The complexity in sciences: contributions to thinking education

• Grant number: 18/19136-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: March 01, 2019
• End date: April 30, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Education - Fundamentals of Education
• Principal Investigator: Giselle Watanabe
• Grantee: Giselle Watanabe
• Host Investigator: Merce Junyent Pubill
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas (CCNH). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Spain

Abstract

The complexity perspective announces another way of thinking and acting in face of situations of the reality which, in general, refer to open and dynamic systems. In order to seek approximations with this perspective and propose its effective incorporation into the actions of the subjects, it seems fundamental to consider it in the educational process, by the Educational Dimension, Teaching-Learning Dimension and Epistemological Dimension. Each of these dimensions incorporates the complexity in distinct contexts of school science formation. Thereby, in the Educational Dimension it appears in the context of complex thinking looking foward to form a person capable of dealing with risk situations; in the Teaching-Learning Dimension when discussing the processes and training actions in the school that leads to the idea of complexification of school knowledge; and in the Epistemological Dimension it emerges in the field of Natural and Human Sciences characterized by elements that oppose reductionism and to the possibility of deterministic predictions about the evolution of natural dynamic systems. These dimensions, still open, would require a more detailed study in order to identify some elements present in different discourses which may effectively mobilize the students. Then, this postdoctoral project intends to investigate present elements in the literature and in the discourses of Spanish research groups, which characterize the perspective of complexity in the context of school scientific education. Thus, methodologically, the research comprises four stages: (1) analysis of studies related to complexity in the Human and Natural Sciences considering the Educational Dimension, Teaching-Learning Dimension and Epistemological Dimension; (2) identification of aspects of complexity related to Natural Sciences to be enhanced in Science Teaching; (3) identification of the elements of complexity in the discourses and practices of Spanish research groups specialized in this theme; (4) systematization of the main elements that characterize complexity in the aforementioned Dimensions from issues such as decay and socio-environmental issues. From this characterization it is intended to situate the theme in contemporary school contexts. For analysis of the data will be considered the Discursive Textual Analysis, taking as a parameter the perspective of complexity and the usual strategies in ethnographic studies. Among the expected results are (i) the characterization of the complexity approach to school scientific education; (ii) approaches and counterpoints of complexity in the specific contexts of the two involved countries; (iii) identification of possible contributions to education that lead to a change of perspective when dealing with open and dynamic themes.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

FERNANDA DA ROCHA CARVALHO; GISELLE WATANABE. A CONSTRUÇÃO DO CONHECIMENTO CIENTÍFICO ESCOLAR: HIPÓTESES DE TRANSIÇÃO IDENTIFICADAS A PARTIR DAS IDEIAS DOS(AS) ALUNOS(AS). Educ. rev., v. 35, 2019-03-18. (18/19136-3)