Study of the inquiry method contribution to students autonomy perception in high school chemistry classes

Abstract

Students' motivation to learn is one of the main concerns of parents, teachers and school administrators and is directly linked to their academic achievement. In order to contribute to the improvement of Physical-Chemistry teaching in Basic Education, a research group was formed by the Natural Science Teaching Investigations Laboratory with high school teachers. In this project, the purpose is to accompany the production and application of inquiry activities by these teachers and to study this method influence on students' autonomy perception in High School Chemistry classes using Self-Determination Theory. Two questionnaires already validated in literature will be used for the quantitative data collection combined with a semi structured interview in qualitative analyses. With this project it is expected to contribute to the production of didactic materials in Chemistry and that the students become more engaged in scientific disciplines.