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Abstract
Over the last 50 years a new research area, science education research, has arisen and undergone singular development worldwide. In the specific case of Brazil, research in science education first appeared systematically 40 years ago, as a consequence of an overall renovation in the field of science education. This evolution was also related to the political events taking place in the country. We will use the theoretical work of Rene Kaës on the development of groups and institutions as a basis for our discussion of the most important aspects that have helped the area of science education research develop into an institution and kept it operating as such. The growth of this area of research can be divided into three phases: The first was related to its beginning and early configurations; the second consisted of a process of consolidation of this institution; and the third consists of more recent developments, characterised by a multiplicity of research lines and corresponding challenges to be faced. In particular, we will analyse the special contributions to this study gleaned from the field known as the history and philosophy of science.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank two anonymous reviewers for their suggestions that contributed very much to the improvement of the paper.
Notes
1. One result of this step can be found in the paper by Villani and Valadares (Citation2007).
2. Their names are fictitious.
3. For example, during the first phase we saw that the process of founding the organisation could not be put in the hands of a single leader. Nonetheless, the pacts were very similar in the various places where the projects were carried out. Analogously, the maturity phase corresponded only in part to the prevalence of homomorphism because the denegative pact accepted by each research group was still very defensive.
4. LDB—Lei das Diretrizes Bases da Educação.
5. PEF—Projeto de Ensino de Física.
6. FAI—Física Auto‐Instrutiva.
7. PBEF—Projeto Brasileiro de Ensino de Física.
8. SNEF—Simpósio Nacional de Ensino de Física.
9. For example, the attempt to set up a graduate department in biology teaching fell through, thus frustrating the possibility of establishing cooperation among researchers in the area.
10. CNPQ—Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico.
11. SPEC—Subprograma para a Eduacação em Ciência, coordinated by professor Pierre Lucie.
12. CAPES—Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior.
13. PADCT—Programa de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico.
14. One of the researchers interviewed by us put it this way: “Now, something that was important—and I think it ended up creating the groups that still exist today—was the backing provided by CAPES, through the SPEC/PACT project. It trained leaders and groups around the country, and many of them are still going today” (Rob).
15. GREF—Grupo de Reestruturação do Ensino da Física.
16. GEPEQ—Grupo de Ensino e Pesquisa no Ensino da Química.
17. For example, one of the researchers said: “L. Viennot’s visit to the Physics Institute in São Paulo in 1981 was very important for us and for the students. She showed us that researchers in science education had to use the same precision and expertise as people working in the ‘hard’ sciences” (Val).
18. EPEF—Encontros de Pesquisa no Ensino de Física.
19. REF—Revista do Ensino de Física.
20. CCEF—Cadernos Catarinenses de Ensino da Física.
21. Referred to above, in Note 12.
22. ENEQ—Encontro Nacional de Ensino de Química.
23. Referred to above, in Note 13.
24. Referred to above, in Note 14.
25. QNE—Química Nova na Escola.
26. C&E—Ciência e Educação.
27. IEC—Investigaç[otilde]es no Ensino da Ciência.
28. ABRAPEC—Associação Brasileira de Pesquisa e Educação em Ciências.
29. ENPEC—Encontro Nacional de Pesquisa em Educação em Ciências.
30. LBD—Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação Nacional.
31. For example, during the III Meetings on Physics Education Research (1990), complaints about the difficulties of the researchers in physics teaching came up. They did not have the same facilities as their peers who do research in physics (S. S. Barros, Citation1990, p. 17).
32. Pierre Lucie was a prominent, very famous teacher at the Catholic University in São Paulo (PUC). His most well‐known books Física com Martins e eu (Citation1970) and A gênese do Método Ciêntífico (Citation1977) are original contributions to science education using, and use, respectively, cartoons, and the history of science.
33. The late Mario Schemberg was a well‐known, very famous Brazilian physicist who was also very interested in the history of science. He carried out activities in the political and cultural fields, and was severely persecuted by the dictatorships in the 1940s and the 1960s.
34. Twenty‐six articles were published in this area during the publication’s first seven years, the number being surpassed only by the section called “Physics Teaching”.
35. EPEF—Encontros de Pesquisa no Ensino de Física.
36. It is clear that this dream may or may not be reflected in any substantial and overall movement within the institution.