The importance of "whys" in chemistry teaching

Abstract

When it comes to the dynamics of a classroom, it is clear that there are several fundamental elements to ensure that learning takes place, among which the central element, and the focus of this research, is questions. The aim of this paper is to discuss the need for questions, in other words, "why questions", as a key element in classroom dynamics, with a focus on teaching chemistry. To this end, a preliminary bibliographical survey was carried out on works that emphasize questions as an integral part of classroom dynamics, focusing on the authors: Bondía (2002), Ranciere (2002), Freire (2021). Next, a search was made for articles in the journal Química Nova na Escola, published in the last ten years, which discussed this theme and related it to the subject of Chemistry. As a result of this research, it was possible to observe that questioning allows students to get closer to the teacher, and that the search for knowledge is associated with their interests, experiences and curiosities, which can help them to appropriate knowledge effectively. In addition, it was possible to notice that there is not a large amount of work that has been produced on this subject and that is specific to chemistry teaching. As such, it is clear that there is a need for greater discussion about the relevance of "whys" to chemistry teaching and how they can facilitate the teaching-learning process, as well as the importance of the "hows".