O ensino de energia e o livro didático de física: um olhar através do construtivismo humano

Abstract

This study has the objective of analyzing the approach of the energy content in school textbooks selected by the Federal Government for use in public schools in the Guide National Textbook PNLD 2012, on the light of the theory of Human Constructivism. The methodology used for the accomplishment of this investigation involved literature review on the concepts of Physics Teaching, Textbook, Human Constructivism, Meaningful Learning and Energy. The study of selected textbooks was a descriptive research, in relation to the exhibition energy content of these manuals. A qualitative approach was adopted, from the epistemological foundations of the theory of Human Constructivism and the scientific conception of energy by Duit and Heausller (1994). Thus, we analyzed the books according to these categories: alternative energy concepts (concepts based on common sense, at odds with scientific conceptions), energy misconceptions (for the use of misconceptions as scientific conceptions), four aspects of the energy concept (conservation, transformation, transport and degradation), conceptions of concepts related to energy (like heat, work and entropy) and organization of the presentation. In general, it was observed that the collections of textbooks analyzed had few considerations concerning alternative conceptions of energy in the introduction of chapters. On the other hand, it was found that they expose some misconceptions on scientific concepts. Furthermore, in most collections, we observed that all aspects are discussed characterizing the energy, however, it is fragmented in different volumes. Considering the conceptual hierarchy, it is commonly a brief introduction on the energy content before the approach of mechanical work, although not considering the concept of the physical system to be more general than the energy concept. So, it can be said that the books had failures on the conceptual approach, when referred to Human Constructivism.