O Pensamento Computacional no Âmbito da Modelagem Matemática na Perspectiva da Aprendizagem Significativa

Abstract

Given the increasing discussions about the introduction of practices that promote the development of Computational Thinking in school contexts since 2006 and the similarity of these proposals to the work previously developed based on the ideas of Seymour Papert around 1980, there is a need to reflect on how the development of Computational Thinking can be articulated with the curricular components, since the absence of this relationship contributed to the disruption of the proposal at that time. Therefore, the overall aim of this research was to understand the linkage of the development of computational thinking with mathematics education, based on the assumptions of the theory of meaningful learning and the methodological contribution of mathematical modeling. The study is qualitative and multi-method and has the format of a multi-paper presentation. Each of the articles that make up the different chapters of the thesis has its own methodology to achieve the specific objectives of the study. As part of the investigation to answer the question “What aspects of the development of computational thinking emerge from practices with modeling in mathematical education from the perspective of the theory of meaningful learning?” Mathematical modeling practices were developed that follow the assumptions of the theory of meaningful learning. It sought to identify the link between the development of the skills related to computational thinking and the teaching of mathematical content from the perspective of mathematical education with fourth and fifth grade students from a school belonging to the municipal education network of Cascavel/PR. The results of the data analysis from a grounded theory perspective enabled the construction of the emerging theory based on four categories, with Abstraction as the central category and as the skill at the center of computational thinking, preceding and necessary to other skills. We defend the idea that this is not about Computational Thinking skills, but about the development of Computational Thinking and that this requires pedagogical practices that promote the exercise of Abstraction. Moreover, mathematical modeling, developed under the influence of the theory of meaningful learning, is a way of linking the development of computational thinking and mathematical education.