Dificuldades na aprendizagem de F\'isica sob a \'otica dos resultados do Enem / Physics learning difficulties from the perspective of ENEM results

TL;DR

This study analyzes ENEM physics questions from 2009-2014 to identify persistent learning difficulties and misconceptions among high school students, highlighting limited impact of educational research on teaching practices.

Contribution

It provides an analysis of national exam data to reveal enduring misconceptions in physics education and evaluates the influence of research on teaching methods.

Findings

Persistent difficulties in understanding mechanics, thermal phenomena, and optics.

Prevalence of non-scientific conceptions in students' responses.

Limited impact of research findings on didactic materials and teacher training.

Abstract

The results of the National High School Examination (ENEM) are an important tool for a diagnosis of educational deficiencies at the end of a training cycle. This exam is a relevant source of data for the evaluation of what is learned by high school students. In this paper, thirteen selected questions are presented, from the Natural Sciences exam in the period between 2009 and 2014, questions that were classified as "physics questions", in which the alternatives reveal well-delimited non-scientific conceptions described in the literature. From the students' performance on these items, observations about the learning process in physics in basic education are made. This study reveals that there are some permanent difficulties in understanding basic concepts of mechanics, thermal phenomena and geometric optics. Many of these questions point to the presence and even predominant role of non-scientific conceptions described in the research literature in physics teaching. Even knowing how difficult it is to modify these conceptions, the results reveal that, despite all the research effort in physics teaching since the 1980s, there was little impact of the results in the learning process, and only a few changes incorporating this knowlege in the didactic materials and in the teacher training courses. (Paper in Portuguese.)