Un cambio significativo en la enseñanza de las cienciasel uso del ordenador en la resolución de situaciones experimentales de física en el nivel universitario básico

Résumé

The current information and communication technologies have impacted all areas of personal development, changing the view of the world. As a result, they have also changed and made more complex the patterns of access to knowledge and interpersonal relationship. In particular, in the training of future engineers the introduction of microcomputer based laboratory in basic university physics courses enables the configuration of a new timing of activities, giving greater emphasis to thinking about the experiment, to the interpretation of results and to the production of conclusions. From this perspective, this thesis was conducted to identify the scope and prospects of the incorporation of computers in physics teaching in order to learn about the ways in which students re-structure concrete level knowledge in their minds, and about the ideas they develop. Symbolization and abstraction levels are analyzed as well as specific cognitive abilities that come into play when they solve experimental situations using a computer system in real-time data acquisition. Ausubel�s meaningful learning, Johnson-Laird�s mental models and Vygotsky�s mediation theories have constituted the framework of this study. The research was conducted in three phases, appealing to a plurality of methodological approaches and combining qualitative and quantitative perspectives. In the first phase, we characterized the practices of appropriation and use of existing technologies, particularly the computer. In the second one, mental models that were constructed by students about the use and function of a computer system were identified. Finally, in the last stage we recognized the reasoning processes and specific cognitive skills that are associated with the use of the computer system in physics laboratory. The results show that students adopt different practices of appropriation and use of computers, going through a continuum from "advanced", with medium or high level use of computer at home or at school, to "intuitive users" with a practical absence of computer in their activities. We have also detected four different types of mental models that were constructed in the operation and use of the computer system. They suggest a certain gradation depending on the organization of their internal structure. The study provides evidence that the development of specific cognitive abilities would be associated with the proper selection of sensors, the interactive communication when choosing data representation forms, the use of statistical elements on data analysis and the interpretation of the evolution of graphs registered with the computer. These results show that the computer system considered as a mediational tool helps to generate a learning environment which leads to the meaningful internalization of scientific knowledge. Therefore computer system may be considered both as a physical and a semiotic tool.