EXPERIMENTAL CHEMISTRY WORKSHOP IN PANDEMIC TIMES: A SUPPORT ACTIVITY FOR STUDENTS OF THE GRADUATE CHEMISTRY COURSE

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic caused several
impacts on education, causing teachers and
students to adapt to a new reality, as a result,
educational institutions had to adhere to
Emergency Remote Teaching (ERE). This
measure adopted, especially, by Higher
Education Institutions (HEIs) totally
affected the training of students, above all,
of Licentiate in Chemistry (LQ) courses. In
this sense, among the aforementioned
problems involved in the experiences of LQ
students, the departure from experimental
subjects is presented as one of the main
challenges in the teaching and learning
process. From this assumption, with the
objective of mitigating the damages caused
by the ERE, through a qualitative and
participative research, the Tutorial
Education Program - PET Química, of the
Federal Institute of Paraíba - IFPB, João
Pessoa campus, carried out an activity of
teaching called “Oficina de Química
Experimental (OQE)” in which
experimental practices alluding to the menu
of the subject of Experimental Chemistry I
(DQEI) of the LQ course of that institution,
were offered to all students who completed
it remotely. This workshop had as target
audience the students belonging to the
classes of the periods 2020.1, 2020.2 and
2021.1. The application of this teaching
intervention was divided into five moments:
i) Bibliographic research; ii) Development
of the workshop; iii) Practical activity of
measuring the volume of liquids and
Practical activity of weighing substances;
iv) Practical activity of simple filtration and
vacuum filtration and Practical activity of
materials and substances; v) Practical
activity of electrolyte conductivity and
Practical activity of alkali metals and
alkaline earth metals. With the execution of
the above mentioned phases, an effective
participation and interest was verified
during the whole process of the activity, on
the part of the licensees. However, the
action developed by PET Química was
uplifting, as it served as a professional
aggrandizement for the scholarship holders
of the program, as well as for the workshop
participants, since the science of Chemistry
is essentially experimental and must
necessarily be present in the training of
future graduates in Chemistry.