Introdução a conceitos de física moderna a partir de experimentos com semicondutores dentro da metodologia de aprendizagem baseada em projetos

Abstract

The concepts of Physics presented at secondary schools are usually limited to the accumulated knowledge that had been elaborated until the mid-XIX century in contrast to the world trend in which Modern and Contemporary Physics is an integral part of the syllabus of basic education for a better understanding of the technological world that surrounds us (MONTEIRO; NARDI; BASTOS FILHO, 2009). Within this context, we present the proposal for the study of Modern and Contemporary Physics based on the comprehension of the functionality of semiconductor materials, having at its core the methodology of Project-Based Learning (PBL) aligned with the theory of the socio-interactionalist Vygotsky. Thus for the execution of the project, in accordance with the adopted methodology in which the student is seen as the protagonist of the process of teaching-learning and the teacher as a mediator, we recommended to the student, for its motivational theme as well as its challenge, the construction of home solar panels for maximum efficiency, considering not only the production of higher electric tension with the least usage of LED, but also the balance among the triad of electrical current, the generated tension and the number of LED lights used. Due to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic of Covid 19 the envisaged educational project needed to be adapted as to become more viable in its remote and face-to-face applications. In this way, the project was reformulated into mini-courses for teachers of Physics at secondary schools and it was composed of workshops aimed at offering the participants a brief introduction to the concepts of Modern and Contemporary Physics in the understanding of phenomena involving semiconductors as well as the application of the practices of Project Based Learning (PBL). So, after assessing the prior knowledge of the participants – a group of teachers responsible for approximately three thousand students – the reading and discussion on the concepts of semiconductors and band theory, we proposed the construction of circuits utilizing LEDs and security resistors, using the simulator Crocodile. At this stage, we promoted discussions on the association of LEDs, the direct and inversed polarization, the calculations of the security resistor, as well as tension cuts for LEDs red, yellow and green. With the electric schematics in hands, each participant proceeded then to the finalization of the circuit of the product. In the sequence, there was the completion of the experimental approaches proposed to each workshop. The teachers involved then answered a questionnaire in Google Forms, whose result analysis LED to the conclusion that both the educational product as well as the experimental proposals are viable and of easy application, well-adapted to its use as instruments of teaching and learning of topics of Modern and Contemporary Physics. The teachers recognized that the protagonism given to each participant during activities was essential to stimulate the desire to solve the problem presented initially, demonstrating to have acquired the necessary knowledge in order to promote a more secure teaching of the theme explored. As a final consideration, bearing in mind that the teaching-learning process is a two-way street, we highlight the involvement of the participants with their professional experience that also contributed significantly towards the adjustments and complementation which improved the proposition at the heart of this work.