Today, laboratory classes are still frequent in physics undergraduate courses: activities that lead students to act mechanically in the execution of excessively guided scripts, without reflecting enough on the theoretical fundaments that give base to their experiments. Many of these activities are supported by inadequate epistemological conceptions, fostering naive views about the nature of science. In face of this situation, it is necessary to propose laboratory classes that make students the protagonists of their own inquiries and highlight important aspects of the practice of experimentation. With focus on this necessity, we present in this article four activities that involve mechanical oscillations, fluids and thermodynamics. The activities have been designed with the purpose of reframe experimental activities through what we call Modeling Episodes. In these activities, students face situations that: i) highlight important aspects of the process of scientific modeling, giving them the opportunity to construct epistemological concepts that are wise and not naive, and ii) demand an active role of the students, allowing the development of competences related to the creation of research questions, the designing of experiments, the critical execution of experimental procedures and data analysis. We hope these activities may inspire teachers and researchers to design and execute experimental activities that are favor engagement and reflection by the students during their inquiries, allowing them to use their scientific knowledge to tackle real problems originated in real events.
Keywords:
experimental activities; scientific modeling; physics laboratory
