Trilha de aprendizagem: teatro e química para alfabetização científica de estudantes em escola pública no Amapá

Abstract

The teaching of chemistry, characterized by a high degree of conceptual abstraction, underscores the need to renew educational processes to move beyond traditional methodologies that do little to foster student autonomy and scientific as well as sociocultural development. In this context, this study examines the contributions of an interdisciplinary learning pathway (learning sequence) that integrates theater and experimental activities in inorganic chemistry to the development of scientific literacy among high school students in a public school in the state of Amapá, Brazil. Qualitative in nature, the research involved 45 third-year high school students and six teachers from different subject areas. Data were generated through questionnaires and narratives (audio recordings, videos, theatrical scripts, and learning journals), which were organized and analyzed with the support of ATLAS.ti and IRAMUTEQ software. Initial results revealed limited prior knowledge regarding the interplay between art and science and inorganic functions, low argumentative quality, and difficulty relating acids, bases, salts, and oxides to everyday life. They also indicated an ambivalent stance toward theater, marked by curiosity but also by shyness, insecurity, and a perception of elitism. Over the course of the learning pathway “Science & Art Laboratory – The Expressive Body,” most participants maintained a moderate to high level of interest in the proposal, with no decline in engagement. The narratives pointed to a reframing of theater as a learning tool, increased collaborative participation, and advances in the quality of arguments, which evolved from predominantly descriptive statements to more complex explanations that combined experimental data, concepts related to inorganic chemistry, and socioscientific contexts. The integration of art and science supported the contextualization of content, the problematization of health and environmental issues (such as gastritis and water quality), and the development of procedural, attitudinal, and critical competencies, in alignment with the scientific literacy indicators proposed by Sasseron. From a theoretical standpoint, the study brings together Driver and Newton’s hierarchical model of levels of argumentation and Sasseron’s scientific literacy indicators, offering an integrated analytical framework for understanding the development of more elaborate arguments in interdisciplinary, art-mediated proposals. In practical terms, the study systematizes a didactic intervention that can be adapted by chemistry teachers in other contexts, detailing a learning pathway (learning sequence) that connects the construction of scripts, characters, and scenes with discussions on inorganic functions and socioscientific issues. In doing so, it expands the possibilities for a context-sensitive and collaborative approach to curricular content. Socially, the research highlights the potential of science theater, understood here as a drama-based approach to science education, to promote scientific literacy in a public, socioeconomically disadvantaged context in Amapá, valuing local knowledge, life experiences, and territorial identities, while at the same time broadening students’ opportunities to engage with scientific culture. The study concludes that an interdisciplinary learning pathway (learning sequence) involving science theater as a drama-based approach to science education represents a promising strategy for reframing the discipline of chemistry, transforming initial patterns of disinterest, insecurity, and conceptual gaps into higher levels of engagement, argumentation, and contextually grounded understanding of inorganic chemistry content.