Transformações nas concepções de aluno do ensino médio técnico sobre matemática e agricultura

Abstract

Resistance to the study and understanding of Mathematics by students of the Basic School may have several justifications, such as not liking, not identifying, understanding that this study is for a few, or that it is a useless knowledge, among others. Considering that the disposition to learn is a product of the relations with the world and with others, the objective of the present work is to analyze the transformations of the conceptions of a group of students, on the importance of Mathematics in agricultural activities. For that, questionnaires with questions about these concepts were elaborated and applied, before and after the accomplishment of activities of Mathematical Modeling of agricultural problems, with different degrees of autonomy of the student in the investigation task, in a group of 3º year of Integrated High School to the Technical Course in Agriculture. The responses, together with the author's observations, duly annotated in the logbook, were interpreted using the Content Analysis methodology, which presupposes a category of categories, in this case, elaborated on the basis of Bernard Charlot's Theory of Relationship with Knowledge. The reports obtained in the initial questionnaire showed that, for most of these students, Mathematics is important for agriculture and is seen as a tool (epistemic relationship with knowledge) to solve elementary problems. This conception probably originates in the discourses of parents and teachers (social relations with knowledge) that play a motivating role (identity relations with knowledge), arguing that students must study to enter college, have a good job and be someone in life. Such conceptions are characterized by generic statements or examples associated with financial measures and issues. After the activities, an even greater reinforcement of this concept was observed, but with the broader understanding of utility, associated with technical design issues, processes, planning activities and agricultural implements, with the effective involvement of other contents High School, in addition to proportional magnitudes, evidencing a transformation of epistemic relations with knowledge. It was observed in some students that transformations in the conceptions of the relation between Mathematics and agriculture (epistemic relations) implied in transformations in the interest, taste, will and motivation to study (identity relations).