Estudo de Representações Sociais sobre Física Quântica.

Abstract

ResumoEste trabalho apresenta resultados preliminares de uma investigação sobre possíveis representações sociais compartilhadas por diferentes grupos sociais, como estudantes do Ensino Médio, por exemplo. O objetivo é, utilizando análise multidimensional, identificar e caracterizar possíveis representações sociais a partir dos dados obtidos com o uso de testes de associação escrita e numérica de conceitos (TAEC e TANC). A compreensão dessas representações pode auxiliar no processo de aprendizagem significativa da Física Quântica, bem como em avaliar a influência dos meios de divulgação que propagam conceitos científicos -ou quase científicos -sobre as idéias dos indivíduos a respeito deste tema.Palavras-chave: Física Quântica, representações sociais, aprendizagem significativa. AbstractThis paper presents preliminary findings of a research on possible social representations shared by different social groups such as, for example, high school students. The objective is to identify some features of these representations applying multidimensional scaling to data gathered through written and numerical word association tests (TAEC and TANC). The identification of such representations might help in the process of meaningful learning of quantum physics as well as in assessing the influence of how scientific concepts are disseminated by the media on how individuals grasp the meaning of these concepts.

A study of social representations of quantum physics held by high school students through numerical and written word association tests

“…The three grades (1 st , 2 nd , and 3 rd ) had very similar configurations for the NWAT, as figures 1 and 2 show, and it is possible to notice the existence of two sets of words: terms associated to physics, in general -in the left -and terms associated to everyday life -in the right. Similar results were also obtained and discussed by Moreira et al (2009) and Hilger (2009) for configurations found for other research groups, also discussed these findings. On the other hand, configurations from WWAT related to high school students, can be found in Hilger et al (2009).…”

“…The category we have considered the most relevant for this research on social representations is the one that deals with associations with words that appeared in texts, books, journals/magazines on quantum physics, such as thought, water, attraction, mind, brain, feelings, dimension, vibration, and so on. Oddly, the term "water" stands at the nucleus of representations of 1st and 2 nd year students (Hilger, 2009), and it is also related to quantum physics in the movie What the bleep do we know? 2 (Rocha, 2010).…”

“…Frame 3 presents the terms that compose the nucleus and the periphery (Hilger, 2009), which came from the WWAT for the representations in each of the three high school years. In this classification, we took into account, in addition to the number of repetitions of terms -usually used in social representation studies -the markings the students had made, according to their own preferences.…”

“…We used a questionnaire (Moreira et al, 2009;Hilger et al, 2009;Hilger, 2009) that comprises two word association tests and, in the end, an identification stage of its respondents' schooling. There was a prior research to determine the ten (10) words to be used as stimuli in the questionnaire.…”

“…The significant advantage of having chosen those tests resides on the fact that both of them allow for a large number of participants, and that they enable statistical analysis. The test's strategy is quite simple and it has already been used in other studies in the area of research in physics teaching, such as Moreira et al, 2009;Borg & Groenen, 2005;Hilger, 2009;Gobara et al, 2002;Greca et al, Rosa et al, 1993;Santos & Moreira, 1991. In the analysis of responses, this research used techniques of multidimensional scaling (Hair et al, 2007;Borg & Groenen, 2005;Cox & Cox, 2001;Santos & Moreira, 1991;Kruskal & Wish, 1978). Using multidimensional scaling, we can generate geometrical representations, such as maps, which reflect the respondent's cognitive structure.…”