"Diálogos sobre genética": uma análise sobre o processo argumentativo em aulas de Biologia

Abstract

In the field of Science Education, many studies have signaled proposals that address activities beyond the students’ concepts learning difficulties. Especially regarding the content of genetics and biotechnology, there are studies that introduce activities to promote the development of argumentative skills in basic education classes. Therefore, starting from the argumentation as our study object and seeking to explore this research context, we developed and applied a didactic unit called “DNA: Dialogue, geNetics and Argumentation”, educational product of this dissertation, planned for both basic education teachers and high school students. The material was conceived through a ludic scheme based on the “Hero's Journey” and planned as a sequence of activities that aim to promote moments of dialogue and argumentation in the classroom, intermediated by structured models and basic orientations on the actions related to individual and group argumentation, so that students can communicate their opinions and express themselves properly to scientific language. We used, for its construction, the disciplinary content of genetics and biotechnology, since we recognize the importance of such content, both in the scientific and social contexts, being extremely relevant to the students as it constitutes a rich theme for working not only scientific concepts, but also establish a closer relationship with social, cultural and ethical values, favoring the critical formation of the individual. The research followed a qualitative approach considering elements of a case study, organizing the activities developed in three phases: an exploratory phase, a phase of delimitation of the study and data collection and a phase for analysis and discussion of the data according to its relevance, given the cut proposed in this dissertation. Based on the results obtained during the proposed intervention, we evaluated the argumentative process of students in argumentative practices and identified that high school students tend to be easier to elaborate and to make their own arguments more complex than to criticize or evaluate the arguments of their peers and that the highest levels of an argument can only be achieved through dialogues in which there are opposing stances that are supported by valid and sufficient evidence. The results also reveal that the development of students’ argumentative abilities can be facilitated through the explicit teaching of the argumentation intermediated by activities related to the content of genetics and biotechnology, having favored the development of the students' written and spoken arguments.