Fragmentações em sistemas de constructos kellyanos associados ao conceito de cor da óptica

Abstract

According to George Alexander Kelly's Theory of Personal Constructs (TCP), two incompatible construct subsystems may be present in the same cognitive structure. This fragmentation has the potential to constitute an epistemological obstacle, as defined by Gaston Bachelard, and to explain the persistence of alternative concepts in proposals for conceptual change, from the perspective of TCP. Studying fragmentations in construct systems, therefore, is important to shed some light on these issues. The objective of the present paper was to investigate the fragmentation in construct systems associated with the Optics color concept. The theme color was chosen because of its complexity: it involves and interconnects various areas of knowledge. Thus, the term complex is that defined by Edgar Morin: intertwined. For the investigation, we used Repertories Grids (RGs) applied to three subjects (social actors), students of the second year of high school of a state public school certified by the National Exam for High School (ENEM), and examined the data built in the RGs in search of fragmentation through Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (AAH). Content Analysis, established by Laurence Bardin, was applied to the textbook used by the subjects (the social actors) to study color in school. Comparing the Reference Repertory Grid – a scientific RG constructed by the researcher – with the RGs of social actors, we found undesirable fragmentations in the teaching of physics to a greater or lesser degree of potential impairment. In the textbook, fragmentations have been detected that may affect students’ understanding of the color phenomenon, as it presents a variety of conflicting and parallel color theories. As far as textbook explanations are concerned, a biophysical approach – not merely physical, where color is attributed only to the frequency of light – is recommended to realize the complexity of the phenomenon.