INTERPRETANT LEVELS PRESENTED BY HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS ABOUT THE SEASONS

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the initial interpretant levels of the seasons of the year presented by students in a physics discipline of undergraduate course of a biological sciences degree at a state university of the south of Brazil. This study is qualitative, it analyzes textual oral representations and images about that astronomical phenomenon. It found that all students showed similar interpretant levels than those without any instruction, focusing their explanation of this concept in the variation of the distance between Earth and the Sun and indeterminate/confused representations. Another important result was the absence of a scientifically correct conception of the subject. The data from this study are in agreement with several studies on the weak training of science teachers in astronomy, and emphasizes the importance of both a re-structuration of the initial training of these future teachers, as well as the continuous teacher training of the working professional ones.