Fuerza y movimiento: una propuesta didáctica para estudiantes rurales de noveno grado

Abstract

Se diseña e implementa una propuesta didáctica para la enseñanza de los conceptos cualitativos de movimiento, fuerza, leyes de Newton y fricción a estudiantes de grado noveno en un colegio rural, usando aprendizaje significativo. La propuesta logra un cambio conceptual en los estudiantes, empleando actividades y juegos de su entorno.

Abstract: Movement and force are central concepts of Newtonian Mechanics that are fundamental for the design of mechanisms and processes, and the origin of many concepts in physics. However, teaching them faces up to huge conceptual obstacles that are even more difficult to solve in a countryside environment where students have neither time for homework nor tools like computers or Internet. The present work introduces a didactic proposal for teaching the concepts of force and movement designed for ninth grade students of the I.E. Mortiño School in Isnos (Huila, Colombia). The design emphasizes on qualitative aspects and involves many activities from the rural environment in Isnos that, together with other more universal examples, illustrate fundamental aspects of the concepts of position, velocity and force. The didactic proposal consists of twelve sessions of one hour per week, organized in three sequences: one for position and velocity, one for forces and Newton’s laws of motion and one for friction, all implemented with pre- and posttest. The analysis of the results shows a statistically significant increment of the scores. Actually, the combined scores of the three tests is higher in the posttest for all students. The qualitative description of the implementation also shows a remarkable increase in the interest and motivation by the students, because they discover that the concepts of physics can be found in activities of their own daylife. The strategy constitutes, therefore, a valuable contribution to the teaching of Netwonian Mechanics in countryside environments.