Formação de professores acerca de neurociências e educação: uma análise interventiva

Abstract

The present work focuses on the training of Science and Biology teachers regarding relevant topics for the teaching and learning process that communicate with Neuroscience and Education. It aimed to analyze the impact of a formative intervention on teachers' perceptions of themes present in the dialogue between Neuroscience and Education. Within the research, the stages of development, implementation, and analysis of an intervention proposal for the continuing education of Science and Biology teachers were conducted from the perspective of the interaction between Neuroscience and Education. Two applications were carried out with 32 and 42 participants, respectively, which lasted 30 hours, divided into synchronous and asynchronous activities. The topics addressed included neuroplasticity, learning, memory, attention, motivation, emotion, evidence-based educational strategies and physiological factors affecting learning, among others. To collect data on participants' perceptions, questionnaires were administered, including a neuromyths questionnaire, and also a focus group was conducted during the first application. The analyzed data indicate that, despite an interest in Neuroscience, only 12 participants—5 in the first application and 7 in the second—reported having previous training on the subject. Regarding performance on the neuromyths questionnaire, both groups of participants showed similar results before and after the training. According to participants' perceptions, the training had positive aspects related to instructional materials, activities, monitoring methods, evaluation, and motivation levels. Negative points included the remote format of the training and the relationship between time and content. The average self-assessment on a scale from 1 to 5—where 1 means "not satisfactory at all" and 5 means "very satisfactory"—regarding knowledge about topics in the intersection of Neuroscience and Education, used as an indicator of self-efficacy, increased from 1.90 to 3.83 in the first application and from 2.21 to 3.92 in the second application during pre- and post-training moments, respectively. The collected data showed that short-term exposure to relevant learning topics from the perspective of the interaction between Neuroscience and Education was not sufficient to significantly reduce participants' belief in neuromyths. However, using this knowledge to select themes and strategies implemented in the training proposal was positively perceived by participants. All participants expressed interest in rethinking their pedagogical practice planning in light of their new learnings. Based on the data obtained, it is considered necessary to reflect and essential to propose changes in teacher training so that the dialogue between Neuroscience and Education becomes a central issue in discussions and decisions about undergraduate curricula.