaching and learning science in the social setting of classrooms, is informed by a view of scientific knowledge as socially constructed and by a perspective on the learning of science as knowledge construction involving both individual and social processes. First, we present an overview of the nature of scientific knowledge. We then describe two major traditions in explaining the process of learning science: personal and social constructivism. Finally, we illustrate how both personal and social perspectives on learning, as well as perspectives on the nature of the scientific knowledge to be learned, are necessary in interpreting science learning in formal settings.

Conceptual Change or Conceptual Profile Change

In this paper I draw an overview of a new model to analyse conceptual evolution in the classroom, based on the notion of Conceptual Profile. This model differs from conceptual change models in suggesting that it is possible to use different ways of thinking in different domains and that a new concept does not necessarily replace previous and alternative ideas. According to this model, learning science is to change a conceptual profile and become conscious of the different zones of the profile, which includes commonsense and scientific ideas.To exemplify how the Conceptual Profile notion can help to understand the evolution of conceptions in the classroom I shall determine the different zones that constitute the epistemological and ontological profile of the concepts of the atom and of physical states of matter.

Uma análise de pressupostos teóricos da abordagem C-T-S (Ciência - Tecnologia - Sociedade) no contexto da educação brasileira

Desde a decada de sessenta, curriculos de ensino de ciencias com enfase em CTS – ciencia, tecnologia e sociedade – vem sendo desenvolvidos no mundo inteiro. Tais curriculos apresentam como objetivo central preparar os alunos para o exercicio da cidadania e caracterizam-se por uma abordagem dos conteudos cientificos no seu contexto social. No presente artigo, discutimos criticamente os pressupostos desses curriculos, de modo a fornecer subsidios para a elaboracao de novos modelos curriculares na area de Ciencias da Natureza e suas Tecnologias os quais possam contemplar a finalidade da educacao basica em preparar o aluno para o exercicio consciente da cidadania.

Multivoicedness and univocality in classroom discourse: an example from theory of matter

The analyses of talk amongst students in three episodes, video recorded from a teaching sequence on the particle model for Brazilian students (age 14‐15) is presented. The analysis has two dimensions: the discoursive dimension is an attempt to understand how meanings are constructed in the classroom as a result of discoursive interactions; the conceptual dimension comprises the description of the patterns of evolution of ideas of matter based on the notion of a conceptual profile of matter, in which conceptual and historical features of the atom concept are profiled with pupils’ and adolescents’ ideas on atomism. From the students talk we can hear the interaction among different ‘voices’, representing different zones of a conceptual profile of matter. In this interaction, the students resort to both ‘authoritative’ and ‘internally persuasive’ discourses. The analysis emphasizes the role of these two types of discourse and of epistemological and ontological obstacles in the construction of scientific meani...

Tomada de decisão para ação social responsável no ensino de ciências

The main goal of the STS curriculum is to provide scientific and technological literacy for students so they can act as citizens and participate on decision making on the perspective of social responsibility. This paper discusses this educational goal and provides a review of the literature about its implications for science education. It also reflects on the National High School Curriculum related to the same objectives.

Pedagogical link‐making: a fundamental aspect of teaching and learning scientific conceptual knowledge

This paper provides an introduction to the concept of pedagogical link‐making in the context of teaching and learning scientific conceptual knowledge. Pedagogical link‐making is concerned with the ways in which teachers and students make connections between ideas in the ongoing meaning‐making interactions of classroom teaching and learning. First of all we draw upon socio‐cultural perspectives to outline why we think that ‘link‐making’ is fundamental to science learning and consequently to science teaching and then we identify three main forms of pedagogical link‐making. The related research literature is then used to specify pedagogical link‐making approaches associated with each of the three main forms. Finally, the resultant framework of link‐making forms and approaches is applied in analysing a teaching sequence taken from a UK secondary school science classroom. Part of this analysis involves identifying specific pedagogical tools/strategies that might be employed in the classroom to support link‐making.

A proposta curricular de química do Estado de Minas Gerais: fundamentos e pressupostos

This article presents the basic ideas that oriented the elaboration of the new Chemistry Curriculum for the High Schools in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The main features of traditional Brazilian Chemistry Curriculum are critically discussed, namely, the excessive number of concepts, the overemphasis in procedures and rituals instead of chemical principles and the lack of relationship between the concepts and the social, technological and environmental contexts. Trying to overcome these features, the proposed curriculum deals with a fewer number of concepts, clearly related in a conceptual structure, opening space to a balanced emphasis on phenomena, theory and representation, and on conceptual and contextual aspects of chemical knowledge.

How emotions shape the relationship between a chemistry teacher and her high school students

In this article we analyse the interaction between a high school chemistry teacher and her students from two different classes, emphasizing how emotions, affects and feelings contributed to, or obstructed, the dynamic of interactions. The data come from an ethnographic research approach and include videotapes of the lessons, interviews and field notes. Using the distinction introduced by Damasio between primary and secondary emotions, and between emotions and feelings, we describe how the background feelings emerged in different ways in the two classrooms. In class B, the relationships were constructed in a friendly way from the very beginning. The positive emotions that contributed to raising positive background feelings occurred in a high number and frequency. In class A, the picture was completely different, with a higher number and frequency of negative emotions. Thus, emotions and background feelings that were constructed differently in each classroom were at the heart of the different outcomes in terms of attitudes towards chemistry that arose in the two classrooms. In the paper, we also discuss the implication of this kind of analysis for science teaching generally.

Dialogic/Authoritative Discourse and Modelling in a High School Teaching Sequence on Optics

In this paper we aim to establish a link between two theoretical frames: modelling and its use in the design and analysis of scientific teaching sequences, and the communicative approaches as they alternate in classroom activities. In this case study, we follow the interactions between the teacher and a pair of students during an entire teaching sequence in Optics (grade 11). We focus on the way the teacher managed the dialogicity and the modelling processes in the classroom discourse. A qualitative analysis shows some difficulties in such an achievement, and their consequences on students’ meaning making.

Rhetoric and Science Education

The work described in this paper draws from a theoretical perspective that sees rhetoric, argument and discourse as an important feature of science teachers’ practice and the learning of science. It aims to contribute to an on-going debate about a wide range of issues such as: challenges to current conceptions of practical activity in teaching; analyses of the role of metaphors in the conceptualisation of science entities; and discussions of the contribution of argumentative practices in the construction of knowledge. It draws from studies in the field of semiotics and the rhetoric of science to analyse strategies of argumentation in science communication and to consider the social process of validating scientific knowledge and the construction of scientific “authority” in the classroom, offering fresh insights on the practice of science teaching and learning.