Visões de alunos jovens e adultos acerca de suas experiências em aprender ciências

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the last decades, the importance of teaching science at schools has been emphasized. However, there are few studies which approaches the issue of teaching and learning science in adult education. Given the specificities that characterize adult education, it is essential to deepen our knowledge about this issue. Thus, this study investigates students´ views of their experiences in learning science in a program of Adult Education. The questions which oriented the research were: What are the views of about their experiences in learning science in a program of adult education, which has as its main goal educating future adult educators? What are the views of learning of these adults that emerged in the context of discussions about their learning experiences? What are these adults' views about? There search methodology adopted was qualitative, oriented by a naturalistic perspective (LINCOLN & GUBA, 1985). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six adult students. The interviews were analyzed considering three axes, oriented by different theoretical issues: conceptions of learning (e.g., SFARD, 1998; MARTINEZ et. al., 2000), conceptions of learning in science (MILLAR, 2003) and conceptions about the nature of sciences (e.g. BARR & BIRKE, 1998 PEREZ et. al., 2001; TOBIN et. al., 1995). There was a prevalence of conceptions of learning centered in knowledge acquisition. However, alternative conceptions were identified when students were in a context that promoted participation. In relation to the views of science, some students have an utilitarist view (MILLAR, 2003), sometimes associated with representations such as perfect knowledge, also experiencing distancing from school science. We conclude that it is fundamental to promote science teaching from a political perspective. This has the potential to make science education more democratic and will facilitate establishing dialogue between teachers and students to assure a genuine participation in the processes of teaching and learning science.