Analysis of the application of a case study for the teaching of radioactivity in the context of nuclear energy

Abstract

Among the various didactic strategies that consider the student as the central and active subject of the learning process, the work with Case Studies, a variant of problem-based learning, stands out. This work presents a proposal that involves the elaboration and use of a case study, called “Usina de Angra III”, to discuss environmental and social impacts associated with a possible resumption of the plant's construction works, stopped since 2014. The students were presented to the case, divided into two groups, opposed and favorable to the continuation of the work and, finally, defended their positions in a debate. They also answered a questionnaire on radioactivity at the beginning and end of the proposed didactic intervention. According to the results, the students demonstrated difficulty in building ideas and defending their positions at the beginning of the activity, but managed to structure good points and adequately discuss the questions about the case presented throughout the process. Still, the answers to the questionnaire suggest the construction of knowledge and the approval of the strategy by the students.