Abordagem do conceito de célula : uma investigação a partir das contribuições do Modelo de Reconstrução Educacional (MRE)

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate how undergraduate students getting a teaching degree in biological sciences approach the concept of cell; for this purpose, the Educational Reconstruction Model (ERM) was used. The concept under consideration is abstract and has undergone extensive discussion in the field of biology, either due to its relevance for understanding the formation of life, or through the challenge of approaching it in the classroom. In the biological sciences, proposals such as the ERM are promising for the process of teaching and learning, and seek to change the construction of such concepts. From an epistemological standpoint the model is constructivist. It considers the view of research by design and a three-step methodological structure 1 - Content Structure Analysis (CSA) and Analysis of Educational Meaning (AEM); 2 - Empirical Research (ER); and 3 - Construction of Instruction (CI). Together these steps provided the study’s didactic setting, through the Teaching and Learning Sequence (TLS). The TLS was developed in the campus of the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), Academic Center of Vitória (CAV), with undergraduates from the 7th semester of the Biological Sciences course. Step 1 was designed using high school and university textbooks, the biology literature and considerations from interviewees. This step revealed that the concept of cell had a historical approach, morphophysiological aspects and a social-scientific character, which included images. Step 2 was carried out following the perspective of scientific references and of interviewees; barriers in conceptual learning were approached and obstacles of a conceptual, relational, procedural and dimensional order were reported. These two steps raised the elements to collaborate with Step 3, which – together with Méheut’s Integrated Constructivist Approach – guided the formation of the study’s educational setting. The TLS on the concept of cell was performed in six moments and dealt with the preconceptions of students, cell historicity, the identification of groups, morphophysiology recognition, the use of images and contemporary themes. Based on the description of the sequence we find that it is possible to apply the proposed instructional process, despite its length. Its structured activities covered aspects of ERM steps 1 and 2, with varying intensity. The best contemplated both in terms of the number of activities and in their relevance, while the other phase was covered a more superficial manner. The ERM provides significant theoretical and methodological support for research in science education in the realm of concept construction. It proved to be a well-structured framework, while at the same time flexible for the development of teaching and learning, either by targeting the design of the instructional process aimed at scientific concepts, to developing instructional training processes.