Teachinng and learning Physics in Brasil: Confronting theory and practice at the beginning of XXI Century

Abstract

Within the context of selecting pedagogic resources for a virtual constructivist learning environment aimed at qualifying teachers, research in physics teaching in Brazil was confronted to the pedagogic problems of a group of 18 physics teachers. Problems gathered from teachers’ discourse were confronted with the characterization of physics teaching in the 21st century seen from the perspective of works published in Brazil in this area in proceedings of the latest scientific events and in periodicals, since 2000. Comparison was carried out aiming at two categories: a match (total and relative) and a mismatch. Results showed that theory and practice do not match. The paths to overcome this scenario point to the collaboration between researchers and teachers in investigating new study objects. Promising pathways for the initial and continuous preparation of the physics teacher may also result from this approach.