O ensino de corrente elétrica e resistividade dos materiais através de um análogo mecânico como proposta para o Ensino Médio

Abstract

The concepts of electrical conduction and electrical resistance are important topics for Physics Teaching. However, these themes are not explored as much in the literature when compared to other Physics Teaching themes. Furthermore, indicators from diagnostic tests or the National High School Exam reveal that students’ performance is unsatisfactory. It is a challenge for the Education area to change this reality in the educational system. Taking this into consideration, an educational product was created with a didactic sequence with the aim of promoting an increase in proficiency in relation to the descriptors involving this topic. Thus, to evaluate the performance of this proposal, the work was referenced in David Ausubel’s Theory of Meaningful Learning to search for subsumers that exist in the students’ cognitive structure and prevent the topic of electrical conduction in metals from being a purely abstract topic. To achieve the objective of this proposal, the class sequences were: first class with application of a diagnostic questionnaire on students’ conceptions on the topic; the second and third classes with review of atomic model content and use of an atomic model simulator; the fourth class involved practical activity with the mechanical equivalent of electric current; the fifth, sixth and seventh classes saw discussions among students and encouraging comparisons between gravitational potential and electrical potential and description of the movement of spheres with barriers; In the last class, a second questionnaire was administered to assess whether there was a change in the explanation of the concepts of electrical conduction and electrical resistance. The research subjects were students in the 3rd year of high school at a state school in the state of Espírito Santo. According to the results, the comparison between the pre-test questionnaire and the post-test questionnaire indicates a significant improvement in the answers regarding the proposed elements.