O Ensino de cinemática contextualizado com o trânsito na perspectiva da aprendizagem significativa

Abstract

Throughout the years, High School teachers have identified difficulties in the tuition of Physics, especially in Kinematics. The way it is presented to students is based on a simple usage of formulas, resulting in a mechanical and meaningless learning process. Both students and teachers present difficulties in illustrating this Physics knowledge and applying it correctly. This paper was written with the aim to present a pedagogical possibility to the tuition of Physics in High School, with focus on Kinematics: the teaching of Physics by using traffic as a contextualization resource for a significant education based on the theoretical hypotheses of Ausubel. This research was performed from March to May 2018. It is characterized as descriptive, bibliographic and experimental, with field study of quantitative and qualitative approach. The chosen methodology may be subdivided into two stages: data collection and intervention. The pedagogical possibility is an educational material entitled Kinematics City (Cidade da Cinemática – KCC) that is combined with a teaching unit. All teaching material is provided in a website with the same name of the project. Kinematics City is a fictional city, a digital scale model that presents an itinerant structure. It has an interactive and educational site, in which students learn Physics meanwhile they acquire basic notions of respect for traffic law. In this city, students may reproduce car and motorcycle rides in a track that simulates the routes, crossroads, traffic lights, crosswalks and other common elements present in real streets and avenues. The concepts of Kinematics and the student’s role in traffic as a citizen are both taught through the usage of Problem-based Learning (PBL). This contributes to road safety education for students either as pedestrians, cyclists or as future car drivers. The tuition of Kinematics should establish a connection between qualitative and quantitative education. This should occur because students that understand the theoretical concept will not have many difficulties in calculations. Therefore, this provides meaningful leaning.