Mostra brasileira de foguetes e o uso de mapas mentais como ferramenta avaliativa : estudo sobre o ensino de física em cursos integrados do IFMT – Campus de Alta Floresta

Abstract

This work is placed within the problem of the scientific initiation in Physics in basic education. At such formative stage, schools should take advantage of students’ curiosity and creativity in order to develop in them a liking for this area of knowledge and present it as one of the ways of explaining natural phenomena. However, most frequently, teaching has, on the contrary, generated aversion or indifference to the content of this subject, favoring a repetitive learning. This research has as its general objective to investigate the use of mental maps as a teaching tool in Physics teaching to high school students, participants of the “Mostra Brasileira de Foguetes” (MOBFOG) [Brazilian Rocket Show] at the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Mato Grosso (IFMT), Alta Floresta campus. MOBFOG is a school olympiad that aims at arousing interest in experimentation and enticing the fascination for the outer space. The research was carried out with 147 students of the first year of high school integrated to the technical courses of Administration and of Agriculture of the mentioned institute. These students were divided into 53 groups, that experienced different activities, such as workshops, production and presentation of mind maps, rocket launches in the context of the Show and the study of Physics contents (Newton’s laws of motion and projectile montion). The teaching was carried out according to the conception proposed by the didactic strategy of the Potentially Significant Teaching Units. The thesis supported in this work is that mind maps can be used as a didactic tool for meaningful learning both in the identification of subsumes and in the process of evaluating of Physics contents, favoring the establishment of a relationship between the theoretical content and the experimental practice. The research was based on Ausubel’s Significant Learning theory, Bruner’s Cultural Psychology and on some guiding principles of Moreira’s Critical Significant Learning. The data analysis showed that MOBFOG was able to arouse students’ interest in learning Physics, keeping them active during the learning process, and that mind maps functioned as a diagnostic and evaluative tool, helping the teacher in the task of teaching the student to accomplish a meaningful learning.