Promoting Critical and Creative Thinking in Science Teaching: Educational Proposals and their Contributions in Portuguese Students

Contemporary society currently shows several scientific and technological advances that have contributed to improve the quality of life of human beings. However, they have also exacerbated problems and the asymmetries between them, such as the scarcity of drinking water and food production, access t...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Celina Tenreiro-Vieira, Rui M. Vieira
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul 2021-04-01
Series:Investigações em Ensino de Ciências
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.if.ufrgs.br/cref/ojs/index.php/ienci/article/view/1993
_version_ 1819293554954993664
author Celina Tenreiro-Vieira
Rui M. Vieira
author_facet Celina Tenreiro-Vieira
Rui M. Vieira
author_sort Celina Tenreiro-Vieira
collection DOAJ
description Contemporary society currently shows several scientific and technological advances that have contributed to improve the quality of life of human beings. However, they have also exacerbated problems and the asymmetries between them, such as the scarcity of drinking water and food production, access to basic health care and disinformation. As a result, education, in general, and in science teaching, in particular, need to be reconsidered and to respond effectively to these complex challenges. One of the demands relates to changes in educational and curricular policies. Among these is the need to focus the curriculum and programs of all disciplines on areas of competency, such as critical and creative thinking (CCT). One way to achieve this is by investing in the development of didactic proposals for students to experience responsible citizen participation, explicitly mobilizing CCT skills. In this context, a study was developed with the purpose of elaborating, implementing and evaluating didactic proposals for science teaching with a focus on CCT, designed for students aged 8-12. Accordingly, the research question of the present study was: “Do the didactic proposals developed and implemented contribute to the improvement of students' CCT”? This study followed a mixed-approach combining, on the one hand, an action-research plan for the elaboration and implementation of didactic proposals for science teaching and, on the other hand, a pre and post-test with a non-randomized selection of participants. The results obtained support the conclusion that the didactic proposals that were designed and implemented promoted students' CCT. Thus, these proposals show significant potential for students of these age groups and close, given the transversal themes on which they focused, serving also as examples to be used in teacher education, so that they start to promote more explicitly and intentionally these two types of thinking.
first_indexed 2024-12-24T04:12:17Z
format Article
id doaj.art-a3363cb7db90462ea19b73b643c0ea3f
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1518-8795
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-24T04:12:17Z
publishDate 2021-04-01
publisher Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
record_format Article
series Investigações em Ensino de Ciências
spelling doaj.art-a3363cb7db90462ea19b73b643c0ea3f2022-12-21T17:16:02ZengUniversidade Federal do Rio Grande do SulInvestigações em Ensino de Ciências1518-87952021-04-01261708410.22600/1518-8795.ienci2021v26n1p70638Promoting Critical and Creative Thinking in Science Teaching: Educational Proposals and their Contributions in Portuguese StudentsCelina Tenreiro-Vieira0Rui M. Vieira1Universidade de Aveiro Departamento de Educação e Psicologia PortugalUniversidade de Aveiro Departamento de Educação e Psicologia PortugalContemporary society currently shows several scientific and technological advances that have contributed to improve the quality of life of human beings. However, they have also exacerbated problems and the asymmetries between them, such as the scarcity of drinking water and food production, access to basic health care and disinformation. As a result, education, in general, and in science teaching, in particular, need to be reconsidered and to respond effectively to these complex challenges. One of the demands relates to changes in educational and curricular policies. Among these is the need to focus the curriculum and programs of all disciplines on areas of competency, such as critical and creative thinking (CCT). One way to achieve this is by investing in the development of didactic proposals for students to experience responsible citizen participation, explicitly mobilizing CCT skills. In this context, a study was developed with the purpose of elaborating, implementing and evaluating didactic proposals for science teaching with a focus on CCT, designed for students aged 8-12. Accordingly, the research question of the present study was: “Do the didactic proposals developed and implemented contribute to the improvement of students' CCT”? This study followed a mixed-approach combining, on the one hand, an action-research plan for the elaboration and implementation of didactic proposals for science teaching and, on the other hand, a pre and post-test with a non-randomized selection of participants. The results obtained support the conclusion that the didactic proposals that were designed and implemented promoted students' CCT. Thus, these proposals show significant potential for students of these age groups and close, given the transversal themes on which they focused, serving also as examples to be used in teacher education, so that they start to promote more explicitly and intentionally these two types of thinking.https://www.if.ufrgs.br/cref/ojs/index.php/ienci/article/view/1993pensamento crítico e criativopropostas didáticasensino das ciências
spellingShingle Celina Tenreiro-Vieira
Rui M. Vieira
Promoting Critical and Creative Thinking in Science Teaching: Educational Proposals and their Contributions in Portuguese Students
Investigações em Ensino de Ciências
pensamento crítico e criativo
propostas didáticas
ensino das ciências
title Promoting Critical and Creative Thinking in Science Teaching: Educational Proposals and their Contributions in Portuguese Students
title_full Promoting Critical and Creative Thinking in Science Teaching: Educational Proposals and their Contributions in Portuguese Students
title_fullStr Promoting Critical and Creative Thinking in Science Teaching: Educational Proposals and their Contributions in Portuguese Students
title_full_unstemmed Promoting Critical and Creative Thinking in Science Teaching: Educational Proposals and their Contributions in Portuguese Students
title_short Promoting Critical and Creative Thinking in Science Teaching: Educational Proposals and their Contributions in Portuguese Students
title_sort promoting critical and creative thinking in science teaching educational proposals and their contributions in portuguese students
topic pensamento crítico e criativo
propostas didáticas
ensino das ciências
url https://www.if.ufrgs.br/cref/ojs/index.php/ienci/article/view/1993
work_keys_str_mv AT celinatenreirovieira promotingcriticalandcreativethinkinginscienceteachingeducationalproposalsandtheircontributionsinportuguesestudents
AT ruimvieira promotingcriticalandcreativethinkinginscienceteachingeducationalproposalsandtheircontributionsinportuguesestudents