Um estudo exploratório sobre os aspectos motivacionais de uma atividade não escolar para o ensino da Astronomia

Abstract

This research has with objective to study aspects leading to motivation in Astronomy’s study by the public in focus in a non scholar space. This study was proposed, despite of the literature to appoint frequently that the Astronomy is considered motivated, we find no one study with theory of reasoning about specific concepts that to encompass motivation. Another justification for this study is that a big part of the Brazilian common public never observed any astronomical object with a telescope, beyond existing a lot of conceptions alternatives about this theme, as shown in this results in the area refereed. So, this research included activities about observation of the Moon with telescope together with the public in a non scholar area, considering the shortage in a bibliography production about this thematic. In this research, the central question is: starting of motivational aspects found in participants in this activity, we can consider that they have evidences of intrinsic motivation and that Astronomy was a motivation factor to make this activity? The group analyzed to obtain these results was constituted principally by the passers of Central and Touristic Fair of Campo Grande (MS), that constitutes in our main source of data, raised of a questionnaire applied in participants by e-mail in a second moment. For the motivation study, we used like a theoretical referential the Self-determination Theory that study the personality and human motivation, like a intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, focusing in the evolutionary trends , the innate psychological needs and this favorable contextual conditions to motivation, going to meet the objectives of this research. To guide the analyses, we used a qualitative methodological referential of discursive textual analysis that seeks the understand that the news interpretation from the datas of research. From the datas analyzed by answers of questionnaire, we concluded that in this proposed activity for this research, the Astronomy was motivated, because we could diagnostic, in a big part of the datas, evidences of intrinsic motivation in the participants. The results show that the non scholar spaces can auxiliary the traditional school in literacy scientific in a community, to show the importance of to practice activities like this to assist in learning.