O uso do hipertexto na aprendizagem de calculo em um ambiente virtual

Abstract

This research aims to understand and to describe the students learning process of Calculus, as they engage in a Differential Calculus online classroom mediated by hypertexts. The theoretical framework for analysis and discussion is built on the hypertext definition (NELSON, 1992; LÉVY, 1998; XAVIER, 2009) and on the notion of situated learning (LAVE and WENGER, 1991; WENGER, 1998; MATOS, 2000; BAIRRAL, 2005). Research goals are: 1) To investigate how students surf through the hypertext on a virtual environment; 2) To describe and to understand the subjects participation in the proposed activities during an online Calculus course and 3) To describe the students learning process as changing in participation, through observing how they incorporate the developed practices in the online classroom, mediated by the hypertext. The research theme is chosen due to the increasing demand for distant learning courses, mediated by the contemporary technology. The research is qualitative, and participants are students, teacher and tutor in a private university. The research method is suggested by the teaching experiment methodology (STEFFE e THOMPSON, 2000 apud BARBOSA, 2009). Methodological procedures are: two workshops, interviews, indirect observation and questionnaires. The research instruments are: the VCalc applet, the CamStudio software, the institutional AVA and students written papers. The latter were used to select two participants to be followed during the second semester of 2009. Seeking to answer the research question, we highlight evidence of the incorporation of schoolmathematical language and the other instruments in use throughout the semester. Three episodes are chosen for the analysis and presentation of the data. The first one refers to the first workshop, when we describe aspects of the subjects views on the concept of function, limit and rate of change, as well as their skills to use the technological system. The second one is drawn on the indirect observation of the two selected students during the CDI classes. The third one builds on the second workshop and provides data to investigate changes in the way the students experiment and discuss the concepts of Calculus - the focus of this work. The analysis of the three episodes made possible to follow the participants from the beginning to end of the CDI classroom. We describe students views when the course starts, and the way the students surf through the AVA revealing the web of inter-text connections they built, which encompasses traditional and virtual tools. As results, we highlight the few instances of interactions in the virtual environment although there are signs of increasing participation. These signs point out the importance of the mediation of the tutor and the teacher. From therelations amongst tutor, teacher and virtual environment comes out a new legitimate way for mathematical communication which is not restricted to symbolic mathematics. Last but not least, it was possible to idealise the use of the hypertext in the online education. A tool with some of the online hipertext features mediated one activity that has opened space for students reflection without the interference of tutor/ professor With no suggestion to suppress any other media, we could perceive that the investigated Institution does not explore the availability of AVA for the CDI discipline in all its potentiality; and therefore it does not legitimate its full use by the students.