Perceptions of Mozambican secondary school students about the volume of an object: a teaching experience based on the Hypothetical Learning Trajectory

una experiencia de enseñanza basada en la trayectoria hipotética de aprendizaje

Abstract

In this article, we present an investigation that aims to analyze Mozambican secondary school student's perceptions of the volume of an object. From a teaching experience based on the use of Simon's Hypothetical Learning Trajectory (THA) (1995), we sought to obtain information about the way students defined, understood, and/or interpreted the concept of the volume of an object of everyday life. Eight students who attended Grade 10 at Quelimane, Mozambique, participated in the investigation. Data was collected through interviews with open questions addressed to students participating in the investigation. The interview transcriptions were carried out and submitted to Content Analysis procedures. Among the conclusions we reached, the following stand out: the perception that students have minimal notions about the definition of volume; regarding the understanding of space, they cannot clarify whether it is the space inside the object or the space that the object occupies in the environment where it is inserted; due to the first limitation – defining volume – they were unable to identify by which measurement units volume can be presented; Due to the lack of this prior knowledge, students also confuse volume with capacity.