Lines of Research

  • 1. Teacher Training

    Initial and continuing teacher development is approached from the perspective of Science and Technology Education ideas, practices, theories and epistemologies in different teaching and learning environments and at different scholastic levels. Focal points include:

    – Curricula for teacher licensing

    – The role of the teacher in production, application and evaluation.

  • 2. Science Teaching and Learning

    Investigation into the teaching-learning processes is conducted in different areas of science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics). Focal points include:

    – Theoretical concepts

    – Cognitive, affective and motivational factors

    – Different teaching-learning strategies

    – Registers of semiotic representation in Mathematics learning

    – Student preconceptions

    – Proposals for innovative courses on teaching and the popularization of science.

  • 3. The Social Implications of Science and Technology in Education

    Investigation into various theoretical orientations and aspects of the relationship between science, technology, society and the environment is conducted at the three educational levels, focusing on:

    – Curricular aspects of Science and Technology Education from a Science, Technology and Society perspective

    – The relationship between the Pedagogy of Paulo Freire, Science and Technology Education and Science, Technology and Society

    – Scientific and Technological Literacy and Interdisciplinary Islands of Rationality

    – Processes of popularizing and disseminating Science

    – The discourse of science and technology.

  • 4. Epistemology and the History of Science and Mathematics

    Analysis of the sociocultural and historical aspects involved in the origin, development and dissemination of the theories, models and concepts of Biology, Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry is conducted at the three educational levels, focusing on:

    – The role of the history and epistemology of science in teacher development, teaching-learning strategies and the teaching of physical systems modeling

    – The production, application and evaluation of didactic texts with a historical-epistemological perspective

    – Students’ and teachers’ notions of the nature of scientific knowledge and of specific scientific concepts.

  • 5. Media and Science Education

    The limits and possibilities that information technology has brought to Science and Technology Education are explored at all educational levels, with special attention to virtual learning environments involving hypermedia: text, image, movement, sound and simulations with variations in scale. Focal points include:

    – Theories involving the teaching-learning process

    – Teaching-learning strategies

    – The production of innovative educational material for formal, informal and distance educational settings

  • 6. Language and Education

    Studies on the importance of language function are conducted in order to establish natural, less naive relationships about dominant discourses of science and technology. Language is investigated as a form of representation in different fields, such as Art, Science and Technology Education, Mathematics and Architecture. Focal points include:

    – Reading and writing: rethinking the development of readers

    – The imaginarium of students and teachers regarding language and its function

    – Problematization as a medium of emerging knowledge

    – Discourse analysis and the relationship of Science, Technology and Society in Science and Technology Education.