{"id":547049,"date":"2025-05-09T15:10:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T18:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/?p=547049"},"modified":"2025-05-12T10:49:59","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T13:49:59","slug":"teachers-use-articles-from-the-magazine-to-discuss-science-in-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/teachers-use-articles-from-the-magazine-to-discuss-science-in-class\/","title":{"rendered":"Teachers use articles from the magazine to discuss science in class"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last semester chemist Alu Vieira, a professor at the Carlos Gomes State School in Campinas, S\u00e3o Paulo State, included a debate on scientific texts in his classes with Young Person and Adult Education (EJA) students, ranging in age from 25 to 70. Vieira mostly likes to look at interviews, due to the question-and-answer text format; he shows them on a big screen and conducts a collective reading exercise, in which selected students read the questions, and others, the answers. The interview with virologist Maur\u00edcio Nogueira, of the S\u00e3o Jos\u00e9 do Rio Preto School of Medicine (FAMERP), on the recent dengue fever epidemic in Brazil, published online in February and in the print edition of Pesquisa FAPESP <\/em>in March, was debated by the students. \u201cI took the opportunity to talk about how the disease manifests itself, means of transmission, the mosquitoes\u2019 life cycle, and public policies to tackle the issue,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

Over the last three years, he has also used texts from the magazine and other publications in classroom activities with regular secondary education-level students (15\u201318 years of age). Vieira, currently undertaking his master\u2019s in science and mathematics teaching at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP), with a project on science dissemination, draws upon texts from the magazine to prepare some of his classes, researching topics he plans to address. \u201cI log onto the website and search the theme or term I need. It\u2019s more accurate than doing a Google search, and more practical than searching around for scientific articles,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

See more:<\/strong>
\n– Research topics that have stood out since the magazine was launched in 1999<\/a>
\n– Content published in the early issues sparked debates and backed Brazilian science<\/a>
\n– Researchers explain important humanities concepts<\/a>
\n– Magazine wins over readers in every state<\/a><\/div>\n

Vieira is part of an increasing group of teachers and professors developing educational classroom activities using texts and other content from Pesquisa FAPESP<\/em>, which celebrates its 25th<\/sup> anniversary this October. Currently, 3,463 public schools in the S\u00e3o Paulo State network receive copies of the journal, and 22 private schools subscribe to the publication.<\/p>\n

Biologist Lydia Getschko, of M\u00f3bile School in the S\u00e3o Paulo state capital, also uses the magazine\u2019s online search tool to find themes to work on with high school students. \u201cI ask myself: \u2018How can I engage the students on topics that may appear boring?\u2019\u201d she says. For example, for a class on the urinary system, Getschko searches for related terms to find interviews and other formats she and the students can work with. \u201cI find better qualified content for this purpose on the magazine website,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

Having received a subscription to the journal 10 years ago as a gift from her father when starting out as a biology undergraduate, Getschko runs the nature sciences and mathematics part of an undergraduate scientific research and artistic project at the school, in which students research a theme accompanied by a mentor, and are required to produce a science dissemination video on it as the final output. Working alongside historian Denise Mendes, who runs the humanities and arts department, the biologist proposed that the 22 students finalizing their projects would receive a 12-month subscription to Pesquisa FAPESP<\/em>. The school agreed, and the students have been receiving their copies at home since June.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Reproduction <\/span>Comic-strip stories created by students of Maria Lina de Jesus State School, S\u00e3o Jos\u00e9 do Alegre (MG), based on the discussion of Pesquisa FAPESP<\/em> contentReproduction <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Undergraduates from the previous year were receiving other journals not focused on the national output, highlights Mendes. \u201cThis year we thought: these are teenagers interested in research, so why not give value to the science produced here?\u201d she says. Third-grade high school student Bruno Pozzobon, 18, one of the prizewinners, agrees. \u201cI like the sensation of proximity I feel when I read the articles; I learn about research being done in places close to me. I can look up the contact details for an interviewed researcher who may, for example, be at USP; I can send them a message and arrange to visit them,\u201d he says. Pozzobon plans to pursue an academic career in physics.<\/p>\n

Student Gabriela Pedrozo, also 18, never used to read magazines but says that she got into the habit by flicking through Pesquisa FAPESP<\/em> on Saturday mornings, while her mother reads newspapers, with the two then trading publications. \u201cI like the notes section right at the start of the magazine, because it\u2019s a quick read,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n

Back to print<\/strong>
\nSalvaging the habit of reading information on a physical page was one of the incentives for the S\u00e3o Paulo state capital\u2019s Santa Marcelina College to include the magazine as teaching material for 160 students between the 9th<\/sup> grade of primary education and the 3rd<\/sup> grade of secondary learning. \u201cThe idea is to stimulate more comprehensive thinking among students, who gain from manipulating printed materials and from taking the time to read more concentrated information, different from what appears on their smartphone feeds,\u201d observes educational coordinator Lisli\u00ea Vidal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen scrolling on screens, I can\u2019t stay focused for long. I like to make notes and mark the physical copies when a teacher asks us to read text from the magazine,\u201d says 14-year-old student Rafaela Giori Silva. She often sees interesting material for researching ideas for essays, for example. \u201cI have mistakenly used false information in projects after doing searches on the internet. It\u2019s good to have access to trustworthy sources.\u201d<\/p>\n

Student Matheus Eterovic Bortoletto Vicente, also 14, who is thinking of becoming an engineer, didn\u2019t previously receive any publications at home. \u201cI\u2019ve always had the habit of reading my news piecemeal on the internet, and it\u2019s been good to have access to the magazine, because the material is always well organized. It\u2019s a different way of consuming information. My parents have also started reading the magazine,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"\"

L\u00e9o Ramos Chaves \/ Pesquisa FAPESP<\/span>In 2024, students of Santa Marcelina College began using the journal as learning materialL\u00e9o Ramos Chaves \/ Pesquisa FAPESP<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cAnother aim is to awaken students\u2019 interest in the world of science in the classroom,\u201d says oceanographer Andressa Pinter Ninin, coordinator of the school\u2019s nature sciences program. To remind teachers to think about educational activities using the new material, they receive updates on new additions, with links to the site and other information, in an internal circular that Vidal sends out every week. Eight professors work with articles from the magazine in their classrooms, in disciplines ranging from writing composition to nature sciences.<\/p>\n

To look at the evidence of evolution, biologist Roberta Basso Vieira used two paleontology articles: one, published in February, on the injured paw of a saber-toothed tiger, and the other from March about the fossil of an amphibian that lived some 250 million years ago in what is now known as the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Student groups, limited to a maximum of four, read and put together a conceptual map of that content, with notes, illustrations, and drawings. \u201cThe students were excited, mostly when they saw that one of the fossils was discovered in Brazil,\u201d says Basso Vieira.<\/p>\n

These conversations may help to approximate and awaken interest among students in the academic world, believes Franco Giagio, educational coordinator of the Armando \u00c1lvares Penteado Foundation (FAAP) College in Ribeir\u00e3o Preto (SP). Since 2011 he has introduced content from the magazine into classroom discussions with students, searching out examples that show the application of research to the development of new technologies, and raising critical debate.<\/p>\n

Professors from the college also use the articles as a basis for formulating bimonthly, interdisciplinary thematic tests, applied to students in the first and second grades of high school. The physicist highlights the infographics used in much of the content as being particularly useful in the assessments. \u201cWith a single infographic we can formulate questions for two or three different disciplines,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Giagio has even used three articles from the magazine in a single test. \u201cA lot of texts deal with themes at the frontier of knowledge, which helps to stimulate topical discussions among the students,\u201d he adds, giving the example of a 2019 test with questions compiled based on the article \u201cMachines that see everything<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

L\u00e9o Ramos Chaves \/ Pesquisa FAPESP<\/span>Students Bruno Pozzobon and Gabriela Pedrozo, awarded subscriptions to the magazine by the M\u00f3bile SchoolL\u00e9o Ramos Chaves \/ Pesquisa FAPESP<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Giagio still uses the magazine\u2019s content to formulate mock exams for the third grade of high school, and the university preadmission course. In his view, the use of this content in tests is strategic because entrance exams for public S\u00e3o Paulo universities and the National Secondary Education Exam (ENEM) both source subject matter for questions from Pesquisa FAPESP<\/em> articles. In November 2023, the writing composition section of the ENEM exam was themed around the invisibility of care work done by women in Brazil, and one of the supporting materials for students\u2019 essays was the cover of the January 2021 edition, which covered the issue.<\/p>\n

In academia and backstage in science<\/strong>
\nFor students starting at university, the magazine is useful to keep abreast of what is being produced in the Brazilian science arena. This is the view of historian Ivia Minelli, professor of humanities at Ilum, a higher-education science school at the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) in Campinas. Earlier in the year, she used the article about so-called \u201cplastic rocks\u201d for debate by her students as part of a discipline on the Anthropocene Epoch.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the interdisciplinary characteristics of the course, the varied thematic coverage of studies written about in Pesquisa FAPESP<\/em> is a very rich vein of subject matter for discussion among the students,\u201d says Minelli, also a professor on the graduate History program at UNICAMP. Another article she frequently uses for consultation and discussion among her students at Ilum is \u201cThe gender of science,\u201d which deals with the challenges and impacts of bringing gender equality and diversity to scientific research.<\/p>\n

For the last three years, biomedicine specialist and neuroscientist Mellanie Fontes-Dutra, of Vale do Rio dos Sinos University (UNISINOS) in S\u00e3o Leopoldo, Rio Grande do Sul State (RS), has used content from the magazine with her biomedicine undergraduate students. She encourages them to write reviews on current topics in the area of health, based on the articles she selects, and has also used content as the basis for evaluations of medicines and vaccines. \u201cI very much like using the magazine to provide visibility to the science we do in this country. I think it stimulates students to look at the academic area as a career opportunity,\u201d she concludes.<\/p>\n

Researchers have sought to investigate the potential of using the magazine for educational activities. In May 2022, chemist Ana Caroline Vieira Correia selected the Pesquisa FAPESP<\/em> article \u201cBrazilian science attracting attention worldwide<\/a>\u201d for classroom discussion with first-grade secondary education students. The text, published in November 2021 on the website, and in print in the December issue, introduced 21 Brazilian researchers that had been included on a list of frequently cited scientists divulged that year. \u201cOur aim was for students to widen their understanding of science and the work of contemporaneous Brazilian researchers,\u201d she says. The activity was part of Correia\u2019s master\u2019s research into scientific education, defended in August 2023 at the Federal University of Itajub\u00e1 (UNIFEI), Minas Gerais State, for which the chemist coordinated the reading and discussion of the article with 22 students from Itajub\u00e1\u2019s Florival Xavier State School over two sessions, with pupils then visiting laboratories and speaking to UNIFEI researchers. Before and after these activities, she issued questionnaires on how the students perceived the work of scientists, with the final set of answers indicating that they noticed aspects of nature and science about which they had not thought when giving their first round of responses. The results were published in Revista Amaz\u00f4nica de Ensino de Ci\u00eancias <\/em>(Amazonian journal of science education) in 2023.<\/p>\n

\"\"

L\u00e9o Ramos Chaves \/ Pesquisa FAPESP<\/span>Roberta Basso Vieira uses articles to discuss concepts addressed in biology classesL\u00e9o Ramos Chaves \/ Pesquisa FAPESP<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

The students also perceived that scientists do not operate alone, but in research groups; that they do not spend their lives locked away in the laboratories, and that the knowledge they produce is peer-validated by researchers from the same area of expertise. \u201cThe article was chosen because it had elements that demonstrated the process of scientific production, such as the representation of female researchers, funding of studies, and collaboration among scientists. These elements are not explicit, but can be pointed out by the professors,\u201d explains Correia.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur exercise concluded that science dissemination can be an important ally in bringing young people closer to the work of scientists. I intend to repeat this activity with my students,\u201d says the chemist, a teacher at the Major Jo\u00e3o Pereira State School and Sucesso College, both in Itajub\u00e1. Correia embarked upon her doctoral research at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s College of Education (FEUSP).<\/p>\n

Another study by UNIFEI researchers, published in the Revista Brasileira de Pesquisa em Educa\u00e7\u00e3o em Ci\u00eancias<\/em> (Brazilian journal of research in science education) in December 2017, analyzed the potential of Pesquisa FAPESP<\/em> content for use in the classroom as a resource to examine aspects of the sociology of science. The articles \u201cHow to explain such a divided heart<\/a>\u201d and \u201cRunning is good for you<\/a>,\u201d both published in 2014, were discussed by 28 high school first-graders at the Maria Lina de Jesus State School in S\u00e3o Jos\u00e9 do Alegre, Minas Gerais State.<\/p>\n

After an initial analysis of 10 articles from the journal, both these texts were selected by the researchers for their relationship with recent topics studied by the students, such as cell respiration and photosynthesis. Following reading and discussion of the texts, mediated by a biology professor, the students were invited to create comic-strip stories inspired by the pieces.<\/p>\n

In their article, the researchers draw attention to scientific investigation elements appearing in the images, giving the idea that knowledge is always developing and highlighting perceptions on the time it takes to construct a scientific consensus, and the importance of working collectively. \u201cThe articles not only address scientific concepts, but oftentimes, reading between the lines, can tell the story of that study, showing the difficulties and divergences between research groups,\u201d observes chemist Jane Raquel Silva de Oliveira of UNIFEI, one of the article\u2019s authors. The teacher\/professor then needs to localize these elements and address them in the classroom, making efforts to demonstrate the process of constructing research, which as Oliveira stresses, does not always appear in textbooks.<\/p>\n

In 2015, to support these discussions in the classroom, she produced the e-book Nos bastidores da ci\u00eancia: Conhecendo o trabalho do cientista<\/a><\/em>. (Behind the scenes of science: Understanding the work of the scientist). Articles from Pesquisa FAPESP <\/em>featured among content used as a basis for this publication.<\/p>\n

The story above was published with the title “Educational tool<\/strong>” in issue 344 of October\/2024.<\/p>\n

Scientific articles
\n<\/strong>CORREIA, A. C. V. e OLIVEIRA, J. R. S. A divulga\u00e7\u00e3o cient\u00edfica como meio para aproximar estudantes de cientistas e promover compreens\u00f5es sobre a natureza da ci\u00eancia<\/a>. Aret\u00e9 <\/strong>\u2012<\/strong> Revista Amaz<\/strong>\u00f4<\/strong>nica de Ensino de Ci<\/strong>\u00ea<\/strong>ncias.<\/strong> Vol. 20, no. 34. Jan. 2023.
\nMOTA, G. P. R. et. al.<\/em> A revista Pesquisa FAPESP<\/em> como recurso para abordagem da sociologia da ci\u00eancia<\/a>. Revista Brasileira de Pesquisa em Educa\u00e7\u00e3o em Ci\u00eancias<\/strong>. Vol. 17, no. 3. Dec. 2017.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Classroom activities using content from Pesquisa FAPESP<\/em> have also inspired research","protected":false},"author":684,"featured_media":547070,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[165,5573,166,159],"tags":[226],"coauthors":[2721],"class_list":["post-547049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-humanities","category-pesquisa-fapesp-25-years","category-policies-st-en","category-science","tag-education","position_at_home-sumario","keywords-pesquisa-fapesp-25-years"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/684"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=547049"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":552511,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547049\/revisions\/552511"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/547070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=547049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=547049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=547049"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=547049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}