A literature review about the approach of the process of scientific measurement in physics teaching in basic education

Abstract

The scientific measurement process is addressed by scientists and philosophers as a central element and full of subtleties. Grounded in the discussions of this field, research in science education area has analyzed the nuances of the focus on measurement in classrooms. Synthesizing these results, we present a literature review of the last 30 years of publications on the teaching of Physics with a focus on the scientific measurement process in Middle and High School. From the analysis of 34 articles published in important journals of science education field, we concluded that: i. the area has privileged empirical research, presenting few theoretical or historical analyses; ii. there is great diversity in terms of aspects of the measurement process explored, with significant focus on implications of measurement activities on students' conceptions about the nature of science; iii. Thomas Kuhn's perspective is hegemonic in this field; iv. there is no convergence in terms of the teaching andlearning perspectives explored, with a great diversity of concepts addressed; v. without adequate instruction and explicitly directed towards epistemological and procedural aspects of the measurement process, students timidly evolve in their conceptions about the nature of science and develop few skills in data collection, processing and analysis. In summary, the results show little convergence of the publications in terms of results, since they have a great diversity of approaches, at the same time that they have little diversity in terms of epistemological references. It is concluded that the focus on scientific measurement in Middle and High School is an incipient field in the area of Physics teaching, with ample space for further investigation.