Representações Sociais sobre o ensino e a aprendizagem de astronomia no curso de licenciatura em Ciências Biológicas

Abstract

This study investigates how the academic training in the Biological Sciences Teaching Degree program at a public institution in Northwestern Paraná influences the Social Representations of pre-service teachers regarding Astronomy. It aims to analyze whether these representations change in a resistant, progressive, or abrupt manner throughout the course, with implications for Astronomy teaching in the final years of Elementary School. The hypothesis is that the training does not promote significant advances in these representations. A mixed-methods approach was adopted, using the Free Word Association Technique, Vergès' Prototypical Analysis, Similarity Tree, and Content Analysis, supported by the IRaMuTeQ software. The results revealed an abrupt transformation: the Central Core of the representations was reduced from entry to graduation. While newcomers associated it with the semantic groups "Celestial Sphere," "Planets," and "Universe," graduating students focused solely on "Celestial Sphere," linked to popular conceptions. The study recommends the inclusion of specific Astronomy modules in teacher training and further investigations on this topic.