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Many high-school students don't want to study physics: active learning experiences can change this negative attitude!

Muitos alunos do ensino médio não querem estudar física: experiências de aprendizagem ativa podem mudar esta atitude negativa!

A two-question survey has been prepared for and applied in this research with aim to assess the relative efficiency of two different teaching methods, called Reading, Presenting and Questioning (RPQ) and Experimenting and Discussion (ED), in changing students' attitudes toward physics as a potential career choice. The data of a one-semester-long high-school project indicate that RPQ group (91 students) has not achieved a statistically significant improvement in attitudes, while the ED group (85 students) got an improvement of +10,0%. Theses results suggest that the ED method, based on active physics learning paradigm, is a good model for a significant improvement of students' attitudes toward physics as a potential career choice, both with girls and boys who study high school physics.

active physics learning; predict-observe-explain; observe-explain-predict-observe; physics as a professional choice; gender and physics learning


Sociedade Brasileira de Física Caixa Postal 66328, 05389-970 São Paulo SP - Brazil - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
E-mail: marcio@sbfisica.org.br