The Radioactivity theme and the STS approach in the PNLD 2018 Chemistry Textbooks: an analysis of complementary texts

Abstract

The introduction of themes and complementary teaching resources from the perspective of the Science-Technology-Society (STS) approach are some of the signs of the changes that chemistry textbooks have been going through over the years. This work aims to identify and analyze the complementary texts (CT), didactic resources, suggested for the theme Radioactivity in chemistry textbooks, approved by the 2018 National Textbook Program. This study is qualitative and documental. Five volumes were selected from the six collections approved for the inclusion of the investigated theme, and then a complete reading of the chapters related to Radioactivity was carried out, based on criteria aimed at the structuring of STS teaching materials. The results showed the presence of 32 complementary texts in the analyzed books, which were divided into categories as follows: Responsibility (5), STS mutual influences (13), Relationships with social issues (13), Balance of views (6), Decision making and problem solving (6), Responsible action (4) and Integration of a point of view (8). It is concluded that the categories STS Mutual Influences and Relations with Social Issues are the most present in the CT analyzed, which are presented as an adequate didactic resource for working with aspects of the STS approach, in chemistry classes.