Alternative Bias for Understanding the World? An Analysis of the Perception of Undergraduate Students in Biological Sciences About

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.28976/1984-2686rbpec2024u321341

Keywords:

scientific negationism, Pseudoscience, pre-service teacher

Abstract

Pseudoscience is able to deceive even the most skeptical individuals due to its tactic of mimicking the processes of science, from simulating a methodology and a scientific language, to inducing a rationality. Therefore, considering this trick of pseudoscience, this study aimed to analyze the perception of undergraduate students in Biological Sciences about the general characteristics of pseudoscience, since these students are in the process of training and may act to combat the anti-science front. To achieve our goal, we applied a questionnaire of agreement with a Likert-type scale, and its results were analyzed from the average ranking of the answers obtained. In total, 56 undergraduates and 32 undergraduates participated. The results of the research show that students do not differentiate scientific denialism from pseudoscience and remain in a field of neutrality when dealing with the criterion of falsifiability proposed Popper (1959) to characterize the Sciences.

Author Biographies

  • Matheus Lau Damasceno, UESC

    Graduated in Biological Sciences Teaching from the State University of Santa Cruz - UESC (2021), Master's degree in Science and Mathematics Education - PPGECM/UESC (2023). I served as the Secretary of Education for the Biology Student Directory (2017 - 2019) during the Mandacaru and Carcará administrations, respectively. I was a scientific initiation scholarship holder from FAPESB (2017-2018), where I conducted research on the Epidemiology of Scorpion Sting Accidents in Itabuna and Ilhéus - BA. I also worked as an administrative technician at the Myrmecology Collection of UESC/CEPLAC (2018-2019) and volunteered in the extension project "Caminhão com Ciência" at UESC (2016 - 2020). I was a university-level intern at Enedina Oliva State School, working on projects in the field of Science for the State Department of Education (2019 - 2021). Currently, I am a teacher in the State Network of Professional Education in Bahia and a member of the Research Group on Pedagogical Practices and Teaching - GEPED/UESC, associated with the Brazilian Association of Research in Science Education - ABRAPEC. My interests lie in the following areas: Inquiry-Based Science Teaching, Science Outreach and Popularization, and Science Education.

  • Luciana Sedano, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz

    I have a bachelor's degree in Pedagogy from the University of São Paulo (USP), a master's degree, and a Ph.D. in Education from the University of São Paulo. I have experience in teaching Early Childhood Education and the early years of Elementary School. I also have experience in teaching Youth and Adult Education and in Pedagogical Coordination in Elementary and High School. I work on various teacher training projects. I am a professor in specialization courses in science education, early childhood education, and the early years of Elementary School. I was a member of the Editorial Board of Editus - the Publishing House of UESC. I am an Associate Researcher at the Brazilian Association of Research in Science Education (ABRAPEC) and the National Association of Graduate Studies and Research in Education (ANPED). Currently, I am a Full Professor in the Department of Education Sciences at the State University of Santa Cruz (UESC/BA), a Permanent Faculty member of the Professional Master's Program in Education: Teacher Training for Basic Education (PPGE), where I served as the Vice Coordinator of the Program's Board; and the Academic Master's Program in Science and Mathematics Education (PPGECM). My research mainly focuses on the following thematic areas: didactics; organization of pedagogical practice, science education, inquiry-based teaching, and teacher training.

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Published

2024-03-31

Issue

v. 24 (2024): Janeiro-Dezembro

Section

Artigos

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How to Cite

Alternative Bias for Understanding the World? An Analysis of the Perception of Undergraduate Students in Biological Sciences About. (2024). Brazilian Journal of Research in Science Education, e46907, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.28976/1984-2686rbpec2024u321341