Práticas experimentais no ensino de ciências: importância e subsídios nos conteúdos procedimentais de estudantes dos anos finais do ensino fundamental

Abstract

This dissertation, developed within the scope of the Professional Master's Degree in Management and Assessment of Public Education (PPGP), linked to the Center for Public Policies and Assessment of Education of the University of Juiz de Fora (CAEd/UFJF), aims to investigate how experimental practices in the teaching of Science can contribute to the development of procedural content and investigative skills in students in the final years of Elementary School in a state school in Vale do Mucuri, Minas Gerais. In addition, it has the specific objective of understanding the importance of experimental classes for the development of procedural and investigative content of students in the final years of Elementary School. The research is justified by the observation that the results of students from the 6th to 9th grades in the Science curricular component are unsatisfactory, considering the levels of performance in internal and external assessments. In this sense, the evidence from the school's internal and external results indicates a pedagogical lack of experimental classes and the absence of investigative teaching sequences (SEIs), wich limits scientific knowledge and procedural content. Thus, the skills and competencies provided for in the National Common Curricular Base (BNCC) and the Minas Gerais Reference Curriculum (CRMG) are not being consolidated, generating concern about how to strengthen the learning of students from the 6th to 9th grade of Elementary School in the Science curricular component, according to the BNCC skills. The text addresses experimental practices as a perspective in Science teaching, where students can develop skills and construct scientific knowledge. Thus, the school research points out as an example of encouraging experimental practice, the Science Fair held annually and which has shown good results, both in terms of student engagement and in the development of their learning. Given this, the text brings theoretical contributions about the importance of teaching Science for the critical and reflective development of students, emphasizing the need to promote practical classes in the classroom environment and experimental procedures based on inquiry-based teaching sequences. Finally, the field research was organized in semi-structured interviews with the teacher, the school manager, and the specialist. A questionnaire was also applied to students from the 6th to 9th grades of the Elementary School. The mixed approach, combining qualitative and quantitative data, contributes to an in-depth analysis of the effectiveness of experimental classes in promoting learning and in the construction of procedural content, and in the development of investigative skills. Data analysis made it possible to construct the PAE, indicating a subsidy for teachers, the SEIs, in addition to promoting discussion circles with students and the study of the BNCC and CRMG.