Esta tese apresenta um estudo sobre as Representações Sociais de professores e estudantes do objeto social denominado Atividades Práticas Experimentais para o Ensino de Física. Reconhecendo que o tema já foi amplamente debatido pela literatura, adotamos uma tônica distinta, apoiando nossas pesquisas e análises no referencial teórico-metodológico da Teoria do Núcleo Central de Jean-Claude Abric, a qual se sustenta na Teoria das Representações Sociais de Moscovici. Além das técnicas consagradas, como análise prototípica e de similitude, que manifestam, respectivamente, a saliência e a conexidade dos possíveis constituintes da representação, inserimos indicadores, oriundos das Redes Complexas, com a intenção de corroborar no discernimento da centralidade das representações. Presumindo que a formação acadêmica pode influenciar na consolidação das representações, e que, por conseguinte, estas são elementos norteadores entre a dedicação e as estratégias escolhidas pelo professor em sua ação profissional, buscamos o mapeamento das Representações Sociais de diversos grupos. Para tal, coletamos dados com 444 respondentes, contemplando professores universitários de diversas universidades do país, professores da educação básica de diversas redes de ensino e estudantes universitários de duas instituições públicas. O questionário empregado compreendia questões relativas à caracterização dos respondentes, uma questão envolvendo a técnica de associação livre de palavras e questões dissertativas correlacionadas ao tema da pesquisa, sendo que a última foi aplicada exclusivamente aos docentes. Antes de tudo, cabe destacar que as análises dos dados mostraram plausibilidade na incorporação dos indicadores como técnica confirmatória para o estudo da centralidade das Representações Sociais. Os resultados apontaram um forte aceno positivo para a dimensão cognitivo-motivacional. Destacamos também a prevalência das atividades de cunho demonstrativo e/ou verificador, como estratégia de uso das atividades práticas, para subgrupos de professores dos diversos níveis; contudo, diagnosticamos um distanciamento entre os subgrupos de professores com e sem pós-graduação na área de ensino/educação, caracterizando, portanto, grupos sociais distintos. De forma análoga, notamos essa cisão entre estudantes de licenciatura e os demais cursos analisados. Essas rupturas derivam da incorporação, no Núcleo Central, de elementos que sinalizam a intencionalidade de adoção de estratégias investigativas e com maior interação. Evidencia-se, portanto, que as adequações nas representações, dos diversos grupos sociais, são frutos das exposições em culturas singulares, mesmo que diante de uma origem comum. Embora tenhamos a convicção de que a licenciatura seja responsável pela incorporação dos novos papéis e potencialidades das atividades práticas, ainda assim, os resultados da pesquisa apontam indícios da fragilidade na consolidação desses significados para os estudantes. / This thesis shows a study on Social Representations of teachers and students of the social object denominated Experimental Practical Activities for the Physics Teaching. Considering that this subject has been widely debated in literature, we have adopted a different perspective which supports our research and analysis grounded on Jean-Claude Abric\'s theoretical-methodological framework: Central Nucleus Theory, which is based on Moscovici\'s Theory of Social Representations. Besides using well-known techniques such as the prototypical analysis and similitude analysis, which show, respectively, the salience and connectivity of possible constituents of the representation, we included indicators from Complex Networks in order to confirm the core of representations. Assuming that academic education may influence the consolidation of representations and, consequently, they may be guiding elements that mediate the dedication and choice of strategies by the teacher in your action, we seek to map the Social Representations of different groups. In order to do so, we collected data with 444 respondents, including university professors of several universities in the country, basic education teachers of different educational systems and university students of two public institutions. The questionnaire used included questions related to the respondents\' profiles, a question approaching the technique of free association of words and open questions correlated to the theme of the research. The last question was asked only of the teachers. First of all, it\'s important to point out that the data analysis indicated that the incorporation of the indicators as a confirmation technique for the study of the core of Social Representations is plausible. Results show a strong positive response linked to the cognitive-motivational dimension. We also highlight the prevalence of demonstrative and/or confirmation activities as a strategy chosen by the teachers of different educational levels when using practical activities. However, we noticed a difference in the use of these strategies between the subgroups of teachers with and without post-graduation in the area of teaching/education which characterized them as belonging to different social groups. Analogously, we noted a difference in choices made by the undergraduate students in teacher training courses and the other courses analyzed. These differences derive from the incorporation, in the Central Nucleus, of elements that signal the intentionality of adopting investigative strategies and with greater interaction. Indicating, therefore, that the adaptations in the representations, of the various social groups, are fruits of the expositions in singular cultures, even if in front of a common origin. Although we believe that being pre-service teacher education is responsible for incorporating the new roles to the use of practical activities, the results of the research point to signs of fragility in the consolidation of these meanings for the students.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of the physics instructors, major-physics students, and nonmajor-physics students regarding actual teaching performance and effective teaching performance. The sample consisted of a total of 56 physics instructors, 120 major-physics students, and 120 nonmajor-physics students at eight public universities in Thailand. A total of 53 physics instructors or 94.64 percent, 101 major-physics students or 84.17 percent, and 107 nonmajor-physics students or 89.17 percent responded in this study. Multivariate analysis of variance, univariate analysis, one-way analysis of variance, and multiple regression were used in the follow-up assessment, with the .05 level of significance. The physics instructors, major-physics students, and nonmajor-physics students perceived actual teaching performance in class to be significantly different from effective teaching performance. The three groups rated actual teaching performance on every factor to be less than sffective teaching. There was a significant difference between the physics instructors' perceptions and the major-physics students' perceptions regarding actual teaching performance, and also there was a significant difference between the physics instructors' perceptions and the nonmajor-physics students' perceptions regarding actual teaching performance. However, there was no significant difference between major-and nonmajor-physics students' perceptions regarding actual teaching performance. There was no significant difference among the perceptions of the physics instructors, major-physics students, and nonmajor-physics students regarding effective teaching performance. The variables of sex and the highest degree were the significant predictors of the physics instructors' perceptions regarding actual teaching performance. The variable of GPA was the significant predictor of the nonmajor-physics students' perceptions regarding actual teaching performance.

Improving the STEM readiness of students from historically underserved groups is a moral and economic imperative requiring greater attention and effort than has been shown to date. The current literature suggests a high school science sequence beginning with physics and centered on developing conceptual understanding, using inquiry labs and modeling to allow students to explore new ideas, and addressing and correcting student misconceptions can increase student interest in and preparation for STEM careers. The purpose of this study was to determine if the science college readiness of historically underserved students can be improved by implementing an inquiry-based high school science sequence comprised of coursework in physics, chemistry, and biology for every student. The study used a retrospective cohort observational design to address the primary research question: are there differences between historically underserved students completing a Physics First science sequence and their peers completing a traditional science sequence in 1) science college-readiness test scores, 2) rates of science college-and-career readiness, and 3) interest in STEM? Small positive effects were found for all three outcomes for historically underserved students in the Physics First sequence.

Acompanha: Proposta de ensino: simulações de experimentos físicos utilizando o software Algodoo / Mediante os problemas enfrentados pelo ensino de física, a massificação da informação e a necessidade de utilizar os recursos tecnológicos em nossas práticas pedagógicas, o presente trabalho busca responder ao seguinte questionamento: Quais as contribuições que um software de simulação pode ter na aprendizagem dos conteúdos de cinemática e dinâmica? E, mediante ao problema apresentado, a presente pesquisa terá como objetivo geral verificar a adequação e a compreensão dos fenômenos físicos relacionados à cinemática e dinâmica por meio da produção e aplicação de simulações virtuais. Metodologicamente a pesquisa se caracteriza como aplicada, quantitativa e exploratória. Durante o desenvolvimento das atividades foram modelados no software Algodoo experimentos historicamente e conceitualmente importantes para os conteúdos de cinemática e dinâmica. O trabalho foi desenvolvido, no primeiro semestre de 2015, com duas turmas do 9º ano do Ensino Fundamental II de um colégio da rede particular da cidade de Maringá, interior do Paraná, Brasil. Em cada turma havia o número de 35 alunos. A fundamentação teórica consiste em um embasamento sobre a Teoria de Aprendizagem Significativa como proposta para o ensino de física tendo como avaliação os mapas conceituais e por fim uma discussão sobre a utilização de Tecnologias de Comunicação (TICs) no ensino de ciências em geral. Apresenta-se também uma descrição metodológica contendo a elaboração do instrumento de pesquisa no qual foi realizado uma contextualização histórica de cada experimento aplicado e o instrumento de coleta de dados. Posteriormente, foram organizadas as concepções prévias dos alunos antes da aplicação das atividades e os mapas conceituais construídos após o término do processo. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que a utilização do software pode contribuir na construção do conhecimento científico quando utilizado com práticas pedagógicas adequadas e, além disso, contribui para a mudança de postura dos alunos durante as aulas. / By the problems faced by the teaching of physics, the mass of information and the need of using technological resources in our teaching practices, this article seeks to answer the following question: What are the contributions that a simulation software can have on the content of learning kinematics and dynamics? And, by the problem presented, this research will have the overall objective to verify the adequacy and comprehension of physical phenomena related to kinematics and dynamics through the production and application of virtual simulations. Methodologically the research is characterized as applied, quantitative and exploratory. During the development of the activities they were modeled in experiments Algodoo software historically and conceptually important for kinematic and dynamic content. The study was conducted in the first semester of 2015 with two classes of the 9th grade of a particular elementary school in the city of Maringa, Paraná state, Brazil. In each class there was the number of 35 students. The theoretical framework consists of a basement on the Meaningful Learning Theory as a proposal for physics teaching with concept maps as an evaluation and finally a discussion about the use of communication technologies (ICT) in general science education. Furthermore, it presents a methodological description containing the preparation of the questionnaire was conducted in which a historical contextualization of each experiment and applied the data collection instrument. Later, they were organized the preconceptions of students before the implementation of activities and concept maps built after the end of the process. The results showed that the use of the software can contribute to the construction of scientific knowledge when used with adequated teaching practices and also contributes to the change in students' attitude in class.

Acompanha: Manual didático para aplicação do monocórdio como objeto lúdico perelmaniano / Esta pesquisa aborda a possibilidade de se estabelecer uma prática interdisciplinar entre as disciplinas de Física e Música, no ensino médio, integrado ao técnico, no Instituto Federal do Paraná, Campus Telêmaco Borba. O estudo teve como objetivo estabelecer uma prática interdisciplinar entre as disciplinas de Física e Música que tenha como foco a utilização do monocórdio como Objeto Lúdico Perelmaniano e, ainda, buscou compreender a concepção do conceito de som por parte dos educandos, além de criar um blog para difusão da proposta interdisciplinar, que relaciona o Objeto Lúdico Perelmaniano com a construção ativa de conhecimento por parte dos estudantes. A abordagem metodológica é qualitativa, através da Fenomenologia, com base em Husserl (1997). Cinco estudantes expõem suas concepções do que é o som, e a partir de seus discursos procede-se à redução fenomenológica. Seus discursos são compreendidos em seus horizontes e perspectivas através da reflexão. Após a compreensão das unidades, traçamos um perfil ideográfico, do qual nascem as convergências, as quais, após serem agrupadas, compõem a compreensão nomotética geral dos discursos. Assim, é estruturado o fenômeno do que é o som. A análise fenomenológica descortinou a importância de abordagens significativas, ativas e lúdicas para o ensino, a fim de impulsionar o aprendizado e auxiliar na construção e reconstrução dos conhecimentos que envolvem a relação intrínseca entre Arte e Ciência. / This research addresses the possibility of establishing an interdisciplinary practice between disciplines of Physics and Music, in high school integrated to technical, on Federal Institute of Paraná, Telemaco Borba site. The study has aimed to establish an interdisciplinary practice between the disciplines of physics and music, that focuses on the use of monochord as Perelman’s Playful Object. Also, seek to understand design of the sound concept by the students, creating a blog to spread interdisciplinary proposal, which relates the Perelman’s Playful Object with active construction of knowledge by students. The methodological approach is qualitative, by phenomenology, based on Husserl (1997). Five students display their conceptions of what is sound, and from their speeches proceeds to phenomenological reduction. These speeches were understandable in their horizons and perspectives through reflection. After understanding of units, we draw an ideographic profile, from whom born the convergences, which, after being grouped together set up the overall nomothetic understanding of speeches. Therefore, we have structured phenomenon of what is sound. The phenomenological analysis unveiled the importance of meaningful approaches, active and playful for teaching. In order to boost learning, help in the construction and reconstruction of knowledge that involving the intrinsic relationship between Art and Science.

The research was concerned with perceptions of language and physics in three strata of participants in a writing across the curriculum teaching course at an intermediate college. The participants were: a language teacher, two physics teachers and a class of twenty physics students - the students were studying in order to enter the Engineering Faculty at the University of Cape Town. The predominant understanding of the teachers was that of a limited interpenetration between the discourse of physics and language teaching. Physics teachers thought that language teachers would experience difficulties with both the concepts and language of physics. In actual practice however, students and the language teacher managed physics knowledge with some degree of success in the language classroom. Some students understood writing as helping them to understand physics. However, the dominant understanding of language was that of knowing the appropriate language of physics for their teachers. An appropriate language understanding was seen as potentially problematic in that it could encourage an unquestioning or monodimensional approach to physics knowledge. As a way around this problem, it was suggested that language teachers teach students to recognise and to use particular genres within science, and to develop their voice within these constraints.

As personal computers (PCs) and related ICTs become more and more omnipresent than ever before in institutions of education, teachers are faced with the challenge of having to teach in ICT rich environments. Some syllabuses increase this pressure by stipulating where ICT may be applied. While past research efforts have focused on presence of and/or effectiveness of ICTs on achieving various didactic goals, there is limited literature on the extent to which actual practice occurred naturally. It was the aim of this study to determine the extent to which Physics teachers and students used ICT in their usual teaching/learning ambience, referred to as natural settings in this study. Using activity theory as a theoretical lens, multiple case studies were chosen as a strategy using 10 schools, 15 Physics teachers, 20 A-level Physics students and 10 ICT teachers (computer specialists). Questionnaires, observations and informal and focus group interviews were used to elicit responses from students, teachers and computer specialists. It emerged from the case studies that despite the presence of apt ICT infrastructure in the schools and although the teachers had a positive attitude towards the use of ICT for teaching and learning of Physics, teachers were apathetic when it came to the actual use. Some of the reasons militating against use were lack of an ICT policy, school authority, and monopoly of computers enjoyed by computer studies teachers. However among students there were ‘early starters’ who used ICTs outside of school, a situation that tended to change the Physics learning environment. These findings led to a proposal for a post of Computer Specialist (CS) in the schools. The need for developing ICT policy at all levels namely national, Ministry of Education and the school was also proposed. Lastly staff development in the use ICT for Physics teachers was proposed as indispensable.

The purpose of this study was to explore the Zimbabwean physics teachers’ interpretation of the Advanced Level Physics curriculum. The study was motivated by the teachers’ lacklustre approach to adopting new practices and the poor alignment of their understanding with the practice envisaged by developers (Fullan, 2007:39; Ndawi&Maravanyika, 2011:68). Zimbabwean Advanced Level physics teachers are in this predicament, as evidenced by the low numbers of undergraduate students and the misconceptions displayed by physics learners enrolling for first year university work in physics-related disciplines (Kazembe and Musarandega, 2012:4). Having an idea of physics teachers’ perceptions, experiences and current practices with regard to the revised Advanced Level physics curriculum maybe fertile ground for intervention measures and policy decisions. To obtain a more holistic picture of the physics teachers’ practices, a mixed methods research approach using the convergent parallel research design was adopted for the study. A closed survey questionnaire was used to solicit for information from 56 physics teachers in four educational provinces. Random sampling was used to select the survey respondents. From these participants, 10 were purposively selected for face-to-face in-depth structured interviews basing on their availability and accessibility. Ten schemes of work,one from each interviewed teacher, for one school term and six past examination practical paper 4 question papers were collected and analysed using a document analysis guide. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics and chi-square, whereas qualitative data was collated into themes for discussion purposes. The findings of the study reveal that the physics teachers have embraced the ideals of the physics curriculum and adapted it to their operating context through the reiterative interpretation process to construct personal meaning. The teachers are mainly utilising teacher-centred approaches to impart knowledge to the learners which is not consistent with the physics curriculum anticipations of using learner-centred approaches. The physics teachers are superficially interpreting the physics curriculum.The physics teachers need to embrace the learner centred teaching approach andbe empowered to enhance their curriculum interpretation and teaching practices through staff development. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Curriculum Studies)

Few South African students pass Grade 12 Physical Science with symbols required by university science, engineering and health science faculties. A large number of students who sit for Grade 12 Physical Science and Mathematics exams pass with symbols that are well below those required by the mainstream science courses at South African universities. Most South African universities have introduced Science Foundation Programmes with the aim of upgrading those students who failed to obtain university entrance symbols in the relevant subjects. Amongst the courses offered in Science Foundation Programmes is Foundation Physics. This study investigates the influence of Foundation Physics in order to find out if the programmes in different institutions are successful in empowering the students who failed to get the required entrance mark in Grade 12 Physical Science. Four South African Historically Black universities participated in this study. The Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation test (FMCE) (Thornton & Sokoloff, 1998) and mechanics marks were used to assess students' understanding of Newtonian mechanics. Data was analyzed from socio-cultural perspective. A total of 194 students participated in the study. Two groups of students were compared, i.e. those who did Foundation Physics (Foundation group) and those who did not do Foundation Physics (non-Foundation group). The students were tested after they had completed a mechanics module, which forms a great foundation of Physics I (Introductory Physics). Two focus group interviews were held with selected Foundation and non-Foundation students per institution. Students voiced their experiences in Physics I and Foundation Physics. Students were chosen to represent focus groups according to their performance in the FMCE test. Mechanics class performances were also used to evaluate students' performance. In order to establish how Foundation Physics is taught, Foundation Physics Lecturer interviews were conducted at all four institutions. Analysis of data showed that both Foundation and non-Foundation students performed equally in Physics I mechanics module. Foundation group performed better than the non-Foundation group in the FMCE, which is a conceptual test. Foundation Physics lecturers indicated that there were some differences in the way mechanics was taught in Physics I and Foundation Physics. These differences affected students' performance. The lecturers also indicated that there was minimal interaction between Physics I lecturers and Foundation Physics lecturers pertaining to the teaching of the two courses. What influence does Foundation Physics have on the performance of students in Physics I? This study found that students who did Foundation Physics performed better than those who did not do Foundation Physics in conceptual questions and both the groups perform equally in questions that require memorizing and calculations. This implies that Foundation Physics courses are empowering the students to perform well in Physics I. However, as it is evidenced by this research, the differences in assessment in Physics I and Foundation Physics courses in some institutions hampers Foundation Physics students' learning, because the questions asked require them to memorize without understanding, something they are not used to. The researcher recommends that Foundation Physics staff and Physics I staff should start communicating, not only about how Foundation Physics should be run as was the case in the past, but also on how best Physics I should be run. This might help in making sure that the two courses are assessed similarly at one institution. / Mathematics, Science and Technology Education / D. Phil. (Mathematics, Science and Technology Education)

The aim of this study was firstly to evaluate the impact of two interactive-engagement models of instruction, namely Whole Class Discussions (WCD) and Computer Simulations (CS) on first year physics student-teachers’ conceptual understanding of Newtonian mechanics, and on their epistemological beliefs about physics. The force concept inventory was used to evaluate the impact on conceptual understanding while the Epistemological Beliefs About Physical Science questionnaire was used to evaluate the impact on their epistemological beliefs. The findings suggest that interactive engagement models had a positive impact on students’ conceptual understanding of Newtonian mechanics, and on their epistemological beliefs about physics. The study also contributed WCD and CS activities that can be used or adapted with an aim of enhancing conceptual understanding in physics. The study did not show any direct relationship between students’ conceptual understanding of Newtonian mechanics and their epistemological beliefs about physics. Key words: Interactive-engagement, Whole Class Discussion, Computer Simulations, epistemological beliefs about physics. / Physics / M.Sc. (Physics Education)