ABSTRACT:
Although science learning is usually related to the school environment, other institutions, such as hospitals, promote access to scientific knowledge. Based on this assumption, an study was carried out at the Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina de São Paulo to raise the possibilities of scientific divulgation about a little-known subject, the differences of sex development (DSD). Aiming to describe the appropriation of knowledge by patients, the Bachelard’s epistemological categories were applied. The preliminary results obtained from semi-structured interviews with patients indicated by the clinical staff show that the epistemological model adopted contributes to the research in two ways: when assisting in the formulation of text and pictures for folders, guides for parents and science divulgation books; and when describing the learning process that happens in the hospital as distinct steps of scientific knowledge acquisition.
Keywords:
Scientific divulgation; Epistemology of science; Differences of sex development.