Development of chemical literacy in Basic Education students: contributions of an educational citizen science project; [Desenvolvimento da literacia química de alunos do ensino básico: contributos de um projeto educacional de ciência cidadã]

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2024

Authors

Araújo, JL (Author) Other; Carla Morais (Author) FCUP; João Paiva (Author) FCUP

Journal

The Journal is awaiting validation by the Administrative Services.

Title: Educacion Quimica

Vol. 35

Pages: 6-22

ISSN: 0187-893X

Indexing

Scopus - 0 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-017-9Y1

DOI: 10.22201/fq.18708404e.2024.4.87280

Abstract (EN): Citizen science projects have revealed the potential to promote students¿ scientific literacy in its affective and cognitive dimensions. However, in chemistry, these projects are still scarce. Thus, starting from the context of the quality of coastal water and its pollution by (micro)plastics, the citizen science project PVC - Perceiving the Value of Chemistry behind water and microplastics was developed, in which chemistry plays a central role. In order to know the contributions of this project, were investigated the attitudes towards chemistry of 574 Portuguese students (442 from the experimental group and 132 from the control group) of the 3rd Cycle of Basic Education and their chemistry learning at the conceptual and procedural level. To this end, an attitude questionnaire, as a pre- and post-test, and a knowledge test were applied. Moreover, field notes were also collected. In the pre-test, positive attitudes were observed in both experimental and control groups. In the post-test, the experimental group showed significantly more positive attitudinal changes than the control group in all the dimensions presented in the questionnaire. The analysis of the results of the knowledge tests also suggests that the PVC project promoted the conceptual learning of chemistry related to the analysis of the physicochemical parameters of water and polymers. At a procedural level, it has become evident the learning of laboratory techniques and the development of skills such as autonomy, collaboration, and critical thinking, as well as the ability to communicate ideas and results promoted by the engagement in PVC project. © 2024 Facultad de Quimica, UNAM. All rights reserved.

Language: Portuguese

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 16