Cooperação investigativa na prática da modelagem matemática com ênfase na justiça social: uma análise no contexto do sistema prisional

Abstract

This qualitative study, developed within the scope of the Graduate Program in Science Teaching and Mathematics Education at the Federal University of Lavras, aimed to identify elements of investigative cooperation—such as establishing contact, perceiving, recognizing, positioning oneself, thinking aloud, reformulating, challenging, and evaluating—present in the practice of mathematical modeling with an emphasis on social justice, conducted with students from the Association for the Protection and Assistance of Convicts (APAC). The mathematical modeling practice, guided by the perspective of Critical Mathematics Education, followed the five stages proposed by Burak and Klüber: 1) theme selection; 2) exploratory research; 3) problem identification; 4) problem-solving and development of the mathematical concept within the theme context; 5) critical analysis of the solutions. The research participants were third-year high school adult education students, four of whom were in a semi-open regime and six in a closed regime. To achieve the research objective and contribute to the practice of mathematical modeling in Basic Education, we described the planning process of the proposal to address social justice and promote student engagement. We chose to construct an experience report as a means of identifying the teaching and learning processes, as well as moments of dialogue manifestation and, consequently, elements of investigative cooperation. As data collection instruments, we used audio recordings of the classes and a logbook to document the teacher-researcher's observations during the proposal's development. To identify and analyze actions inherent to investigative cooperation, we were inspired by discursive textual analysis, following its four procedural stages, of which the first three (unitarization, categorization, and communication) complete a preparatory cycle for the self-organization phase. The study revealed positive factors, such as signs of conceptual appropriation, but also faced methodological limitations due to the environment in which it was conducted. The active participation of those involved was essential for the development of the research. The study highlights potential for future research that addresses different perspectives and for interdisciplinarity, integrating knowledge from various fields. As an educational product associated with our research, we developed the material entitled "Mathematical Modeling as a Path to Dialogue on Social Justice," which presents mathematical modeling as a feasible practice to foster debates related to social justice in Mathematics classes. Our premise was to share with educators, especially those teaching in Basic Education, our knowledge and experiences regarding this adopted methodology.