Aprendizagem significativa no ensino de química : o caso da experimentação em uma unidade de ensino potencialmente significativa sobre polímeros sintéticos

Abstract

This research was designed with the purpose of planning, practicing and investigating the possibilities of a Potentially Meaningful Teaching Unit (PMTU) as a didactic strategy for Chemistry classes, for mid-level, permeated by experimental activities, aiming the meaningful learning of Synthetic Polymers. The general objective was to investigate, in a learning environment of Chemistry focused on synthetic polymers, the elements that revealed potential for meaningful learning. The research was carried out in May and June 2017, in a private school in a city in the region of Serra Gaúcha, with seven students from the third year of high school. With the main theoretical contribution of M. A. Moreira and L. S. Vygotsky, the research was characterized by the qualitative approach with action research as a procedure. The relevance of this paper was based on proposing differentiated didactic strategies, mediated by experimentation and with tendency for meaningful learning, thus distancing itself from mechanical learning (copying, memorizing, reproducing and forgetting). The data analyzed were the records made by the teacher and researcher in a field diary in all the meetings and the productions from the students. The set of elements raised in the theoretical basis and in the construction of empirical data was dealt through discursive textual analysis, and the metatext resulted was presented in three categories: the collaborative context, the emergence of concepts in formation and a look at the experimentation. The problem attempted to answer - in what way does experimentation, in a chemistry learning environment focused on synthetic polymers, for high school students, contribute to meaningful learning? - promoted as results in this journey, some evidence of predisposition to learn, as well as some evidence of meaningful student learning. Regarding to the teacher personal experience, it inspired some interest in future work, because many possibilities emerge, such as the application of this same didactic strategy (PMTU) in other Chemistry areas, with an emphasis on the increasingly effective students’ participation in the process of knowledge production.