Estudo do desenvolvimento de modelos mentais sobre o conceito de ligações químicas e sua relação com obstáculos epistemológicos

Abstract

Explaining how an individual is able to learn something new, even when the subject is unknown to that person, It has been the subject of study of many scientists over the years. This study aimed to analyze how the development of mental models can help in overcoming epistemological obstacles related to the learning of chemical bonding concepts in chemistry undergraduates. The adopted research methodology had as theoretical support the ethnographic qualitative approach. The subjects were students of Degree Courses in Chemistry from the Federal University of Amazonas (Universidade Federal do Amazonas). We initially investigated the mental models and the epistemological obstacles that students bring from basic education. The analysis these data led to the planning of a didactic intervention, which came in the form of a short course. Different teaching strategies have been implemented, including demonstrativeexperimental investigative, activities and computing resources, all guided by the theory of mental models. Data from the short course was organized in light of the content analysis, taking as theoretical reference of analysis the Theory of Mental Models and Bachelard Theory of Epistemological Obstacles. We found that using diverse teaching strategies guided by the theory of mental models was possible to overcome epistemological obstacles for the content of chemical bonds. This study is expected to subsidize the activities for teaching practice quality, with insights into the possible correlations between the development of mental models about a chemical concept and the epistemological obstacles to learning this concept. Also, to contribute to the learning of chemical bonding concepts, in living situations of innovative learning, and in the reflection on the learning process of the chemistry undergraduate.