Virtual school research laboratory with grammar: scientific education in mother language classes

Abstract

This article describes an innovative strategy for studying grammar in Portuguese language classes in a Brazilian public school. This strategy was mediated by didactic materials collaboratively produced by representatives of elementary schools and universities, guided by the investigative and pedagogical approach of scientific education, developed in the interdisciplinary field of Applied Linguistics. This is an interventional investigation characterized as research based on design, as it assumes a collaborative effort to improve teaching practice and to strengthen reference theories. This is research funded by the federal government of Brazil, within the Science at School Program (SSP). The comparative analysis of answers shared by students, in oral interviews carried out by their teachers, before and after the pedagogical intervention, revealed a significant redefinition of student representations about mother language classes, grammar, research and science. This resulted in students overcoming understandings that were previously shared widely and mistakenly.

Keywords:
Didactic games; Study of grammar; Scientific education