Diseño, aplicación y evaluación de una propuesta para la enseñanza de los circuitos eléctricos en 3º de la ESOuso de "El mundo de Pandora"

Abstract

The importance of contextualization in science education has been emphasized in this thesis. Multiple situations can be used for this purpose, as long as they are recognizable to the students. In our case, we have worked through science fiction and established connections with literature. The promotion of reading has traditionally been a responsibility of schools. As stated in the Law of Reading, Books, and Libraries: "Reading and its promotion are considered a fundamental tool for exercising the right to education..." since reading habits are one of the key factors in academic outcomes. The main purpose of our research is to plan, implement, and evaluate a didactic unit on Electricity for 9th-grade students, based on a post-apocalyptic adventure novel. The literary support aims to immerse students in a destroyed world where technological knowledge is the key to survival. Once the didactic unit was planned and the corresponding materials were developed, three main questions need posing: What were the initial knowledge and experiences that my students had about electricity and electrical phenomena? How did the students perform the experimental activities proposed? What achievements were obtained, and what difficulties were encountered during their development? What effects does this proposal have on the students in terms of learning? And, concerning other aspects (evaluation of the work done, participation, etc.)? The curricular context in which the experience took place was the curriculum of the 9th grade in the Region of Murcia Autonomous Community, following the LOMCE educational framework. To conduct our research, we used our 9th-grade Technology classes, which consisted of 33 students (20 boys and 13 girls). To plan the didactic unit, a model consisting of 7 tasks was used: review of the official curriculum, presence of the theme in the context, scientific analysis of the content, student achievements and difficulties, selection of learning objectives, design of activity sequences and resource development, and choice of evaluation strategies. Our experience spanned 26 sessions (excluding projects) and included 55 activities (practical exercises, simulations, document analysis, etc.). A quasi-experimental design with pretest, follow-up, and posttest was employed. In the pretest, the majority of students had some knowledge of the topic. However, they confused power and energy in the electricity bill and power and voltage in domestic electricity. They didn't understand a text about pollution. They were unfamiliar with what a transformer was and its role in charging a mobile phone. The meaning of units was not clear to them. In the practical part, only 25% were able to successfully light up a circuit, and they couldn't rationally explain whether a series or parallel circuit consumed less energy. Regarding the follow-up, it is impossible to summarize all the results obtained, but to mention a few: In measurements with the multimeter, 85% of students constructed the circuit correctly, and nearly 70-80% measured the magnitudes accurately. In calculating magnitudes, the results were good for current (78%) but declined for voltage (52%). Students demonstrated great ease in using the simulator. In questions about the electricity bill, 50% recognized either the consumed energy or the maximum power that could be consumed, while the other half left it blank. In the posttest, significant progress was observed. Beyond the results, students engaged in the learning process. "The World of Pandora" proved to be crucial for motivation, contextualization, and student learning.