Ciência, tecnologia, sociedade e ambiente no ensino de química: impactos de uma sequência de ensino com a temática bebidas alcoólicas nas concepções de estudantes do ensino médio

Abstract

This study investigated the impacts of a Teaching Sequence with the STSE (Science, Technology, Society and Environment) approach on high school students' prior conceptions about the topic of alcoholic beverages. The research seeks to understand whether the pedagogical intervention promotes changes in students' views, stimulating critical reflection on the subject. The objective was to identify the possible impacts of the STSE approach on students' prior conceptions about alcoholic beverages, analyzing the resignifications of views and the manifestations of cognitive skills resulting from the application of a Teaching Sequence (TS). The research was conducted with five high school classes. The TS, entitled “The Cost of a Dose”, was developed based on the students’ previous ideas, raised through a Google form, and on organizational pedagogical elements, such as topic selection, definition of the problem question (PQ) and the selection of thinking skills necessary for its resolution and the questions present in the classes, development of content diagrams such as the STS spine and the STSE content square and Aikenhead’s methodological scheme for STS teaching. The TS was organized considering the three Pedagogical Moments: Initial Problematization, Knowledge Organization and Knowledge Application, following the contextualized didactic unit model. Before application, the SE was evaluated by teachers from the area of Natural Sciences for adjustments and improvements. The students’ responses to the Problem Situation were analyzed and classified according to the cognitive skills mobilized, divided into LOCS (Low-Order Cognitive Skills) and HOCS (High-Order Cognitive Skills), at levels N1 to N5. The students also answered a reflective-evaluative questionnaire with the aim of identifying their views after the application of the SE. The results revealed that, for some students, there was a strengthening of their pre-existing views, without significant changes after the classes. Others, while maintaining their views, expanded their understanding of the topic, starting to consider aspects that were previously ignored, such as environmental impacts, benefits and harms of the consumption and production of alcoholic beverages. In addition, some of the students presented a reinterpretation of their views, adopting a more critical stance in relation to the topic. The analyses also considered the knowledge of Science, Technology, Society and Environment expressed by the students in the resolution of the Problem Question (PQ) and the perspectives of contextualization achieved by the student groups. The STSE approach, through the SE “The Cost of a Dose”, demonstrated the potential to promote reflection and expand the critical understanding of students on the topic of alcoholic beverages. Although not all students changed their initial views, the majority showed some level of maturity and reflection, indicating that the proposal contributed to the development of critical thinking and citizenship formation.