RoboEduc: uma metodologia de aprendizado com robótica educacional

In this work, we propose a methodology for teaching robotics in elementary schools, based on the socio-historical Vygotsky theory. This methodology in conjunction with the Lego Mindstoms kit (R) and an educational software (an interface for control and programming of prototypes) are part of an educational robotics system named RoboEduc. For the practical development of this work, we have used the action-research strategy, being realized robotics activities with participation of children with age between 8 and 10 years, students of the elementary school level of Municipal School Ascendino de Almeida. This school is located at the city zone of Pitimbu, at the periphery of Natal, in Rio Grande do Norte state. The activities have focused on understanding the construction of robotic prototypes, their programming and control. At constructing prototypes, children develop zone of proximal development (ZPDs) that are learning spaces that, when well used, allow the construction not only of scientific concepts by the individuals but also of abilities and capabilities that are important for the social and cultural interactiond of each one and of the group. With the development of these practical workshops, it was possible to analyse the use of the Robot as the mediator element of the teaching-learning process and the contributions that the use of robotics may bring to teaching since elementary levels

Transtorno de déficit de atenção/hiperatividade e psicologia histórico-cultural

O Transtorno de Déficit de Atenção e Hiperatividade tem sido evocado como justificativa corrente para o fracasso escolar de um número expressivo de crianças, atribuindo-se a elas a responsabilidade por não aprender e isentando de análise a escola e a sociedade nas quais estão inseridas. A situação se torna mais alarmante uma vez que a literatura a respeito aponta dificuldades no diagnóstico e na intervenção sobre esse tipo de transtorno, devidas à falta de clareza sobre o que é esse quadro clínico e em razão da não existência de estudos consistentes acerca das consequências futuras do uso de estimulantes nas crianças. Para discutir essas questões, a primeira parte do artigo apresenta a concepção hegemônica desse tipo de transtorno e sua compreensão do psiquismo infantil. A segunda parte aborda a maneira como a psicologia histórico-cultural analisa o desenvolvimento da atenção e o controle voluntário do comportamento humano, redimensionando a compreensão sobre o transtorno. Finalmente, são feitas algumas reflexões acerca do processo ensino-aprendizagem em crianças com desenvolvimento parcial das funções psicológicas superiores e do papel da psicologia e da pedagogia na compreensão do fenômeno para que sirvam de subsídio a medidas práticas em relação ao problema.

Reestruturação da disciplina "Física I" do Curso de Tecnólogo em Gerência de Obras de Edificações do CEFET/PB

The aim of the present paper is to reorganize a discipline on technological physics so that the construction site of civil engineering becomes a natural environment of learning, providing the learner with the association between theory and practice as well as allowing the subject to process, in real time, information generated from his cognitive constructions and his contextualizations. Thus, a sequence of actions was taken into account: firstly, the programme was developed in the classroom, sharing with its contextualized information through experiments done under supervision by the learners in laboratories; secondly, the data which associate physics with construction were collected and, to do so, technical visits to construction sites were realized, providing the learner the association between the theory and the practice in a suitable site to the constructivist approach. As a result, the first discipline on physics of the Curso de Tecnólogos em Gerência de Obras de Edificações do CEFET/PB was re-structured in terms of syllabus, methodology, application and evaluation. In fact, this work deals with a dynamic process that gathers and gives emphasis to teaching, learning, technology, information, creativity, competence and abilities in a constructivist learning process and, as a consequence, having allowed institutional engagement

O uso pedagógico de uma seqüência didática para a aquisição de algumas idéias relacionadas ao conceito de números complexos

The aim of the present work is to contribute to the teaching-learning process in Mathematics through an alternative which tries to motivate the student so that he/she will learn the basic concepts of Complex Numbers and realize that they are not pointless. Therefore, this work s general objective is to construct a didactic sequence which contains structured activities that intends to build up, in each student s thought, the concept of Complex Numbers. The didactic sequence is initially based on a review of the main historical aspects which begot the construction of those numbers. Based on these aspects, and the theories of Richard Skemp, was elaborated a sequence of structured activities linked with Maths history, having the solution of quadratic equations as a main starting point. This should make learning more accessible, because this concept permeates the students previous work and, thus, they should be more familiar with it. The methodological intervention began with the application of that sequence of activities with grade students in public schools who did not yet know the concept of Complex Numbers. It was performed in three phases: a draft study, a draft study II and the final study. Each phase was applied in a different institution, where the classes were randomly divided into groups and each group would discuss and write down the concepts they had developed about Complex Numbers. We also use of another instrument of analysis which consisted of a recorded interview of a semi-structured type, trying to find out the ways the students thought in order to construct their own concepts, i.e. the solutions of the previous activity. Their ideas about Complex Numbers were categorized according to their similarities and then analyzed. The results of the analysis show that the concepts constructed by the students were pertinent and that they complemented each other this supports the conclusion that the use of structured activities is an efficient alternative for the teaching of mathematics

Uma proposta para o ensino de eletromagnetismo no nível médio

This paper aims at building a proposal for teaching of electromagnetism in the secondary level in the state public school in Natal, RN, encompassing at the most possible comprehensive manner the fundamental aspects of electromagnetism. The methodology employed here is prioritize physical concepts rather than instruments (such as the mathematics), which should have the connotation of just tools, or of aids in the context of physics teaching in the referred teaching level. The proposal is to give teachers a consultation resource, from differentiated lesson plans, which have as main focus activities based primarily in texts and active participation of students in the teaching- learning process and the implementation of the PCN+ proposals (BRAZIL, 2000), which suggest alternative ways to make the practice in the classroom more exciting, targeting a significant teaching-learning process for both the teacher and the student. This material was applied during the 3rd and 4th term (i.e., bimester) throughout the school year of 2007, in the State School Teacher Varela Barca in two classes (3V1 and 3V2) of 3rd grade of secondary level. As evaluation of the implementation of this proposal one can cite that students were more secure when to apply the concepts, when conducting the experiments, and less anxious when formal evaluation of the evidence, showing greater motivation when presented to electromagnetism contextualized in their everyday situations. The product of this educational work includes, besides the dissertation, the lesson plans, itineraries and experimental assessment of the instruments used (Annex E to I)

Atividades experimentais no ensino de biologia em escolas públicas do estado do Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil: caracterização geral e concepção de professores

Recent research has revealed that the majority of Biology teachers believe the practice of experimental activities as a didactical means would be the solution for the improvement of the Biology teaching-learning process. There are, however, studies which signal the lack of efficiency in such practice lessons as far as building scientific knowledge is concerned. It is also said that despite the enthusiasm on the teachers‟ part, such classes are rarely taught in high school. Several studies point pedagogical difficulties as well as nonexistence of a minimal infrastructure needed in laboratories as cause of low frequency in experimental activities. The poor teacher performance in terms of planning and development of classes; the large number of students per class; lack of financial stimulus for teachers are other reasons to be taken into account among others, in which can also be included difficulties of epistemological nature. That means an unfavorable eye of the teacher towards experimental activities. Our study aimed to clarify if such scenario is generalized in high schools throughout the state of Rio Grande do Norte Brazil. During our investigation a sample of twenty teaching institutions were used. They were divided in two groups: in the first group, five IFRN- Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Norte schools. Two of those in Natal, and the other three from the country side. The second group is represented by fifteen state schools belonging to the Natal metropolitan area. The objectives of the research were to label schools concerning laboratory facilities; to identify difficulties pointed by teachers when performing experiment classes, and to become familiar with the conceptions of the teachers in regarding biology experiment classes. To perform such task, a questionnaire was used as instrument of data collecting. It contained multiple choice, essay questions and a semi-structured interview with the assistance of a voice recorder. The data analysis and the in loco observation allowed the conclusion that the federal schools do present better facilities for the practice of experimental activities when compared to state schools. Another aspect pointed is the fact that teachers of federal schools have more time available for planning the experiments; they are also better paid and are given access a career development, which leads to better salaries. All those advantages however, do not show a significantly higher frequency regarding the development of experiments when compared to state school teachers. Both teachers of federal and state schools pointed infra-structure problems such as the availability of reactants, equipments and consumption supplies as main obstacle to the practice of experiments in biology classes. Such fact leads us to conclude that maybe there are other problems not covered by the questionnaire such as poor ability to plan and execute experimental activities. As far as conceptions about experimental activities, it was verified in the majority of the interviewees a inductive-empiric point of view of science possibly inherited during their academic formation and such point of view reflected on the way they plan and execute experiments with students

Citologia: uma proposta formativa na EaD - UFRN a partir de concepções alternativas

Learning difficulties can have a direct influence on the teaching-learning process of students by reducing their school performance. One factor that may contribute to this negative influence on learning refers to the presence of alternative conceptions, which may have different origins in the educational process. It is of paramount importance, for teachers, for example, to identify the concepts and the difficulties of their students in order for that knowledge can be able to contribute significantly to improve the teaching and learning process. From the following considerations, the present study (still in progress) aims to investigate aspects related to the concepts and difficulties of graduating students in relation to the contents of Biology. The participants of the research were undergraduate students in Biological Sciences from UFRN, studying by Distance Learning (Educação a Distância). To develop the survey, questionnaires were developed to identify the contents in Biology that these students have more difficulties as well as an interview to raise misconceptions regarding the content of cytology. Another tool developed was a textbook evaluation form, which was applied in conjunction with a questionnaire in workshops (short courses) in order to identify possible errors and mistakes that could jeopardize the process of teaching and learning, such as the importance that these learners assign to textbooks in the educational process. From the data collected, a booklet on the content of cytology was developed as a product. It is expected that it can be applied in classrooms in order to improve the teaching and learning in references to Biology, to minimize, for example, alternative conceptions than can occur related to the theme

Representações de professores de língua inglesa de Natal-RN: um estudo sistêmico-funcional

Teaching and learning representations have been more and more investigated in the Brazilian applied linguistics field, as it allows the understanding of the teachers representations and how they conceive the learning process. This practice facilitates the planning of actions to improve the educational system. This study aims at identifying, interpreting and discussing some representations related to the identity and professional view of English as a foreign language teachers in different school contexts of Natal-RN. The theoretical and methodological foundation for this research is Halliday s Systemic- Functional Linguistics (1994; HALLIDAY; MATHIESSEN, 2004; EGGINS, 1994, among others). Our goal was to reveal the teachers representations embedded in their language, mainly through the ideational metafunction, as language is the tool we use to express ourselves about the external world (events, qualities, things, etc) and the internal world (thoughts, beliefs, feelings, etc). The research corpus is made of 21 teacher narratives, generated from a questionnaire sent to the teachers, who were divided in two groups: Group 1 (public schools teachers) and Group 2 (private schools and English course teachers). Most of the participants seemed to be satisfied with their professional choice. Many of them see the job as a challenge and an opportunity to transmit knowledge. All of them affirmed that the English teacher is a professional, for different reasons; however, the low professional appreciation was a recurrent aspect among the studied narratives. When asked about where they work, the private school teachers seemed to be more satisfied with the teaching-learning process than the ones from the public schools. We believe that the data analyzed in this study is important to show how some English teachers from Natal-RN see their profession. The results might be used in continuing education courses as food-for-thought in group discussions, as it is extremely important to emphasize and stimulate this practice

As práticas exitosas de leitura no ensino fundamental: vozes sociais de professores e de estudantes

The school is the social place which should provide the formation of critical readers. In this context, the role of the teacher is crucial when it comes to teaching reading. Thus, this doctoral research aims to explicit the reading practices evidenced from social voices of teachers and Fundamental School students from state public schools at RN that have successful results, according to IDEB 2009. Moreover, we seek to explicit, through the positions of teachers, the conceptions of reading underlying their reading activities, as well as elucidate the social voices related to teaching of reading that are present in the National Curriculum Guide for 9 years Fundamental School and in the Political-Pedagogical Projects of the educational institutions investigated. In order to accomplish this goal, we carried out observations in the classroom, applied questionnaires with teachers and students in the 9th grade of Fundamental School, in classes of Portuguese Language, and also performed dialogical meetings with the management and pedagogics schools teams. The theoretical foundation that guides the research comes from bakhtinian thinking (2009, 2010), which addresses the dialogical perspective of language and active responsive comprehension. Furthermore, this work is anchored in theoretical reflections of Antunes (2005, 2009) and Geraldi (2003, 2006, 2010) about the reading and writing in the country, which contribute to the resizing of the teaching and learning process of Portuguese Language. This study belongs to the field of Applied Linguistics, which investigates language as social practice in the context of learning mother language or in contexts where relevant questions about the use of language are evidenced. The parameters of qualitative research in a social-historic perspective are adopted seeking to understand the school context by the subjects involved in research. The research corpus is composed of: (i) information constructed through the use of questionnaires with teachers and students; (ii) information constructed from the observed lesson and dialogue with management and pedagogical teams; (iii) a set of selected information, i.e., empiricism built through documentary analysis of the National Curriculum Guide for 9 years Fundamental School (CONSELHO NACIONAL DE EDUCAÇÃO, 2010) and the Political- Pedagogical Projects of the investigated schools. The analysis of the sayings of teachers and students suggest reading practices from various texts, in particular, from the literary sphere, in activities involving discussions, reading and reading comprehension exercises, interviews, songs, seminars organizations, concerts, dramatizations, literary weeks, among other practices. Furthermore, these analyses reveal that teach Portuguese Language requires commitment, responsibility and satisfaction, as well as more grounded theoretical principles, which make teaching practice more efficient. The research also reveals that the success of the teaching-learning process occurs by virtue of the involvement of school s segments in the educational process, creating therefore a network of responsibilities. In this sense, this research may contribute to the production of knowledge that can guide and enrich the teaching and learning of reading, envisioning a pedagogical practice constructed from the relationship with the other, i.e., from the dialogism which provides formation of young people that exercise their citizenship

Referências culturais e heterogeneidade discursiva :Uma proposta para o ensino-aprendizagem de língua inglesa

The purpose of this research is to approach the English literary text from the point of view of the culture and the heterogeneity of discourse in its role as a source of elements that facilitate the teaching/learning process of English as a foreign language. Several instances of discourse heterogeneity are analyzed through cultural references in the original texts of the following English novels: Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855), published in 1847; The Mill on the Floss, by George Eliot (1819-1890), published in 1860 and Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens (1812-1870), published between 1860 and 1861. Theoretical support was sought in Kramsch, Bakhtin, Maingueneau, Authier-Revuz, Widdowson and Larsen-Freeman. Activities in English are proposed in the end whereby it can be seen that the questions at issue can be used extensively in the classroom.

Os objetivos do laboratório didático na visão dos alunos do curso de Licenciatura em Física da UNESP-Bauru

Há mais de cinqüenta anos, existe a preocupação em se definir os objetivos para o laboratório didático, revisando currículos e buscando ações mais localizadas e orientadas de acordo com o avanço crescente de conhecimentos das concepções alternativas de vários tópicos da Física por parte dos alunos, levando-se em conta as dificuldades específicas enfrentadas por eles no processo ensino-aprendizagem. Podem-se identificar duas linhas filosóficas que norteiam o processo ensino-aprendizagem com relação aos objetivos do laboratório didático. Uma linha defende que para sedimentar os conceitos expostos em aulas teóricas é necessária a prática em laboratório. A outra linha defende que o alvo da prática em laboratório deveria ser a obtenção e análise de dados, levando-se em conta a teoria aprendida. Atualmente, se percebe um crescimento por parte de profissionais que entendem haver uma necessidade de planejar, definir e hierarquizar objetivos detalhados, além de propiciar atividades que favoreçam de acordo com cada classe dentro da linha filosófica a que se identifica o profissional, não se esquecendo que ainda existem profissionais que não aceitam essa postura. Dentro desta perspectiva, foi aplicado um questionário a trinta alunos do curso de Licenciatura em Física da UNESP-Bauru, que já cursaram as cinco disciplinas práticas básicas do curso. Os alunos pontuaram de acordo com a sua visão dos objetivos reais frente aos objetivos ideais do laboratório didático. Os resultados mostraram que o laboratório didático vem cumprindo seu papel na opinião dos alunos do curso de Licenciatura em Física.

Brazilian Students and Working Capital: An Analysis of Their Decisions When Using Virtual Market Business Games

This study aims to demonstrate that data from business games can be an important resource for improving efficiency and effectiveness of learning. The proposal presented here was developed from preliminary studies of data from Virtual Market games that pointed the possibility of identifying gaps in learning by analyzing the decisions of students. This proposal helps students to refine their learning processes and equips tutors with strategies for teaching and student assessment. The proposal also complements the group discussion and/or debriefing, which are widely used to enhance learning mediated by games. However, from a management perspective the model has the potential to be erroneous and miss opportunities, which cannot be detected because of the dependence on the characteristics of the individual, such as ability to communicate and work together. To illustrate the proposed technique, data sets from two business games were analyzed with the focus on managing working capital and it was found that students had difficulties managing this task. Similar trends were observed in all categories of students in the study-undergraduate, postgraduate and specialization. This discovery led us to the analysis of data for decisions made in the performance of the games, and it was determined that indicators could be developed that were capable of indentifying inconsistencies in the decisions. It was decided to apply some basic concepts of the finance management, such as management of the operational and non-operational expenditures, as well as production management concepts, such as the use of the production capacity. By analyzing the data from the Virtual Market games using the indicator concept, it was possible to detect the lack of domain knowledge of the students. Therefore, these indicators can be used to analyze the decisions of the players and guide them during the game, increasing their effectiveness and efficiency. As these indicators were developed from specific content, they can also be used to develop teaching materials to support learning. Viewed in this light, the proposal adds new possibilities for using business games in learning. In addition to the intrinsic learning that is achieved through playing the games, they also assist in driving the learning process. This study considers the applications and the methodology used.

A energia e suas implicações no ensino-aprendizagem da química

The area of Education in Chemistry in Brazil has appeared over 30 years and its growth has been accelerated by the need of comprehension of the processes of teaching and learning in chemistry. Many researches, in this area, has among its investigation objects the teaching tools like teaching materials and the learning processes of students in high school and basic education, but when dealing with higher levels of education, they are seldom portrayed. This study aimed to investigate the General Chemistry textbooks with respect to approach the concept of energy; know the main ideas of graduate students in Chemistry on the relation of the concept of energy and chemical transformations; finally, developing a cicle of studies with the proposition of an approach wich inter-relate the concept of energy and its implications in the teaching-learning process of a chemical transformation. To do so, we used as instruments a questionnaire, press conference, conceptual map and experimental activities. All activities of the study cicle were videotaped and recorded, transcribed and the results organized in tables. For the activities of the study cicle texts that have been developed and inter-relating concepts of chemistry and energy, which in turn gave theoretical support to the activities in the cycle. In the analysis it was used as a theoretical content the analysis of Laurence Bardin. The results revealed that the analysis of the book might be perceived that not always the concept of energy is used in order to generate the abstract thought of chemical transformations, but that the main macroscopic thermodynamic variables are present in the explanation of these transformations. During the study cicle, were studied two chemical reactions: the first one, made possible to approach the macroscopic dimension to quantify the concept of energy and the second one, made possible to demonstrate the macro and microscopic dimension of the concept of energy during a chemical transformation. In all reactions proposed, students used, in most of the times, as explanations, only macroscopic observations of the reactions under study and failed to realize that the concept of energy can be used to explain macro and microscopic chemical transformation. As a final action of the study cicle, students requested further discussion, to clarify the link between the concept of energy and the meanings constructed in the process of studying the reactions. This is done through an oral explanation, during the cycle, and registered in this thesis and attempts to show the interrelationship existing conceptual

A contextualização e a interdisplinaridade no ensino de Química: uma analise de livros didáticos ACIDO-BASE e das propostas pedagógicas realizadas pelos docentes diante da temática

Nowadays, chemistry contents taught in high school continue to be presented in a fragmented and decontextualized manner by the teachers and the textbooks. Even though it is known that contextualization and interdisciplinary exchange play an important role in the process of Chemistry teaching/learning. Therefore, the present study aims at enlightening the importance of these methodological foundations in the learning of chemistry. The data acquisition about the subject Contextualization and Interdisciplinary Exchange involved in Chemistry Teaching was developed through bibliographical researches on chemistry textbooks, which focused on the analysis of the topics acid and base , since it is a theme studied throughout all three years of high school. The present study also developed questionnaires which were applied to analyze to what extent chemistry teachers are working in a contextualized and interdisciplinary manner throughout the process of Chemistry teaching/learning. The results obtained in the researches show that a contextualized and interdisciplinary teaching contributes to a more meaningful acquisition of chemistry knowledge, in a dynamic and interactive way, but there are still many roadblocks towards the achievement of this kind of Chemistry teaching/learning process

Considerações sobre metodologia interativa aplicada à disciplinas de química orgânica de alguns cursos da UFRN

The aiming of this work is linked to chemical education, focusing organic chemistry classes of Chemical Engineering, Pharmacy and Zootechny graduate courses of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte. For that, teaching-learning process related to basic chemical subjects which support the understanding of organic chemistry concepts was evaluated in a research period of two years. The education proposal linked to the theoretical content of the cited classes, pointed out the process of knowledge construction, in which educational commitment as well as dedication in the teaching-learning process was also valued. In that approach several didactic tools were applied, among them scientific articles were used as supplementary studies of the basic organic chemistry concepts and related. The acceptability of students, as well as their motivation, performance and learning process was justified by the data collection of the applied teaching methodology. The acceptability and commitment of the students facing this teaching interactive approach, which transversely contributed to the intellectual maturity growth of the students, as well their professional development, were evidenced by satisfactory obtained results that will be herein discussed