Science labs: diagnostic analysis in Portuguese public schools

• Autor(a) principal: Rodrigues, Ana V.
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Outros Autores: Sousa, Ana Sofia, Almeida, Mariana, Paiva, Joana, Vieira, Rui Marques, João, Patrícia, Couceiro, Fernanda
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: https://doi.org/10.34624/id.v10i5.11107

The present work falls within the field of Science Education and focuses on the identification, evaluation and presentation of proposals for the improvement of science didactic infrastructures given its importance for the construction of scientific knowledge and the development of skills associated with practical work.This study assumed a socio-critical paradigm of a mixed nature to identify, describe, evaluate and improve the infrastructures destined to perform practical work of sciences, particularly of experimental and laboratory nature, in 152 public education establishments (from Preschool to secondary education) that integrate the Comunidade Intermunicipal do Médio Tejo, in Portugal.The results show that the organization of the science labs does not promote collaborative work among students. Regarding the material resources for the practical science teaching, it has been found that, despite their diversity, these are, in general, insufficient for the simultaneous use by the different working groups. It was also verified the absence of some protection and emergency equipment considered vital for the safety of the school community.The main contributions of this study are related to the perception of the reality of school science infrastructures and with the presentation of proposals for their improvement. The conclusions encourage the reflection by educational agents on the current state and relevance of school science labs to the quality of science learning of school science laboratories that must be carefully planned, constructed and equipped.