Construção de um estereoscópio: uma proposta para o ensino da polarização da luz no ensino médio

Abstract

Regarding learning, it is agreed that one of the main problems that schools and teachers have faced is the students' lack of interest in the content of the subjects. In the case of the natural sciences, especially physics, the situation seems to be even more worrying, the lack of laboratories, computers, access to the Internet and the disconnection of the subjects with the reality of the students, are some of the factors that make it difficult to overcome of the problem. In the present work, we investigate the possibility of teaching the polarization of light in high school through a methodology that circumvents said obstacles. The strategy adopted consists in the construction of a stereoscope with materials of easy acquisition for the display of three-dimensional images produced by the students and their didactic use from a sequence of teaching elaborated for this purpose. The process of learning research is based on the sociocultural theory of Vygotsky (1991, 2001, 2010) and the stages of the Study Situation (MALDANER; ZANON, 2001). The research was carried out with students from a 3rd grade class of the Coelho Neto - Turu Teaching Center, a school located in São Luís, capital of Maranhão. The proposal was attractive: students engaged in the activities and were able to assimilate the main concepts in polarization. The analysis of the data obtained indicates that the proposed methodology arouses students' interest, provides greater interaction in the learning context and adds meaning to the concepts addressed. Student feedback shows that the suggested teaching proposal achieved the intended objectives – the activities carried out have established a link between students' learning at school and its importance in other contexts, promoting a correlation with their everyday experiences and helping them to achieve familiarity and better mastery of scientific concepts. The work accomplished culminated with the elaboration of an educational product directed to teachers and students of high school in which it presents itself: the historical context of the phenomenon; physical-mathematical modeling; the mounting guide of the stereoscope and a suggestion of didactic application.