The science-technology-society approach focused on energy in physics teaching: a systematic literature review

Abstract

This article presents a literature review of studies that have used the Science, Technology and Society (STS) approach in physics teaching, aiming to assess its contribution in energy courses. The search for scientific papers was carried out in two databases: Scopus and the CAPES Journals Portal. The search focused on studies published in journals between 2003 and 2022, in Portuguese, English and Spanish. The acronyms used in the search were: “Science Technology and Society” and “Physics teaching”/”Ciência Tecnologia e Sociedade” and “ensino de física”. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, namely reading the titles and researches abstracts, which made possible to exclude, for instance, studies that did not relate to STS physics teaching approach. The technique of content analysis was used to select the final sample of 20 papers. It was observed that students involved in the physics teaching process, following the principles of STS approach, showed greater interest and commitment in energy courses. Even though STS approach is in many schools curricula, there is a scarcity of scientific production on the subject of energy.

Keywords:
Physics teaching; Energy; Science; Technology and Society (STS)