The Theory of Registers of Semiotic Representation: Contributions to the Teaching and Learning of Physics

Abstract

This work is, in part, the result of a doctoral research, and aims to present the Theory Raymond Duval's Registers of Semiotic Representations and its theoretical-methodological contributions to the teaching and learning of physics. We seek to verify the signs and symbols proper to physics by the semiotic aspect of Duval, in order to enable possible paths for the teaching of the discipline that allows students to improve their learning. The fundamental cognitive activities of representation related to semiosis: formation, treatment and conversion, are analyzed focusing on the verification of the congruence phenomenon that leads to integrative understanding. As a methodological approach, it is suggested that the congruence criteria and cognitive model of representation, centered on the objectification function, be articulated in order to allow the use of the theory to the specific problems of physics. In this sense, five canonical physics problems are treated with 28 high school students from a private school in São Paulo, Brazil, during the second semester of 2017. The analyzes performed on the activities and based on the Theory of Records Semiotic Representations point to results that demonstrate their importance in the development of teaching and learning physics by allowing increases in student success rates in addressing the problems proper to the discipline.

Keywords

• teoria dos registros de representação semiótica
• ensino e aprendizagem da física
• resolução de problemas