A química das emoções como tema gerador na promoção de uma aprendizagem efetiva em funções orgânicas

Abstract

The study aimed to analyze the impacts of a didactic sequence based on the Three Pedagogical Moments, grounded in the principles of Paulo Freire’s critical-liberating pedagogy, for teaching oxygenated and nitrogenated organic functions, using the generating theme “The Chemistry of Emotions,” in the context of high school education at a public school in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. This is a qualitative study of the action research type, developed with a group of 40 third-year high school students, which enabled the teacher-researcher to act directly within the school context while reflecting on her own pedagogical practice in a continuous action– reflection–action process. The development of the investigation followed the stages of the action research cycle (planning, intervention, observation, and reflection), involving the application of an initial diagnostic questionnaire, individual and group activities, field diary records, researcher observations, and students’ written productions throughout the implementation of the didactic sequence. The data produced were analyzed through Discursive Textual Analysis, as proposed by Moraes and Galiazzi (2016), based on the processes of unitarization, categorization, and metatext production, which made it possible to understand the meanings attributed by students to the concepts addressed. The results show that the proposal contributed to bringing students closer to content traditionally perceived as abstract by relating Chemistry to emotional aspects present in their daily lives. In the initial pedagogical moments, students established associations between emotions and neurotransmitters, albeit in an initial and sometimes simplified way, revealing both the influence of common sense and processes of conceptual resignification mediated by teaching practice. In the third pedagogical moment, focused on the application of knowledge, advances were observed in the identification and naming of organic functions in the structures of neurotransmitters and hormones, as well as a greater use of structural criteria, although some conceptual difficulties persisted, especially in identifying the ester function. These difficulties are understood as part of the learning process, in line with the Freirean perspective, which values error as a constitutive element of knowledge. As a result of the research, a didactic material entitled “The Chemistry of Emotions: Organic Functions in the Emotional Context of Students” was developed, aimed at Basic Education teachers and organized according to the Three Pedagogical Moments. It is concluded that the thematic approach adopted fosters a more contextualized, meaningful, and humanized Chemistry teaching, by recognizing students as historical, social, and emotional subjects capable of attributing meaning to scientific knowledge.