Modelagem matemática na educação de jovens e adultos privados de liberdade

Abstract

This study was carried out at a penitentiary in central Paraná, Brasil, in order to answer the following research question: What can be revealed in the mathematical modeling activities done by inmates? Our chosen goal is to investigate all that is manifested as they carry out the mathematical modeling activities.with the participation of five students who were enrolled in the Mathematics class of the Adult Education Program in the prison system. The data-set of this research, which takes a qualitative approach, consists of the transcripts of the video conferences and the notes made by the students on their worksheets during the nine classes. In these classes, the students carried out four mathematical modeling activities, two of which had their topic chosen by the students themselves. As a result, we suggest that the mathematical modeling activities allowed the teacher to present the mathematical concepts from the syllabus almost completely. In addition, these activities produced an expressive discussion on mathematical concepts and on how to approach the diversity of knowledge which is not always included in the debates that take place during mathematics classes. Another point of note in our study is that the Adult Education Program proved to be a fruitful ground for mathematical modeling, as there is no need to take the linear approach required by school curricula in general.