The Guideline of the National Postgraduate Plan for articulation with Basic Education: reporting the project Experimenting Science

Abstract

The Brazillian National Postgraduate Plan recommends that the National Graduate System develop studies in view of the needs and interests of students in basic education. Seeking to follow this guideline, the Graduate Program in Dental Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of São Paulo established a partnership with management bodies of the public education network in the city of São Paulo, formulating and implementing the Experimenting Science project. The objective was to bring the students of basic education closer to scientific knowledge, produced in the university, promoting the popularization of science and technology. From the delimitation of a problem in the classroom, four groups of ten students, ran five college labs, with the purpose of hypothesizing and testing experimental designs. Throughout the year 2016, five schools participated, making a total of 200 students. The results were presented in the form of reports, reports of experience, and disseminated to the school community, in order to share and multiply knowledge. According to the reports, students had the opportunity to broaden the understanding of science in a practical way, instigating curiosity for research and awakening the perception that higher education is a possible stage of achievement in the educational cycle. For the university, the project demonstrated the feasibility and importance of the interdisciplinary articulation and between the different educational levels.