O potencial de experimentos de baixo custo no desenvolvimento de habilidades cognitivas e na construção de conhecimentos de Física no ensino fundamental /The potential of experimentation in cognitive skills development and knowledge construction in elemen

Abstract

In this work we investigated the poten- tial of experimentation in cognitive skills develop- ment and in knowledge construction in elementary school physics. We have used the Ausubel’s Mean- ingful Learning Theory as reference. The research was conducted with fifteen students attending the 9th grade of elementary school, divided into two groups, and belonging to a public school  in  the city of Uberlândia, Minas Gerais. Regarding class- room methodology, we have used the dynamics of the Three Pedagogical Moments, as proposed by Delizoicov, Angotti and Pernambuco. The results indicated that the proposed activities permitted encourage students and possibly raise their level  of cognitive process, once it was required of them the ability to establish relationships between what they knew in Physics and the problem that was presented to them. Thus, it is considered that ex- perimentation contributed effectively in developing cognitive skills, because it enables more active stu- dents, allowing them to be challenged and to expe- rience some important conditions for the teaching- learning process: manipulation of objects and ideas concurrently.