A Comunicação Científica nas pesquisas da área de Educação em Ciências no Brasil: para que finalidades educativas?

Abstract

The understanding of scientific communication as a phenomenon mediated by material conditions and by the social contradictions that permeate educational practices will be discussed under the historical-dialectical materialist (HDM) method, as a method of investigation and analysis in this research. The research problem that guides this thesis is: “What educational purposes are present in academic research that addresses the dissemination, communication, or popularization of science in graduate programs (PPG) in the field of Education within CAPES that discuss Science Education in Brazil?” This thesis investigates the educational purposes of scientific communication in Science Education, highlighting how these processes underpin academic research in the field, as well as the social and historical dynamics that shape capitalist society. To answer this question, we listed bibliographic research, in the form of a state-ofknowledge study, as the instrument for data collection. For this purpose, throughout 2024, we analyzed theses published on scientific dissemination, popularization of science, and public communication of science available in the Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (BDTD), without temporal delimitation, using the following descriptors: “Scientific Communication,” “Science Dissemination,” and “Science Popularization.” Twenty-one studies were selected to compose our corpus of analysis, 20 of which came from academic graduate programs and only one from a professional graduate program, with a predominance of theses originating from graduate programs in the southeastern region. There is a predominance of theoretical and investigative approaches, with explicit objectives and intentions toward the training of researchers and professors who may work in the university environment. The analysis carried out reveals that although scientific communication plays a strategic role in the democratization of knowledge, it is also strained by disputes over values and interests that permeate Education. Gaps are identified between the declared intentions and the effective practices within educational institutions, often influenced by international guidelines and economic demands. Finally, it is necessary to reaffirm the importance of a historical and dialectical perspective to understand the relationships among science, education, and society, pointing out that scientific communication, far from being neutral, carries the marks of ideological disputes that define the paths of Education, especially in times of neoliberalism and globalization.