CIÊNCIA CIDADÃ: DESENVOLVIMENTO DO PENSAMENTO CRÍTICO EM CONTEXTO NÃO FORMAL

Abstract

Nowadays, we find ourselves adapting to emerging situations, with marked connections with Science and Technology, and which cause political, social, economic and health instability, redefining the economy and the work dynamics. Therefore, it became imperative that, throughout their education, children and young people develop intellectual tools that allow them to face the uncertainty of the present-future and being agents of sustainable social cohesion. Such tools involve thinking critically about the world, mobilizing knowledge regarding Science and Citizenship. Within this framework, a study was carried out with the aim of developing (conceiving, elaborating, implementing, and evaluating) activities, oriented towards the promotion of Critical Thinking, focusing on issues involving Science and socially relevant, for an active and enlightened citizenship. Such activities, aimed at students in the second cycle of basic education, were implemented within the scope of a project, in a non-formal context, of curricular enrichment. The paradigm of this investigation is interpretative, and its nature is qualitative, since a case study is studied and described, being this the group of students of the second cycle of basic education (10-12 years old) involved in the project. During the implementation of the activities, data were collected using instruments within the scope of various techniques, including documental analysis of the students' written productions. Following the analysis of the collected data, using statistical and content analysis procedures, the results obtained an improvement in their critical thinking level. In terms of conceptions about Science and Citizenship, most of the students involved showed an interest in scientific themes, attributing a decisive role to science and technology in solving problems that affect Society. Such results provide scientific evidence to support the contribution of activities developed in promoting students' critical thinking