Using forensics to teach the natural sciences and raise student consciousness about gender-based social issues

Abstract

The way the Natural Sciences has been conventionally taught in school, i.e., by means of lecture-based methods, has been shown ineffective. For this reason, many alternative methods of teaching and learning have been proposed. This study focuses on the teaching of the Natural Sciences by the employ of ludic investigative activities in the context of forensic science. It proposes an alternative way of teaching the Natural Sciences associated with issues relevant to students and society at large. To this end, a case of femicide was used to teach topics of the Natural Sciences while addressing an important social issue, i.e., gender-based violence. This research, a case study of a qualitative nature, was carried out at Colégio de Aplicação in Macaé (CAp), RJ, Brazil. Its proposed teaching-learning activities were conducted over three consecutive 90-minute classes. The participating students answered pre- and post-intervention questionnaires on the scientific concepts addressed by the activities and the social issue in question, i.e., femicide. The students also participated in a discussion about the social issue at hand at the end of the intervention. The analysis of the collected data suggests that the teaching-learning method employed in this research is a viable way of teaching the Natural Sciences, especially Chemistry, in an interdisciplinary and contextualized fashion.