A utilização de dispositivos experimentais para ensinar ondas

Abstract

The developed research intended to propose and test a methodology of teaching based on the use of demonstrative experimental activities as a way to contextualize the teaching of sound waves and contribute significantly to the learning of the concepts related to this subject. It has been observed that the main difficulty of using demonstrative experimental activities in school environment is related to the lack of support materials and orientations that allow science teachers, specially Physics teachers, use this kind of methodology in class. Taken into account this remark, we elaborated and constructed, based on the Significative Learning Theory by David P. Ausubel, two experimental dispositives, with cheap materials associated with orientations for their utilization in demonstrative activities in class. Our work made use of a quantitative-qualitative approach. The quantitative part of our study made use of pretests and posttests, applied to control and experimental groups, as instruments of gathering data which were later submitted to a statistical study. The qualitative part intended to analyze the answers elaborated by the experimental group of students and is based in the categorical analysis technique. The obtained results indicate a significative knowledge acquisition in favor of the group which developed demonstrative experimental activity as compared with the control group.