New Perspectives in Science Education
ITCE Applied to Portuguese Students: Dialogues with Corresponding Studies
Marcel Bruno Pereira Braga, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina - Universidade de Coimbra (Brazil)
Décio Ruivo Martins, University of Coimbra (Portugal)
José Andre Peres Angotti, University Federal of Santa Catarina (Brazil)
Debora Coimbra, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (Brazil)
Abstract
Being a quantitative part to be incorporated in a qualitative doctoral research (concomitant incorporated project), the study focuses on the process of development of scientific competences in recommended Textbooks of Physics, both in the context of Portugal and in Brazil. However, only 20 secondary schools (sample) are organized by random destination for the control and experimental groups (static group comparison) in the context of the Central Region of Portugal (population). The data collection instrument was the Introdutory Thermal Concept Evaluation (ITCE) by Shelley Yeo and Zadnick (2001). In the preliminary analysis of scores, we used the statistical software Bilog-MG and R, being in the light of modern psychometry. Preliminary results of 2585 secondary school students (10th, 11th and 12th grade) are presented, in the perspective of the elaboration of a proficiency metric (as a reference to the qualitative study) in view of the students' alternative thermal conceptions. The study will be dialogued with other correspondents in the area, especially that of Louzada et al (2014) and Louzada, Elia and Sampaio (2015).
