Na discussão atual sobre a Alfabetização Científica, há um consenso que esse processo ocorre ao longo da vida e em diferentes espaços educativos. A fim de colaborar com essa discussão, o presente estudo investigou se as exposições em jardins botânicos contribuem para a Alfabetização Científica de seus visitantes. A revisão da literatura referente à Alfabetização Científica e à educação em museus permitiu desenvolver uma Ferramenta de Análise para avaliar a presença de indicadores de Alfabetização Científica. A pesquisa foi realizada em uma exposição no Jardim Botânico de São Paulo e teve duas unidades de coleta de dados: exposição e público. Em ambas foi empregada a Ferramenta de Análise, sendo que, para o público, a análise dos diálogos identificou ainda a presença de habilidades investigativas. Os resultados revelam que a exposição, apesar de não ter sido elaborada na perspectiva da Alfabetização Científica, contempla todos os indicadores propostos científicos, institucionais, sociais e estéticos/afetivos e carrega 10 dos 19 atributos estabelecidos pela Ferramenta de Análise, sendo o Indicador Científico o mais presente na exposição. Quanto à análise dos diálogos das famílias, o Indicador Científico também foi o mais presente, mostrando que as afinidades pessoais e as vivências com o meio natural despertam a atenção dos visitantes para os assuntos relacionados à ciência. As habilidades investigativas mais evidenciadas são: observação, questionamento e explicação. Concluímos que a exposição estudada incita a compreensão e a discussão de temas científicos relacionados às questões ambientais atuais discutidas pela sociedade. Como produto final de nossas análises, traçamos recomendações para a Alfabetização Científica em jardins botânicos. / There is a consensus in the current discussion regarding scientific literacy that this process occurs throughout life and in different educational grounds. In order to collaborate with this discussion, this study investigated if exhibitions in botanical gardens contribute to the scientific literacy of theirs visitors. Literature reviews related to scientific literacy and education in museums, allowed us to develop an Analytical Tool with the purpose to evaluate the presence of scientific literacy indicators. The research was conducted in an exhibition at the Botanical Garden of São Paulo, and we used two components to collect data: the exhibition itself and the public. The Analytical Tool was employed in both of them, and while the public was concerned, the analysis of the dialogues identified the presence of inquiry skills. The results showed that the exhibition, despite not being elaborated in the scientific literacy perspective, contemplates all of the proposed indicators scientific, institutional, social, and aesthetic/affective and carries ten out of the nineteen attributes established by the Analytical Tool, being the Scientific Indicator the most present in the exhibition. Regarding the analysis of families dialogues, the Scientific Indicator was also the most present, showing that personal affinities and experiences with natural environment arouse the visitors attention to subjects related to science. The most apparent inquiry skills are: observation, questioning, and explanation. We conclude that, the exhibition studied incites comprehension and the discussion of scientific themes related to current environmental issues debated by society. As a result, we recommend scientific literacy in botanical gardens.

O presente trabalho visa investigar os processos mnemônicos em atividades de ensino de Ciências nas séries iniciais do Ensino Fundamental, a partir dos contributos da abordagem histórico-cultural, tendo como objetivos específicos: a) Investigar os processos mnemônicos em atividades de ensino de Ciências; b) Compreender os impactos da mediação pedagógica no processo de apropriação e elaboração do conhecimento científico; c) Identificar as contribuições do ensino de Ciências nas séries iniciais do Ensino Fundamental. A pesquisa foi realizada com a participação de aproximadamente 30 crianças, com idade entre 9 e 10 anos, pertencentes a uma escola pública de Ribeirão Preto-SP. O trabalho empírico consistiu na realização de um projeto sobre o corpo humano, em termos metodológicos optou-se pela abordagem qualitativa-participante, utilizando videogravações como instrumento de coleta de dados e a microgenética como método de análise; as atividades foram videogravadas, transcritas e organizadas em episódios. Os resultados mostraram que: a) os processos mnemônicos em sala de aula vão muito além do ato de decorar/reproduzir, estando relacionados a muitas outras funções psicológicas tais como percepção, comparação, abstração, imaginação, sendo fundamentais para a construção de relações e significados, a elaboração conceitual, a formação do pensamento teórico e sistematizado e a criação humana; b) a mediação pedagógica ocorre por meio do gesto, da demonstração, do diálogo, dos recursos e estratégias utilizadas pelo professor em sala de aula, também na interação entre crianças em diferentes fases de desenvolvimento, por meio do apoio mútuo, do confronto de ideias, da imitação, da criação de estratégias e auxiliares mnemônicos próprios, contribuindo significativamente no processo de apropriação e elaboração do conhecimento científico; c) o ensino de Ciências nas séries iniciais do Ensino Fundamental amplia a leitura do universo e a compreensão da realidade com vistas à transformação social, propicia a formação do pensamento teórico e sistematizado, a elaboração conceitual, o desenvolvimento de funções psicológicas superiores e o desenvolvimento humano como um todo, além de favorecer a realização de atividades que estimulam a memória, a imaginação e a criação humana. / This research aim to investigate mnemonic processes on Science teaching activities in first grades from Elementary School with the contribution from a historical and cultural approach having as specific goals: a) investigate mnemonic processes on Science teaching activities; b) understand the pedagogical intervention impacts on the process of scientific knowledge construction and appropriation; c) identify the contributions from teaching Science on Elementary School first grades. The data was collected from a group with around 30 children between 9 and 10 years old from a public school in Ribeirão Preto SP. This empiric study consisted in having a project about the human body. A qualitative and attendant approach was used as methodology; videotapes were used as data collecting instrument and microgenetic as analysis method; the activities were videotaped, transcripted and organized in episodes. The results showed that: a) the mnemonic processes inside the class go beyond the actions of memorizing and repeating what was said, its actually related to many other psychological functions as perception, comparison, abstraction, imagination, being fundamental on the constructions of relations and meanings, on the conceptual elaboration, on the theoretical and systematized thought construction and on the human kind creation; b) the pedagogical intervention happens through gestures, demonstration, dialog, sources and strategies used by the teacher inside the class, also on the relation between children in different stages of development through mutual support, from confronting ideas, copying, creating their own strategies and mnemonic auxiliaries, contributing heavily on the process of scientific knowledge construction and appropriation; c) teaching Science on Elementary School first grades amplifies the universe reading and the reality comprehension focusing on social changes, it helps on constructing theoretical and systematized thoughts, on conceptual elaboration, on developing the superior psychological functions and on all human development besides favoring doing activities which stimulate memory, imagination and human creation.

A linguagem é um campo de pesquisa em educação em ciências cujo número de trabalhos vem crescendo nos últimos anos (Carlsen, 2007). Um dos assuntos relacionados à linguagem na educação em ciências que ainda necessita ser mais explorado é a leitura e a escrita em ciências. Algumas das questões que surgem nesta fronteira do conhecimento são: Como os textos usados no ensino-aprendizagem de ciências podem ser caracterizados? Qual a relação destes textos com a compreensão leitora dos estudantes que com eles tomam contato? Possíveis respostas para estas questões são apresentadas em investigações que abordam a linguagem de tais textos (Merzyn, 1987; Unsworth, 2001), ou que enfatizam a questão dos gêneros de texto não ficcionais (Keys, 1999; Hand et al, 1999) ou, ainda, que exploram o uso de textos jornalísticos no ensinoaprendizagem de ciências (Wellington, 1991; Norris e Phillips, 1994; Phillips e Norris, 1999; Ratcliffe, 1999). Nesse trabalho sugerimos uma possível resposta para estes problemas focando-nos na investigação da compreensão leitora. Aqui procuramos avaliar a compreensão manifestada por duas amostras de estudantes do final do ensino fundamental (entre 14-15 anos) que lêem trechos de textos de diferentes gêneros, mas que tratam de um mesmo assunto relacionado às ciências. Uma destas amostras é caracterizada por ler um trecho de um texto extraído de um livro texto e, a outra, por ler um trecho de texto extraído de um material de divulgação científica. Analisamos o desempenho dos leitores em testes de conhecimento, de aplicação de conhecimento e de atitudes em relação ao texto. Também analisamos alguns elementos da estrutura desses textos. Verificamos que os estudantes que leram o material de divulgação científica obtiveram melhores pontuações nos testes realizados do que os seus pares que leram o trecho de livro texto e que as meninas obtiveram resultados melhores do que os meninos. Nossa análise revelou que os leitores do texto de divulgação parecem ter mais sucesso para integrar o que já sabiam com as informações apresentadas no texto. Segundo o modelo de compreensão do discurso de vanDijk e Kintsch (1983) isso evidencia que estes leitores estão construindo representações mais completas das situações tratadas no texto. A fim de tentar explicar as diferenças de aprendizagem detectadas, de um lado exploramos alguns aspectos relacionados aos leitores: as atitudes que tinham em relação aos textos, sua proficiência leitora e o quanto já sabiam sobre os assuntos tratados no material que leram. Nenhum destes fatores demonstrou ser suficiente para entendermos as diferenças de compreensão associadas à leitura que observamos. Por outro lado, exploramos a estrutura dos textos e constatamos a existência de diferenças marcantes entre eles. Dessa maneira, nossa principal tese é que as diferenças de compreensão observadas podem ser decorrentes de um processamento diferenciado que ocorre por ocasião da leitura destes textos, tal processamento diferenciado poderia estar sendo desencadeado pela forma em que certos elementos da estrutura destes textos se apresentam. / Language is one field of science education research that has received a lot of attention lately. This is revealed by an increase in the number of papers that deal with this subject (Carlsen, 2007). One of the topics related to language in science education that still need to be further explored is reading and writing in science. Here, some questions that can represent border knowledge are: How school science texts can be characterized? Is there any relation between these texts and their reading comprehension? Possible answers to these questions have dealt with the linguistic features of science texts (Merzyn, 1987; Unsworth, 2001), or have emphasized non fiction genres (Keys, 1999; Hand et al, 1999), or have explored newspaper articles on science education (Wellington, 1991; Norris e Phillips, 1994; Phillips e Norris, 1999; Ratcliffe, 1999). In this work we follow a different pathway: we focus our attention on reading comprehension. Here we assess 14-15 years old students reading comprehension through some tests. The students were randomly assigned to read either a textbook or a popular science article passage about the same subject. We analised readers performance on knowledge tests, on application tests and readers attitudes toward the text. We have also analised some structural features of the texts. The popular science article readers performed better than their peers and girls performed better than boys. Our analyses indicate that the popular science article readers tend to more successfully integrate their previous knowledge with the new information presented in the text. According to vanDijk and Kintsch (1983) discourse comprehension model this evidence these readers are constructing more complete representations about the situations presented in the text. In order to further understanding the observed learning differences we explored readers factors, such as attitudes toward the texts, reading skills and previous knowledge. None of these factors suffice us to understand the observed reading comprehension differences. On the other hand we verified very strong differences in some texts features. Our thesis is that the observed reading comprehension differences can be a consequence of differences in reading processes, triggered by some elements of the texts that were readen.

A sociologia da modernidade líquida de Zygmunt Bauman (1925 ) é, segundo o autor, um modo possível de articular o conhecimento científico sobre a sociedade com o conhecimento comum da vida cotidiana. Em virtude de sua natureza, seus textos têm despertado grande interesse em um público de leitores não habituados a esse campo disciplinar, a ponto de ser apresentado, por suas casas publicadoras, como um verdadeiro best-seller. Este estudo, situado no âmbito da sociologia da cultura, visa compreender, por meio da análise da sociologia de Bauman, o estado atual do campo sociológico em suas relações com a cultura de massa, tendo por pressuposto a lógica cultural contemporânea em que a distinção tradicional entre alta e baixa cultura ou entre ciência e senso comum parece perder legitimidade. Como resultado, a sociologia da modernidade líquida, a despeito de sua pretensão científica, aproximar-se-ia das práticas de vulgarização da ciência, fenômeno mais amplo e difuso nos diversos domínios disciplinares e que encontraria no esquema teórico de Bauman sua expressão no campo sociológico. / The liquid modernity sociology of Zygmunt Bauman (1925 -) is, according to the author, a possible way to linking scientific knowledge about society with common knowledge of everyday life. Due to their nature, his texts have aroused great interest in an audience of readers not familiar with this disciplinary field, about to be presented, by his publishers, like a true best-seller. This study, situated within the sociology of culture, aims to understand, through the analysis of the Baumans sociology, the current state of the sociological field in its relations to the mass culture, admitting a cultural logic contemporary that the traditional distinction between high and low culture - or between science and common sense - seems to lose legitimacy. As a result, the sociology of liquid modernity, despite its scientific pretensions, would bring the practices of scientific literacy, broader phenomenon and diffuse in different disciplinary domains and find that thetheoretical scheme of Bauman expression in sociological field.

Este trabalho teve início a partir da leitura de um artigo publicado em revista científica que questionava o letramento científico dos alunos brasileiros, de acordo com a avaliação feita em países pertencentes à OCDE e convidados, onde o Brasil ficou numa das últimas colocações. O objetivo deste trabalho foi elaborar a partir de teorias de pesquisadores da área, um questionário para medir e classificar o nível de letramento científico dos alunos de Ensino Médio, utilizando conceitos básicos de teoria das cores, absorção, reflexão e transmissão da luz e visão para a realização das medidas. De acordo com as respostas dos alunos neste questionário pudemos definir em qual nível de letramento científico os alunos estavam, tendo assim uma visão mais completa dos conhecimentos básicos de Óptica dos alunos, podendo sugerir metodologias de trabalho para que futuramente os professores de Física possam melhorar os níveis de letramento científico dos alunos do Ensino Médio. Mostramos em nossos resultados que o nível de letramento científico dos alunos é muito baixo. São apontadas prováveis causas desse resultado negativo e sugeridas metodologias para o aumento do nível do letramento científico desses alunos. / This work had beginning from the reading of an article published in scientific magazine that questioned the scientific literacy of the Brazilian pupils, in accordance with assessment made in countries pertaining the OCDE and guests, where Brazil was in one of them finishes places. The objective of this work was to elaborate from theories of researchers of the area, a test to measure and to classify level of scientific literacy of High School students, being used basic concepts of theory of the colors, absorption, reflection and transmission light and vision for realization of the measures. According with the answers of the students in this test, we could define in which level of scientific literacy the students were, thus having one more complete vision of the basics knowledge of optics of the students being able to suggest work methodologies so that future the professors of Physics can improve the levels of scientific literacy of High School students. We show in our results that the level of scientific literacy is very low. Are appointed probable causes of this negative results and suggested methodologies with respect to the increase the scientific literacy level of the students.

A humanidade passa por um intenso momento de transformações sociais, na qual se valoriza a interpretação de fenômenos, a criatividade e o pensamento crítico. Neste sentido, o ensino das ciências da natureza pode contribuir na formação dos cidadãos. Entretanto, no cotidiano escolar prevalece a compartimentalização das disciplinas, o que pode prejudicar tanto no entendimento sistêmico dos fenômenos, quanto na percepção das relações de influências dos seus pormenores. A busca pela alfabetização científica através de ferramentas de visualização (mapas conceituais), pode ser uma alternativa para essa modificar este cenário educacional. O objetivo desta pesquisa é analisar os conhecimentos e descrever os ingressantes da Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanindades (EACH), em relação ao tema \"Ciência, Tecnologia e Sociedade\" e suas relações de influência. Para tal, foi realizado um estudo de caso exploratório-descritivo, a partir de mapas conceituais semi-estruturados (MCs). Os 53 MCs foram coletados na 5ª semana do Ciclo Básico da EACH, na disciplina do ACH 0011, ministrada no 1º semestre de 2009. Foram realizadas as seguintes análises: (1) \"semântica\", na qual todas as proposições (n = 683) foram categorizadas pelo consenso entre três especialistas em ensino de ciências, com o objetivo entender as intenções de significado dos mapeadores, na tentativa de responder a questão focal do MC; (2) \"estrutural\", na qual observou-se a complexidade da rede proposicional do MC, seguindo os parâmetros \"Densidade Proposicional\" (DP), \"Conceitos Iniciais com Múltiplas proposições\"(CIM) e \"Conceitos Finais com Múltiplas proposições\"(CFM), fundamental para agrupar os MCs para subsequentes comparações; (3) \"frequência das categorias dos grupos de maior e menor complexidade estrutural\", com o intuito de verificar a influência da estrutura dos MCs na intenção semântica das proposições; (4) \"conceitual das proposições da categoria \'Natureza da ciência\' dos grupos de maior e menor complexidade estrutural\", a fim de averiguar os conceitos mais utilizados em ambos os grupos. Os resultados indicaram o caráter multidisciplinar não transversal da educação básica brasileira ao evidenciar a preponderância da categoria \"Natureza da ciência\". Mostraram, também, não haver relação imediata entre a complexidade da estrutura dos MCs e as intenções semânticas das suas proposições. Ressalta-se que os procedimentos utilizados configuram-se como interessantes estratégias para o uso cotidiano nas salas de aula. Esta dissertação permitirá aos docentes da EACH obter maiores informações sobre os conhecimentos prévios dos seus ingressantes. / Humanity is passing through an intense momentum of social transformations, which are valued phenomenon\'s interpretation, creativity and critical thinking. At this sense, the teaching of Natural Sciences can contribute to citizens\' formation. However, inside the academic quotidian the compartmentalization of subjects remains, which can affect both the systemic understanding of the phenomenon, and the perception of influences\' relations and its details. The goal of scientific literacy through visual tools (concept maps) can be an alternative to modify this backward educational pattern. The objective of this research is to analyze the knowledge and describe the freshmen of Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades (EACH), upon the theme \"Science, Technology and Society\" and its relations of influence. For that, there were performed an exploratory and descriptive case study from semi structured concept maps (CMs). The 53 CMs had been collected at the 5th week of the Basic Cycle of the EACH, in the subject ACH 0011 given at the 1st semester of 2009. It has been realized according to the following analysis: (1) \"semantic\", in which all the proposals (n = 683) had been categorized according to a consensus among three specialists in the teaching of science, with the objective to understand the mappers intentions meanings, in an attempt to answer the main question of the CM; (2) \"structural\", in which has been observed the complexity of the propositional network from the CM, according to parameters such as \"Propositional Density\" (PD), \"Initial Concepts with Multiple propositions\" (ICM) and \"Final Concepts with Multiple propositions\" (FCM), fundamental to cluster the CMs for subsequent comparisons; (3) \"frequency of the categories of groups with more and less structural complexity\", with the intention of identifying the influence of the CMs structures in the semantic intention of the propositions; (4) \"conceptual of the \'Natural Sciences\' category propositions of the groups with more and less structural complexity\", with the intention of ascertaining the most used concepts in both groups. The results indicated the multidisciplinary not crossed character of Brazilian basic education by pointing the preponderance of the category \"Nature of science\". It has also showed no immediate relationship between the complexity of the structure of the CMs and the semantic intentions of its propositions. It should be noticed that the procedures used are configured as interesting strategies for the everyday use in classroom. This essay will allow the teachers of EACH to obtain more information upon prior knowledge of their freshmen.

Scientific literacy is concerned with the informed citizens' ability to negotiate scientifically-related societal issues. The suite of skills necessary to negotiate these complex issues is referred to as Socioscientific Reasoning (SSR). SSR requires, among other things, perspective-taking abilities in order to consider the multi-faceted nature of these open-ended, debatable socioscientific issues (SSI). Developing interventions and instruments to foster and measure perspective taking in support of SSR is therefore critical to the promotion of functional scientific literacy through both research and practice. Although widely studied in many disciplines, perspective taking is a particularly tangled construct that has been used to describe a range of activities representing different psychological domains and applied interchangeably with related constructs such as role taking, empathy, and theory of mind. This ambiguity makes it difficult to ensure construct validity and prevents science education researchers from honing in on the precise skills they wish to study and promote. To clarify the construct of perspective taking, this study undertook a conceptual analysis to operationalize perspective taking, drawing comparisons and distinctions between it and related constructs. Further, by applying a method known as conception development, perspective taking was positioned in the context of SSR, particularly as it relates to moral development, in order to devise a more precise construct relating perspective taking to SSR called socioscientific perspective taking (SSPT). It is asserted that SSPT requires engagement with others or their circumstances, an etic/emic shift, and a moral context comprised of reflective and reflexive judgment. Finally, in order to identify promising interventions for promoting SSPT in the science classroom, the newly-developed SSPT construct was applied to a series of extensively researched curricular frameworks that promote perspective taking in three non-science disciplines including historical empathy (social studies education), method acting (theater education), and autism intervention (special education). The aim of this theoretical inquiry was to translate successful perspective-taking interventions into SSI contexts, yielding an array of promising approaches for fostering SSPT while assessing the feasibility of each of these fields as potential sources for novel and expansive work in SSI to promote scientific literacy. Implications for science education research and practice are discussed.

The purpose of this investigation was to explore how aspects of identity, perceived levels of controversy, and the strength of a student's attachment to their controversial identity relate to conceptual understanding and knowledge acquisition during socioscientific issues (SSI) based instruction in a biology classroom. The knowledge gained from this study will have the capacity to enhance our understanding of the role that attachment to identity plays during SSI negotiation. Additionally, insight was gained into the role played by aspects of identity in conceptual understanding of scientifically controversial topics during SSI based instruction. This study contributed to the existing knowledge base in science education by illuminating processes involved in socioscientific issue navigation among students of differing perceptions of controversy as well as students who held aspects of controversial identity that may or may not interact with the specific issues chosen. Students demonstrated evidence of variations of reasoning, justification, perception of controversy, and aspects of knowledge gain as they negotiated the issues of marijuana safety and fast food legality. Additionally, evidence was provided that showed general knowledge gain throughout the group during socioscientific issues instruction. It has been said that one of the appeals of the SSI instructional model is that is serves not only as a context for the delivery of content, but acts as a catalyst for various forms of epistemological beliefs and research into the development of conceptual and psychological knowledge structures (Zeidler, 2013). This investigation supports the deeper understanding of the contribution of controversy perception to epistemology as well as conceptual and psychological knowledge structures during SSI navigation.

This study provides a definition of scientific literacy applicable to secondary school science students. The definition was developed from theories about cognitive processes, the discourse of science, the language register of science and cognitive writing processes. A computer-assisted Scientific Literacy Development Plan was formulated and classroom research undertaken to test its effectiveness. A model of cognitive writing was used as an application of the Scientific Literacy Development Plan in classroom research. The model is called a HyperCard Pathways writing model.The research methodology was a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods and took place in three phases over three academic school years. The HyperCard Pathways model of writing was developed in modules for the topics of the Year 11 Physics Extended Subject Framework of the Senior Secondary Assessment Board of South Australia. Students used the modules for the completion of required pieces of writing in science as part of the requirements for the South Australian Certificate of Education. Results indicated that the Scientific Literacy Development Plan was an effective tool for the enhancement of scientific literacy of Year 11 physics students and there was potential for the use of the plan in other science subjects. A number of teachers incorporated the techniques of the Scientific Literacy Development Plan into their regular course schedules.In conjunction with the classroom research, a method to assess explanation genre essays was developed called the Scientific Explanation Genre Assessment Scheme. This was trialled independently of the trials of the Scientific Literacy Development Plan and was found to be used reliably by teachers of Year 11 physics. The effectiveness of the computer-assisted Scientific Literacy Development Plan was demonstrated by evidence of improvement in scientific ++ / writing beyond that of normal practice. The products of this research: lesson plans, computer discs, and supporting materials were developed to be of assistance to other teachers. The materials can be adapted to other modules in the science curricula, and, following this project some teachers have chosen to do this.

<p>When children encounter new subjects in school, they are also faced with new ways of using language. Learning science thus means learning the language of science, and writing is one of the ways this is accomplished. The present study investigates writing in natural sciences in grades 5 and 8 in Swedish schools. Major theoretical influences for these investigations are found within the socio-cultural, dialogical and social semiotic perspectives on language use.</p><p>The study is based on texts written by 97 students, interviews around these texts and observations from 16 different classroom practices. Writing is seen as a situated practice; therefore analysis is carried out of the activities surrounding the texts. The student texts are analysed in terms of genre and in relation to their abstraction, density and use of expansions. This analysis shows among other things that the texts show increasing abstraction and density with increasing age, whereas the text structure and the use of expansions do not increase.</p><p>It is also argued that a central point in school writing must be the students’ way of talking about their texts. Analysis of interviews with the students is thus carried out in terms of text movability. The results from this analysis indicate that students find it difficult to talk about their texts. They find it hard to express the main content of the text, as well as to discuss it’s function and potential readers.</p><p>Previous studies argue that writing constitutes a potential for learning. In the material studied in this thesis, this potential learning tool is not used to any large extent. To be able to participate in natural sciences in higher levels, students need to take part in practices where the specialized language of natural science is used in writing as well as in speech.</p>