Combustíveis: hidrocarbonetos, alcoois e esteres trabalhados por meio de estudo de casos

Abstract

High school students often struggle with Organic Chemistry due to its abstract nature and complex terminology. The difficulties in the learning process of Organic Chemistry faced by high school students usually happen due to the lack of connection with everyday usage, a small link with other chemical concepts, and the complexity of chemical language interpretation, leading to the need for rethinking the pedagogical approach. Based on this information, with the purpose of relating the content with the students' routine, this work develops the strategy of case study, putting the students in touch with real or hypothetical problems to contextualize the chemical content. Therefore, there was an orientation based on the research question: what is the probability of the case study strategy to succeed in enhancing the learning process of organic functions and their social implications from the fuel subject. In this scenario, the goal was to apply and investigate the teaching strategy of case study for the topic of hydrocarbon, alcohol, and ester from the subject of fuel, for the students to develop abilities with the purpose of recognizing and identifying the organic functions relating them to day-to-day events. This research was developed from a qualitative approach, following a protocol approved by the ethical committee. The practice of this experiment happened at Escola Estadual Berilo Wanderley in Natal/RN, where four cases were produced, investigated, and applied in a last year of a high school group, through a sequence of nine classes that involved a beforehand knowledge questionnaire, reading and discussion of cases, guided research, the building of a report book, and ending with the production of videos by the students with the solutions proposed by them. The analyzed data from the Bardin Content Analysis indicated that many students did not know the content of Organic Chemistry or had incomplete concepts from common sense. However, throughout the research, they developed abilities and learned the concepts. As an educational product, it was proposed a social network page on Instagram as a tool for the scientifical release of the case study strategy and the audiovisual production made by students. This innovative approach not only helps students grasp organic chemistry concepts but also connects them to real-world applications.