STUDY OF THE LINK BETWEEN PORTUGUESE STUDENTS' ATTITUDES AND PERCEPTIONS ABOUT PHYSICS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE DIGITAL AGE, 21st CENTURY (Atena Editora)

Abstract

In the 21st century, we find ourselves immersed in a global social system characterized by complexity, unpredictability and interdependence. This reality presents a series of challenges that must be faced by countries, institutions, organizations and individuals in general. Technological advances are constantly emerging, and being prepared to compete in the digital age requires fluency in the language in which these advances operate. It is the responsibility of the education system to equip individuals with adequate skills to meet these ever-evolving challenges. Curriculum proposals in the area of Physics for basic, secondary and university education must highlight the need to adapt these to the constant need to train citizens capable of keeping up with technological evolution and able to integrate the labor market. It is thought that the "motto" of promoting science in the area of physics is taught using simple language, using the observation of experiments and physical phenomena, combined with everyday examples, so that students have a better perception and understanding of the usefulness and application of this area of knowledge. In this work, the process of collecting information was carried out using a questionnaire survey, applied to a sample of the Portuguese population (mainland and islands), which took place between March and May 2022. closed. These allow for greater ease in the processing of data, but collect less detailed information. The purpose of this survey is to evaluate, in general, two dimensions related to the study of the scientific area Physics, namely; “students' attitude towards Physics” and “students' perceptions of Physics teaching and learning”. To test the reliability of the survey, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used. The coefficient was applied to 4 questions of each of the two dimensions mentioned above. The results obtained reflect that in the same questionnaire the reliabilities of the dimensions can differ. In order to establish some conclusions about all the items of the questionnaire, statistical techniques were used. In this survey, the population of respondents comprises 145 students, most of whom live in the Autonomous Region of the Azores.