Investigação do uso de atividades de modelagem computacional no ensino de física e de matemática

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the performance of students when exposed to complementary activities of computational modeling in the learning of Physics and Mathematics taken integrated, using the software Modellus. The difficulties of changing record (algebraic, numeric, graphic and animation), in the work with contents of Kinematics and Functions were the subjects chosen. The study involved first-year students of high school from Agrotécnica Federal de Satuba School - AL and was held in the second half of 2008. For research was adopted a quasi-experimental design, consisting of an experimental group of 18 students who were submitted to computational modeling activities exploratory and of creation for an interval of two weeks (five meetings of two sessions of 50 minutes each) and by a control group of eighteen other students. The results show that there was a statistically significant improvement in the students performance in the experimental group when compared to students in the control group exposed only to the traditional method of teaching. The results of qualitative analysis suggest that many students achieved significant learning. Our observations suggest that the interactions between students and computer activities became a motivating factor in learning.