Abstract
There is consensus that physics is a hard discipline to understand for most of the Brazilian students. Because of this finding, several researches have been developed to investigate the causes and possible solutions for this problem. Among the several thematic possibilities in this field, there are investigations about the use of Information and Communication Technologies, for science teaching. In this paper, we present the results of a qualitative research which has the main goal of identifying the occurrence of collaborative learning mediated by a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) called Laboratory of Collaborative Learning of Physics (LAFIS in Portuguese acronym). We built this VLE based in Vygotsky’s theory, believing that it may favor the interaction and collaborative participation between students mediated by the teacher. In this environment, the students interact with each other and with the teacher by a chat in order to solve a given physics problem. We analyzed the virtual interactions that happened in classroom based in microgenetic analysis. The analysis of records enabled us to find evidence of the students learning and development while they try to solve the problems. We verified the importance of the interactions for solving the proposed questions, as well as how the teacher mediations should be conducted in order to favor this process.
Highlights
If we ask Brazilian students of High School if Physics is an easy to understand discipline, certainly, most would say no! This is one of the factors that are leading many researchers to investigate the causes of student difficulties in this discipline, as well as possible solutions to favor their teaching and learning.In one of the several research lines about physics teaching, several researchers and teachers defend that the building of physics principles may be favored by using the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)
There are many works in which there is no concern from the authors to adopt a theoretical framework in order to orient and discuss the application of this material in classroom. In face of this problem, we developed a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) for physics teaching, adopting Vygotsky’s theory as the theoretical reference of learning both for developing the instructional material and analyzing the didactic sequences developed in classroom
We aimed to identify if Learning of Physics (LAFIS) favors the collaborative interaction among the students and between them and the teacher, for the solution of physics problems
Summary
In one of the several research lines about physics teaching, several researchers and teachers defend that the building of physics principles may be favored by using the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). This is because resources such as animations, simulations, images, videos or hypertext make the representation of movements and dynamic processes easier, which may even arouse more interest and participation of the students in the classes. In face of this problem, we developed a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) for physics teaching, adopting Vygotsky’s theory as the theoretical reference of learning both for developing the instructional material and analyzing the didactic sequences developed in classroom
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