Introducing Comics as An Alternative Scientific Narrative in Chemistry Teaching

Year 2013, Volume: 4 Issue: 8, 1 - 14, 01.02.2013

Karen C. Weber Teresa C. B. Saldanha Khyslayny K. De Sousa E Sılva Patricia M. M. Santos Dirceu D. D. Souza Agnaldo Arroıo

Abstract

In this work we present an experience report involving the execution of a pedagogical workshop about comics with Chemistry teaching undergraduate students. The workshop had as main goal to promote a discussion on the potential of narratives as an alternative approach to teach Chemistry, focusing on the development of teachers’ authorship of pedagogical material and at the same time on the integration of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the classroom. The report is divided in two segments: (i) the description of the workshop execution; (ii) a synthesis of the reflections collected from the participants by means of a questionnaire applied in the end of the workshop. The main results praise comics’ playful character and their potential to stimulate creativity in students, as well as indicate the relevance of educational material authorship in the pedagogical practices of professors in training. Overall, the discussions performed point to the still incipient presence of ICT in the pedagogical training of Chemistry teaching degrees, which highlights the pressing need for incorporating these technologies on formative practices. Moreover, reflections on the pedagogical value of using comics as a narrative approach aiming at the development of scientific and media literacy were raised by the present work.

Keywords

comics; ICT; narratives; scientific literacy.

Introducing Comics as An Alternative Scientific Narrative in Chemistry Teaching

Abstract

In this work we present an experience report involving the execution of a
pedagogical workshop about comics with Chemistry teaching undergraduate
students. The workshop had as main goal to promote a discussion on the
potential of narratives as an alternative approach to teach Chemistry,
focusing on the development of teachers’ authorship of pedagogical
material and at the same time on the integration of information and
communication technologies (ICT) in the classroom. The report is divided
in two segments: (i) the description of the workshop execution; (ii) a
synthesis of the reflections collected from the participants by means of
a questionnaire applied in the end of the workshop. The main results
praise comics’ playful character and their potential to stimulate
creativity in students, as well as indicate the relevance of educational
material authorship in the pedagogical practices of professors in
training. Overall, the discussions performed point to the still
incipient presence of ICT in the pedagogical training of Chemistry
teaching degrees, which highlights the pressing need for incorporating
these technologies on formative practices. Moreover, reflections on the
pedagogical value of using comics as a narrative approach aiming at the
development of scientific and media literacy were raised by the present
work.

Keywords

comics; ICT; narratives; scientific literacy.

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