The CTS approach in the context of ENEM mathematical issues (2012-2016)

Abstract

This research report is based on a Master's Dissertation, whose objective was to analyze whether the CTS (Science, Technology and Society) approach and the EMC (Critical Mathematics Education) approach can contribute to the contextualized teaching of Mathematics. In the first stage, we carried out an analysis of Mathematics issues contemplated in the ENEM (National High School Examination), from 2012 to 2016, in order to investigate if these questions had in their context, questions pertinent to the CTS approach, as well as to examine if they would be related to other areas of knowledge, in an interdisciplinary approach. The ENEM was created in 1998 with the purpose of evaluating students' performance at the end of basic schooling, as well as verifying the fundamental competences for the full exercise of citizenship. This research is qualitative, of descriptive character, based on the content analysis of Bardin (2011). Among the 225 questions analyzed, we found that 62.2% do not have in their context the relation between Science and Technology with the Society or other areas of knowledge, nor do they allow questions that contribute to the critical formation of students for the exercise of citizenship. In the second moment, we carried out an Extension Course addressing the CTS approach and the EMC, directed to teachers who teach Mathematics. In this course, we use the analyzed issues of the ENEM as a teaching-learning tool to discuss possibilities of insertion of these approaches in the teaching of Mathematics. In this research report we will present the pertinent discussions to the first moment of the research, which are the analyzes of the ENEM questions.