UMA PROPOSTA DIDÁTICO-PEDAGÓGICA UTILIZANDO UM SOFTWARE LIVRE PARA INTERPRETAR A PCA

Abstract

Chemometrics is gaining more and more space in universities and industry. To contribute to the development and expansion of principal component analysis (PCA) teaching proposals, this work evaluated the answers of the students to a questionnaire and presented a didactic-pedagogical proposal that can contribute to solving the principal doubts achieved by students in the PCA interpretation. Based on data collected in a semi-open questionnaire, the proposal was developed based on methodological principles of historical-critical pedagogy, containing the objectives, the problems surrounding the topic, and the cultural instruments necessary for understanding and interpreting PCA in the discipline of chemometrics by using new resources and instruments, especially free software, Chemostat. This proposal covers topics related to the concept of chemometrics and PCA, the explanation of the data set, pre-processing, use of Chemostat software, and analysis of principal components. It is hoped that this proposal can promote a better understanding concerning PCA on the part of students, as well as effective incorporation of the phenomena that involve this tool and its applications, and interpretation. Likewise, it is expected that this didactic-pedagogical proposal can support new teaching practices in chemometrics subjects in higher education.