DISCIPLINES AND PROFESSORS OF ASTRONOMY IN UNDERGRADUATE PHYSICS TEACHERS FORMATION COURSES IN BRAZILIAN UNIVERSITIES

Abstract

This article is the result of a research on basic training in Astronomy in physics degrees that performed the ENADE 2011 national examination. The objective was to identify whether there are disciplines of Astronomy in these courses, whether are mandatory or optional, its workload and when it is offered. The relationship between astronomers, physics degrees and disciplines of Astronomy was investigated. To perform this research we examined the results of ENADE 2011 and also the census of Brazilian Astronomical Society. As a result it is observed that in only 15% of the courses there is a mandatory subject of Astronomy, and therefore there is a high probability that 85% of physics teachers trained in 2011 have not had any discipline of Astronomy during their graduation. In addition, the data collected in this study shows a low number of members of SAB (Sociedade Astronômica Brasileira) among the surveyed courses. We have verified that the presence of astronomers in a given university does not imply to have a mandatory discipline of Astronomy in physics degrees at the same university.