Técnicas de uso do mapa conceitual para avaliação da aprendizagem significativa no ensino de biologia

Abstract

According to the meaningful learning theory proposed by David Ausubel, human beings live surrounded by situations and experiences represented by concepts that indicate the need to understand their meanings. Therefore, for a person to be able to learn certain content, it is essential to look for the relationship between the concepts that they already know (prior knowledge or “subsumers”) and the new ones, which makes concepts indispensable in our life, because it is through them that we consolidate knowledge from experiences. In formal education, for meaningful learning to occur, it is essential that the didactic material used is potentially significant, in other words, the student must recognize in the material a relationship between what they already know and what they should learn. The concept map (CM), created by Joseph Novak, is a valuable tool for gathering prior knowledge for the design of potentially significant classes or materials. Moreover, the CM can be used to assess knowledge, both qualitatively and quantitatively. This work is divided into two chapters. In the first one, we aim to analyze, through a systematic literature review, the methods of using CMs in basic education as a tool for surveying prior knowledge and as an evaluation tool after the presentation of new knowledge. Going over the review, we could observe that the CMs are still rarely used as a method of knowledge assessment and, when they are, there is no standard or consensus among the works that, sometimes, distance themselves from the method of analysis proposed by the creators of the CM. Thus, for the instrument to be adopted in schools, we suggest some tools to be used such as the focal question, the parking lots and the skeleton map, these last two techniques in order to train students in the making of their own CMs. After the training, the teacher could abandon the techniques for making the CM, aiming to move away from mechanical learning to meaningful learning. The second chapter brings an experience report. First, I used the CM for the diagnosis of prior knowledge. Therefore, I recognized the main difficulties presented by the students and prepared a class to solve the main knowledge gaps presented. At the end of the class, the students made a new CM on the topic studied. Having both maps at hand, I carried out a qualitative analysis of them, in addition to comparing them with a CM prepared by me that was used as a reference in the correction of the CMs. I also carried out a quantitative assessment based on the criteria identified as essential for the elaboration of CMs by J. Novak and D. Gowin. Analyzing the report, we conclude that the teacher should stimulate interest in CM through training and recurrent use so that students can express knowledge in CM safely and with commitment. Another aspect that I observed during my experience is that the student’s interest is essential for meaningful learning to occur.