One of the principles regarding our knowledge about life on earth is that no organism can be fully understood without taking into account its surrounding environment. This study examines the extent to which ecosystem-focused field studies may be associated with students' academic performance and potential to contribute to the advancement of science and conservation. Pilot studies conducted in Panama and California established methods used in this project from 1993-2003. Two hundred and sixty-seven students conducted field studies in either Kenya or Costa Rica. Students worked in cognitive apprenticeships, in which research staff trained each student to conduct field research. At the conclusion of their fieldwork, the research staff assessed the students written field reports. The students' reports were then sorted according to the extent to which their studies were ecosystem-focused. Data analysis through nonparametric, Kruskal-Wallis statistical tests revealed no significant difference in academic performance on field study reports, in regards to whether the studies were narrow in scope (species-specific) or broad (ecosystem-focused). Marginal significance was revealed between ecosystem-focused studies and the potential for students' fieldwork to contribute to the advancement of science and conservation. Also addressed in the data were injuries, disease, and potential hazards, which were influenced by prudent and decisive leadership. Successful field studies require consideration of the content, context, and design of the intended field projects. Many of the solutions to environmental problems on the planet will come from the working hands of teachers and students that conduct explorations in the field. / Life Sciences in Education / D. Phil. (Mathematics, Science and Technology Education)

This study focused on the role of and the relationship between the traditional apprenticeship system and cooperative education in British Columbia (BC) as experiential strategies to facilitate the transition from school to work. A literature review traced the conceptual foundations, origins and evolution of apprenticeship training and cooperative education and their interaction in the training of apprentices. Thereafter, the provision of the school-to-work strategies in Canada on federal and provincial levels with special reference to British Columbia was described. The literature indicated that apprenticeship has remained the principal route for the training of skilled blue-collar workers. However, the relevance of apprenticeship has been questioned. Although the apprenticeship system has not essentially changed in BC, the system has become increasingly regulated. Industry, advocates of more flexible training delivery methods and the BC Provincial Government through Bill 34 have challenged apprenticeship training. Cooperative education originated as a result of individual thinking, a changing society and system of post-secondary education linked to industry's training needs. It has grown in number, application, fields of study and constituency and its mode of operation has been modified to meet institutional needs. There are strong indications that the cooperative model has been an effective educational model, particularly in training apprentices within the traditional apprenticeship system. Thus, a need arose to explore the level of satisfaction of employers with cooperative education as a valid methodology to train apprentices within the context of the new apprenticeship training model in British Columbia. An empirical investigation combining quantitative and qualitative approaches conducted in two phases was conducted. A survey with a random sample of employees and semi-structured interviews with a small sample of employees selected by purposeful sampling were undertaken to explore perceptions and experiences of employers who have been involved with both training methods during the last four years. The research design is described including the selection of participants, data gathering and analysis. The main findings emerging from the data are presented and integrated with the findings of the literature. The study concludes with a set of recommendations for practice and with recommendations for future research. / Educational Studies / (D.Ed. (Comparative Education)

In this thesis, I discuss how the undergraduate computer scientist is trained, and how they learn what I am calling computational intuition. Computational intuition describes the methodology in which computer scientists approach their problems and solve them through the use of computers. Computational intuition is a series of skills and a way of thinking or approaching problems that students learn throughout their education. The main way that computational intuition is taught to students is through the experience they gain as they work on homework and classwork problems. To develop computational intuition, students learn explicit knowledge and techniques as well as knowledge that is tacit and harder to teach within the lectures of a classroom environment. Computational intuition includes concepts that professors and students discuss which include “computer science intuition,” “computational thinking,” general problem solving skills or heuristics, and trained judgement. This way of learning is often social, and I draw on the pedagogy of cognitive apprenticeship to understand the interactions between the professors, tutors, and other students help learners gain an understanding of the “computer science intuition.” It is this method of thinking that computer scientists at the Claremont Colleges have stated as being one of the most essential items that should be taught and gained throughout their education and signals a wider understanding of computer science as a field.

Au Québec, le programme d’externat en soins infirmiers, permet aux étudiantes infirmières de travailler, à titre d’externes, durant l’été suivant leur 2e année d’étude. Les études portant sur les apprentissages que des étudiantes infirmières font à l’intérieur d’un programme d’externat ne reposent pas sur un cadre théorique définissant la vision de l’apprentissage des auteurs. De plus, aucune n’a fait de lien avec les compétences professionnelles. Cette étude avait pour but de décrire, selon la perception d’étudiantes universitaires québécoises, l’effet de leur participation à un programme d’externat en soins infirmiers sur le développement de leurs compétences professionnelles et s’est appuyée sur l’approche par compétences de seconde génération développée à la Faculté des sciences infirmières de l’Université de Montréal (Goudreau, Pepin, Dubois, Boyer, Larue et Legault, 2009). Les résultats obtenus reposent sur un devis descriptif qualitatif réalisé auprès de huit étudiantes infirmières universitaires. L’analyse a été réalisée selon la méthode de Miles et Huberman (2003) à partir de la transcription intégrale des entrevues. L’étude a permis d’identifier les principales compétences développées dans le cadre du programme d’externat, soit «Exercer un jugement clinique infirmier», «Collaborer dans des équipes professionnelles» et «Agir avec humanisme en accompagnant les personnes/familles/communautés dans leurs expériences de santé». Elle a également mis en évidence l’importance du développement de la confiance en soi dans l’expérience de travail des participantes. Des recommandations pour la gestion, la formation et la recherche découlent de cette étude. / In Quebec, the nursing externship program allows the nursing student to work as an extern the following summer after their second school year. The studies that focused on apprenticeship during the externship program were all realized in United States and they are not supported by any theoretical framework that explains the learning vision of the authors. In addition, these studies did not link their results with professional competencies development. The goal of this study was to describe the effect of the externship, as seen by Quebec university students, on the professional competencies development. This study was base on the second-generation competency approach. The approach was developed by the Nursing Faculty in Montreal University (Goudreau, Pepin, Dubois, Boyer, Larue et Legault, 2009). The results that were obtained rest on a descriptive qualitative study realized among a sampling of eight university nursing students. The analysis has been realized based on the integral transcripts of interviews as per the Miles & Huberman (2003) method. This study has permitted to identify the principal competencies developed during the externship program, as «Development of a nursing clinical judgment», «Collaborated within professional teams» and «Caring for patients and their families». The development of self confidence strongly shows the global perception of the nursing extern. Recommendations for management, formation and research arose from this study.

Ce mémoire de recherche-création vise d’abord à inventorier et à analyser les processus et procédés narratifs, rhétoriques et formels grâce auxquels trois films mettent en scène le savoir-faire musical, et particulièrement la situation d’apprentissage de la musique et la relation maître-élève. Ces trois films sont : All That Jazz, de Bob Fosse (1979), Bird, de Clint Eastwood (1988) et Tous les matins du monde, d’Alain Corneau (1991). Au terme de cet inventaire et de cette analyse, nous aurons repéré une dominante thématique : dans ces films, et peut-être au cinéma en général, la musique et l’enseignement de la musique sont représentés sous des traits socio-psychologiques particuliers : d’une part, la possession de l’autre, la soumission, le sacrifice et la perpétuelle insatisfaction. Mais aussi les multiples gratifications dont l’éducation et la formation du corps et de l’esprit sont gages. Il conviendra alors de vérifier une hypothèse : Est-ce que certains modes d’expression cinématographiques — ayant à voir avec certaines pratiques de cadrage, certaines figures du champ- contrechamp, etc. —, et certains modes de narration filmiques n’expliqueraient pas cette capacité du cinéma à mettre en scène les menaces affectives et sociales qui pèsent sur le maître de musique et l’apprenti musicien ? Ce sont ces mêmes processus et procédés, ce même thème et cette même hypothèse, qui seront explorés dans un scénario de long métrage, en faisant cette fois-ci confiance à la capacité de problématisation de l’écriture poétique. / This research aims at making an inventory and an analysis of the narrative, rhetorical and formal processes, in which three movies are presenting the musical know-how, and especially the teaching-learning situation between a music professor and his student. These three films are: Tous les matins du monde, directed by Alain Corneau (1991); Bird, by Clint Eastwood (1988) and All That Jazz, by Bob Fosse (1979). Eventually, this inventory and this analysis will allow us to identify a prevailing thematic: in these movies, and even in Cinema in general, it seems like music and musical education are portrayed under social and psychological features that are characteristics. There is, one hand, the possession of the other, the submission, the sacrifice and the perpetual dissatisfaction. But on the other hand, there are many gratifications to which education for body mind and spirit is a guarantee. Our hypothesis is that certain cinematographic expression modes — related to variations of framing styles, angle and reverse shots and so on—, and certain film narrative modes might be explaining this ability that Cinema has to show the emotional and social threat that weighs on the musical professor and on his student. These very same processes, thematic and hypothesis will be examined in a feature length script that will focus on the ability of questioning theses topics using the poetical composition.

(in English) This thesis deals with the choice of the Czech secondary vocational schools. Through a description of important theoretical approaches connected to the education and a study of the Czech educational system, the paper is getting to the analysis based on qualitative interviews analysed in compliance with the grounded theory approach. Through these interviews the process of choosing the secondary school and the relationship to the chosen school is described. In this part also the data from OECD PISA 2012 are used to provide an additional context. It is argued that the choice done by the apprentices is significantly limited and that the main source of such limits is social. These conclusions are connected with overall context of the Czech highly differentiated educational system. Keywords (in English) education, qualitative research, apprenticeship training, vocational education, choice of a secondary school, relationship to the school

L’objectif de cette thèse est d’évaluer l’influence du rapport au savoir sur la diversité des pratiques tutorales mises en œuvre par les artisans maîtres d’apprentissage (MA) accueillant des apprentis de niveau V. Les pratiques tutorales sont étudiées à partir du modèle de l'activité formalisé par Leontiev (1975) et définie à partir du rapport dynamique existant entre les mobiles, les actions et les opérations qui structurent l'activité tutorale. Notre population est composée de 153 artisans-maître d'apprentissage de la région Midi-Pyrénées qui ont répondu au questionnaire « Etre maître d’apprentissage aujourd’hui » construit à l'occasion de cette recherche. A partir d’une analyse multivariée des réponses à ce questionnaire, 15 sujets représentatifs de la diversité des modes d'exercice de la fonction de maître d'apprentissage ont été sélectionnés pour une étude approfondie des liens entre rapport au savoir et pratiques tutorales, par entretiens semi-directifs de recherche A travers la mise en œuvre d’une triangulation des données, nos résultats révèlent une diversité des modes d'exercice de la fonction tutorale et des formes de rapport au savoir au sein de la population des artisans-maîtres d'apprentissage. Ils montrent que le rapport au savoir influence les modes d’exercice de la fonction tutorale par sa contribution à la construction du sens que les sujets assignent à leur activité de tuteur. Parmi l'ensemble des dimensions du rapport au savoir, le sens de l’expérience scolaire joue un rôle majeur en participant à la constitution des mobiles qui ont incité les tuteurs à s’investir dans leur fonction de maître d'apprentissage. Ainsi, cette recherche contribue à la formalisation de propositions à visées applicatives relatives à la formation et la professionnalisation des maîtres d’apprentissage et permet de repérer l’importance de l’histoire socio-familiale et du sens et de la valeur que le sujet accorde à son parcours scolaire et professionnel personnel pour expliquer l'organisation de la formation des apprentis au sein des micro-entreprises. / The objective of this thesis is to evaluate how the relations to learning of the artisans serving as Apprenticeship Masters (MA) influence the diversity of tutorial practices they implement towards level V apprentices. Tutorial practices are studied according to the activity model formalized by Leontiev (1975) and defined on the basis of the dynamic relation existing between motives, actions and operations structuring tutorial activity. The population studied consists of the 153 apprenticeship master craftsmen from the Midi-Pyrénées Region who answered the questionnaire specifically elaborated for this research, entitled “Being an Apprenticeship Master today”. Following a multi-varied analysis, 15 of them, representatives of the various modes Apprenticeship Masters have of fulfilling their function, were selected through semi-directive research interviews for an in-depth analysis of the links between relations to learning and tutorial practices. The data triangulation led to the conclusion that, among the population of Apprenticeship Master Craftsmen, there exists a great variety of both tutorial function fulfilling modes and types of relations to learning. The results also indicate that these relations influence the Masters’ tutorial function fulfilling mode as they contribute to the elaboration of the significance the Masters impart to their tutoring activity. All dimensions of their relation to learning considered, it appears that the meaning taken by the Masters’ own schooling experience plays a critical part in so far as it participates in the formation of the motives that induced them to dedicate themselves to their apprenticeship master function.This research enables to pinpoint the importance, in order to explain the diversity of tutorial practices and apprentice training organizing modes encountered in micro-businesses, of both Apprenticeship Masters’ personal socio-familial histories and the significance and value they impart to their personal school and professional itineraries; it also contributes to the formalization of proposals that aim at providing explanations, regarding the training and professionalization of Apprenticeship Masters.

Considéré comme un continuateur de Chrétien de Troyes, Raoul de Houdenc s’inscrit dans la lignée des écrivains dits « arthuriens ». Avec son roman d’aventures Meraugis de Portlesguez, il retravaille les motifs mis à l’honneur par le maître champenois et bestourne la matière bretonne dans une indéniable intention parodique. Par l’étude comparative de ce récit avec les romans en vers de Chrétien de Troyes mais aussi avec le cycle en prose du Lancelot-Graal, on observe combien le personnage romanesque arthurien se révèle modelable : jouant habilement avec une structure traditionnelle (la Table Ronde avec ses gardiens immuables, l’errance formatrice, les monstres et les coutumes à abattre), l’auteur tourne en dérision l’agencement de ce système si bien policé par Chrétien de Troyes (1ère partie). Nous étudierons ensuite ses mêmes personnages sous l’angle de l’apprentissage : le héros éponyme, ainsi que plusieurs des personnages qui l’entourent, sont des êtres en devenir que l’auteur va faire grandir et mûrir. À travers le regard évolutif de ses créatures, Raoul va livrer sa propre conception de la courtoisie, conception qui s’accorde avec celle qu’il donne du parfait chevalier du Dit et du Roman des Eles, tissant entre ses deux œuvres un remarquable jeu d’échos (2e partie). Enfin, le personnage houdanesque crée un miroir avec la personne de ce début du XIIIe siècle : ses héros contrastés, et la voix de l’auteur-narrateur- personnage du Songe d’Enfer en proie au doute face aux courants de pensée contradictoires de son époque ancrent l’écriture houdanesque dans les œuvres alliant imagination et réflexion (3e partie). / Considered as one of Chrétien de Troyes’ successors, Raoul de Houdenc joins in the lineage of writers known as "Arthurians" writers. Through his adventure novel Meraugis de Portlesguez, he reinvents the motives highlighted by master Champenois and bestourne the Breton material in an undeniable parodic intention. Through the comparative study of this narrative with Chrétien de Troyes’ novels in verse; but also with the cycle in prose of Lancelot-Graal, we observe how much the Arthurian romantic character shows himself flexible: skilfully playing with a traditional structure (the Round Table with its unchanging guards, the formative wandering, the monsters and the customs that need to be destroyed), the author ridicules the organization of this system so well polished by Chrétien de Troyes (1st part). We will study then the same characters under the angle of the apprenticeship: the eponymous hero, as well as some of the characters who surround him, are constantly evolving beings that the author will make grow up and mature. Through the evolutionary glance of his creatures, Raoul will deliver his own conception of courtesy, a conception that agrees with the one that he gives of the perfect knight of the Dit and of the Roman des Eles, weaving between his two works a remarkable game of echoes (2nd part). Eventually, the houdanesque character creates a mirror with the person of the beginning of the 12th century: his contrasted heroes, and the voice of the author-narrator-character of the Songe d’Enfer; which is in the grip of doubt when faced with contradictory currents of thoughts of his time; fixes the houdanesque writing in the works that blend imagination and reflection (3rd part).

Este estudo situa-se no âmbito das propostas sintonizadas com novos paradigmas de formação inicial de professores, onde a profissionalização docente é vista como um processo dinâmico e interativo que se apóia em saberes específicos. O contexto investigado foi a disciplina Estágio I do Curso de Ciências Biológicas de uma Universidade Federal, cuja estrutura baseou-se na perspectiva Ecológica de Formação, na qual o ambiente de supervisão leva em conta que a aprendizagem da docência implica redes de saberes, reconhecendo a importância dos contextos profissionalizantes significativos para o licenciando (a instituição de formação, a sala de aula e a escola). Partindo desses pressupostos, o foco dessa investigação visou compreender de que maneira os processos instaurados em um Ambiente de Supervisão, planejado em uma perspectiva Ecológica de formação, são capazes de confrontar as crenças dos futuros professores sobre a prática docente e contribuir para a elaboração de conhecimentos e saberes profissionais dos licenciandos. Utilizamos nesse estudo a estratégia metodológica do estudo de caso, analisando três sujeitos. Dividimos essa investigação em fases (pré-ativa, ativa e pós-ativa) visando facilitar o acesso ao pensamento do licenciando ao longo da disciplina. Durante este período, acompanhamos seus movimentos por meio de suas reflexões escritas sob forma de diário virtual, das reuniões entre supervisor e licenciando e entrevistas e apresentações gravadas em áudio e vídeo e, áudio, além de instrumentos específicos para crenças educacionais (DASTT) e para o aferimento de crenças de eficácia (STEBI). A análise dos dados foi realizada sob a perspectiva do interacionismo interpretativo, o que implica assumir a relação entre pesquisador, sujeitos e objeto de pesquisa como intrinsecamente subjetiva, onde a compreensão de um dado fenômeno só é possível a partir de processo mútuo e socialmente compartilhado, dos quais emergem os significados e os sentidos. Nossos resultados mostram que houve aprendizagem da docência na interação e adaptação dos indivíduos ao seu ambiente de atuação, no qual articularam, por meio do raciocínio pedagógico, suas crenças anteriores sobre seus professores, suas vivências como alunos, os dilemas experienciados em situações inesperadas na prática, acabando por definir sua posição didática durante a transposição do tópico de ensino em sala de aula. Evidenciaram assim, elementos relativos ao Conhecimento pedagógico do conteúdo, e conseqüentemente, os saberes docentes inerentes aos aspectos didáticos gerais e pessoais, disciplinares e sobre o contexto. Esse estudo demonstra que o diálogo entre teoria e prática dentro de um ambiente de supervisão ecológico viabiliza a concretização de processos reflexivos sistemáticos nas ações empreendidas pelos licenciandos, de forma que suas crenças educacionais possam ser acessadas, suas crenças de eficácia se fortaleçam, e sua articulação em um raciocínio pedagógico possa construir saberes docentes. Outra contribuição é auxiliar na definição de um nicho de pesquisa específico sobre as crenças educacionais dos futuros professores de Ciências e Biologia, de forma que outros estudos na mesma direção possam compor uma fundamentação sólida, que implique em programas de formação cuja visão holística tenha impacto no desenvolvimento inicial dos futuros professores, repercutindo na melhoria do ensino e da aprendizagem. / This study locates in the extent of the proposals attuned to new paradigms of teachers initial formation, where professionalization is seen as a dynamic and interactive process. The context of this study was the subject Estágio (Traineeship) I of the Course of Biological Sciences in a University, whose structure was based on an Ecological Training perspective, where the supervision environment takes into account that the learning to teach involves networks of knowledge and knowing, recognizing the importance of professional meaningful contexts for trainee (teacher formation institutions, the classroom and Traineeship schools). Assuming these assumptions, the focus of this research aimed to understand how the proceedings planned in a Supervision environment from the ecological training perspective are able to confront the preservice teachers beliefs on teaching practice, and contribute to elaboration of the future science teachers professional knowledge and knowing. Aiming to answer the proposed question, we used in this research the case study as a methodological strategy for examining three subjects. This investigation was structured in blocks, (Teaching Training, Workshop on Environmental Education (EE) Training, and Research Training), whose the structural core was the systematic reflection. It was divided into phases (pre-active, active and post-active), to facilitate access to the trainees thoughts along the course. During this period, we followed the trainees movements, through their reflections written in the virtual diary form, meetings between supervisor and trainee, presentations and interviews recorded in audio, video and audio only, as well as specific tools to educational beliefs (DASTT), and for efficacy measures benchmarking (STEBI). The data analysis was performed from the perspective of interpretive interactionism, thereby assuming the relationship between researcher, subject and object as inherently subjective, in which the understanding of a particular phenomenon is only possible through mutual process socially shared of which emerge from the meanings and senses. Our results show that has been teaching learning in the individuals interaction and adaptation to their environment of acting, in which articulated through the pedagogical reasoning, their prior beliefs about their teachers, their experiences as a student, the dilemmas experienced in unexpected in practical situations, and ultimately define their teaching position at the didactic transposition in the classroom. Thus, they revealed issues related to pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and, consequently, the teacher\'s knowledge inherent to personal and general instructional aspects, disciplinary action and the context. This study shows that the dialogue between theory and practice within an ecological supervision environment, enables the implementation of systematic reflexive processes in actions taken by trainees, in such a way that their educational beliefs can be accessed, their efficacy beliefs can be improved, and, their articulation in a consistent pedagogical reasoning can build their knowledge and teachers experiences. Another contribution is to assist in defining a specific research niche on the preservice science teachers educational beliefs, so that other researches in the same direction can compose a solid foundation, involving training programs, whose impact on a holistic view will enable the professional development of trainees, resulting in improvements in teaching and learning.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-21T20:31:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 BernadeteMachado.pdf: 556777 bytes, checksum: e25cd106c770531d752f54889d5ef580 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-12-11 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This investigation had an object of study: the socioambiental apprenticeship of a visitor from the perception of the environment looking into the interpretative trails (IT) from a preservation unit (PU). The actual research had theoretical Assumptions that are to basal the arguments, the studies proposed By Piaget regarding the construction of the knowledge. The questions that this study tries to answer are related to: what contributions the visit to an Environmental protected area can bring out about the feasibility of the socioambiental apprenticeship of the visitors? What kind of situations the experience of the visitors can contribute to provide the acquisition of socioambiental attitudes; How the interaction of the visitors with the environment, can bring cognitive disequilibriums able to promote the socioambiental apprenticeship? The objectives from the actual research are: to investigate the factors that promote the perception of the visitors into an IT, they can implicate on the socioambiental apprenticeship; to describe situations into the IT, that can contribute for the visitors to develop socioambientals attitudes from the visit of an environmental protective area; and, also, to analyze moments where the perception of the visitors produces a cognitive disequilibrium. The research was developed from the analysis of the auto guided tracks and interpretative trails, both from the Guartelá State Park (GEP), in Tibagi City in the Paraná State. The guys from this research were the individuals who visited the preservation unit (UP) in the period of February, and also, from May to August in the year of 2008. It treats a qualitative research with a methodology that involves an interface of the research-action with the ethnographic research type. We use as procedures the collection of information: a questionnaire quasi-structured, handled to the visitors in an exploratory intervention with the purpose to trace the relevance of the visit into a PU; the interview not directive directioned to the visitors in the course of the trails; aside from, the observation with self itinerary. We present as result the educational potentiality of an IT. And about the guys, was expressed that the individuals who showed themselves more sensitive with the environment also did not surpassed the centerboard in the process of construction of the knowledge. About the guys who found problems in the characteristics of the environment showed an uncentreboard effort. With this investigation was possible to conclude that the activities promoted during the interventions, showed the perception of the visitor in the IT. The cognitive disequilibrium presented by a few guys has led them to be more liable to the apprenticeship. / Esta investigação teve como objeto de estudo, a aprendizagem socioambiental do visitante a partir da percepção do ambiente pelo visitante na trilha interpretativa (TI) de uma unidade de conservação (UC). A presente pesquisa tem como pressupostos teóricos que fundamentam as discussões, os estudos propostos por Piaget em relação à construção do conhecimento. As questões que este estudo busca responder se refere a: que contribuições a visita a uma área de proteção ambiental pode apresentar para viabilizar a aprendizagem socioambiental dos visitantes?; Em que situações a experiência dos visitantes proporciona a aquisição de atitudes socioambientais?; Como a interação dos visitantes com o ambiente, pode gerar desequilíbrios cognitivos capazes de promover a aprendizagem socioambiental? Os objetivos da presente pesquisa são: investigar os fatores que promovem a percepção dos visitantes em uma TI, que podem implicar na aprendizagem socioambiental; descrever situações na TI, que podem contribuir para que os visitantes desenvolvam atitudes socioambientais a partir da visita a uma área de proteção ambiental; e, também, analisar momentos em que a percepção dos visitantes produz um desequilíbrio cognitivo. A pesquisa foi desenvolvida na trilha autoguiada e interpretativa do Parque Estadual do Guartelá (PEG), município de Tibagi no Estado do Paraná. Os sujeitos da pesquisa foram os indivíduos que visitaram a unidade de conservação (UC) no período de fevereiro, e também, maio a agosto do ano de 2008. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa com uma metodologia que envolve uma interface da pesquisa-ação com a pesquisa do tipo etnográfica. Utilizou-se como procedimentos para a coleta de informações: um questionário semiestruturado, aplicado aos visitantes em uma intervenção exploratória com a finalidade de diagnosticar a relevância da visita a uma UC; a entrevista não-diretiva direcionada aos visitantes no percurso da trilha; além, da observação com roteiro próprio. Apresenta-se como resultado a potencialidade educativa de uma TI. Quanto aos sujeitos, ficou expresso que os indivíduos que se mostraram mais sensibilizados com o ambiente também não ultrapassaram a centração no processo de construção do conhecimento. Já os sujeitos que problematizaram as características do ambiente mostraram um esforço de descentração. Com esta investigação foi possível concluir que as atividades promovidas durante as intervenções, possibilitaram a percepção do visitante na TI. O desequilíbrio cognitivo apresentado por alguns dos sujeitos fez com que estes estivessem mais suscetíveis a aprendizagem.