O uso de controvérsias científicas para a compreensão da natureza da ciência: O caso do Princípio de Ação Mínima

Abstract

The comprehension of Nature of Science, from the elements of history and philosophy of science approach, in the teaching of physics, has been the subject of research seeking an improvement in teaching - learning in the science s classroom. The study of controversial historical episodes can facilitate the approach of these elements, as well as presenting the physical knowledge as a historical process, in continuous transformation and associated with other forms of human expression and production. Our work aims to present the least action principle in a historical perspective, identifying and analyzing the elements that characterize the controversy around the concept of action and this principle. In this sense, aspects related to the prevalence of theories, relations of power between characters, or not, to build alliances between them, in order to present the development of science from the aspects of his nature were observed. The Controversy subject of our analysis, happened in the eighteenth century, and the main characters were Maupertuis, Voltaire, Euler, König and The King Frédéric II, the Great. As Educational Products, we developed two Didactic Modules contemplating the scientific concepts needed to understand the principle (related to two articles of Maupertuis), an audiovisual material, and Teaching Sequences to the possible orientation in the use of them. With this, we intend to offer the teacher of physics undergraduate courses, a material that contemplates scientific concepts in a perspective that goes beyond the reproduction of mathematical equations, enabling the presentation of the influence of social factors on scientific reasoning, and often justifying the problems that cause disagreements, or difficulties for the affirmation of theories. To support our research, we seek Martins (1990, 1993, 2006) , Matthews (1995) , El - Hani (2006), Kuhn (1962) to understand the purpose of the study of the History of Science and justify its use in science teaching, to the analysis of controversy we have based in studies of Brante & Elzinga (1990), Narasihman (2001), Machamer, et al (2000), among other authors.