Abstract Self-regulation is an effective strategy to develop competence in learning to learn, and in scientific literacy. This paper presents an activity aimed to promote the development of the ability of students 16 to 17 years old to self-regulate the processes of solving physics problems, and self-assessment activity as the process itself occurs. The analysis of the data from its application shows, firstly, that students improve their results and the positive assessment made of the process and, furthermore, its influence on the change in the daily work of the teacher.

Resumen La autorregulación es una estrategia eficaz para desarrollar la competencia en aprender a aprender, al mismo tiempo que la científica. En este trabajo se presenta una actividad orientada a promover el desarrollo de la capacidad de los alumnos de 16 y 17 años de autorregular los procesos de resolución de problemas de física, y de la autoevaluación del mismo proceso. Los análisis de los datos de su aplicación muestran, por una parte, que mejoran los resultados de los estudiantes, así como la valoración positiva que hacen del proceso, y, por otra parte, su influencia en el cambio en el quehacer diario del profesor.

This article reflects on the notion of context and its importance in the teaching and learning of science in general and chemistry in particular. A brief review of the various ways of understanding science education in context and problems associated with its application in the classroom is done. From this analysis a proposal of criteria for the development of contextualized learning units is presented, and its goal is to construct a model with the key ideas to be applied. As an example of this, the design of a teaching unit is shown for an atomic model that takes into account a possible scenario of progression in their learning

En este artículo se reflexiona sobre la noción de contexto y su importancia en la enseñanza y aprendizaje de las ciencias en general, y de la química en particular. Se realiza una breve revisión de las diversas formas de entender una enseñanza de las ciencias en contexto y de los problemas que comporta su aplicación en el aula. A partir de este análisis se plantea una propuesta de criterios para la elaboración de unidades didácticas contextualizadas orientadas a la modelización de ideas clave. Como ejemplo, se presenta el diseño de una Unidad Didáctica para la enseñanza del modelo atómico de la materia teniendo en cuenta una posible hipótesis de progresión en su aprendizaje.

This research (Trujillo, 2004) analyses situations of exchange of arguments, questions, synthesis and other types of contribution within an instrument that has a "forum" type design used in a partial distance / partial face-to-face course on Bioclimatic Architecture. The objective was to identify and understand didactic aspects that should be used in a forum type technological mediation so that a group of students could interact with the purpose of constructing a significant knowledge with respect to a learning object. The results showed that at the beginning of the forum, the questions asked were essentially of an explorative nature in order to determine what the exact objective was. By the end more historical feedback was being received and there was more verification and relating of the different interventions. Interventions on regulation predominated, mainly between teacher and students, and to a much lesser extent between the students themselves. It was also shown that the processes of student interaction were very teacher-orientated and essentially tended to respond to the proposals guided by the teacher intervention. However, there were plenty of contributions that were indirectly stimulated by the other interventions.

Critical thinking is a crucial aspect that every citizen needs to be able to take part in a democratic and plural society. The current society, with a generalized access to information through Internet and with a constant bombardment of data, opinions and watchwords, demands new competences. Among them we would choose the one that relates to the capacity to think critically and to understand every kind of text to which it has had access and that are related to subjects, many times with a scientific basis, that affect us directly (climate change, alternative energies, transgenic foods...). This article shows the results of applying two activities of critical reading carried out in the context of Chemistry classes. The texts have been selected taking the contents worked previously and the social relevance of the problem that they discuss, without forgetting and taking into account its possible potential for arousing the interest of the student.

La importancia que en la actualidad tienen los estudios acerca del lenguaje para la Educación en Ciencias reside, entre otros aspectos, en sus funciones como vía comunicativa privilegiada en la enseñanza y en el aprendizaje y como mediador y regulador del desarrollo del pensamiento de los estudiantes. Se presentan primero algunos aspectos de la función comunicativa del lenguaje y algunos elementos relacionados con su función semiótica y su función de regulación de procesos centrales en la Educación en Ciencias. Se presentan en seguida resultados parciales del análisis de textos escritos elaborados en el campo conceptual de la respiración por estudiantes del grado llamado "primero de bachillerato" en el sistema educativo español (16-17 años), siendo los objetivos centrales del análisis caracterizar el lenguaje usado por dichos estudiantes, analizar la coherencia discursiva y el tipo de representación lingüística de los textos escritos por ellos e identificar posibles obstáculos lingüísticos para el aprendizaje. Dentro de los principales resultados se encuentran la elaboración de textos con coherencia local únicamente. Asimismo, son frecuentes las secuencias de oraciones relacionadas mediante conectores causales en las que no es clara la función de cada oración dentro del texto completo. Se encontró baja estructuración global de los textos de los estudiantes y una mezcla de diferentes modelos explicativos de la respiración.

At present, the importance for Science Education of studies about language resides in a wide range of aspects, from which the authors highlight two of them: its function as privileged communication channel in teaching and learning, and as mediator and regulator of the development of students' thinking. For this purpose, they initially focus on some aspects of the communicative function of language. Then, they focus on the study of elements related to the semiotic function of language and to its function as a regulator of different central processes in Science Education. Next, the authors present partial results on the analysis of school texts in the conceptual field of respiration, written by students of the first year of the high school level called "bachillerato" in the Spanish school system (16-17 years-old). The central purposes of this analysis are to characterize the language used by those students, to assess discursive coherence and linguistic representation types in their texts, and to identify possible linguistic obstacles to learning. Among the main results, they found that those texts showed only local coherence; they also found frequent sequences of sentences related by causal connectors from which there is no clear function assignable to each sentence in the complete text. Low global structuring of students' texts was found, and a mixture of different explicative models of respiration.

Atualmente, a importância que têm os estudos a respeito da linguagem para o ensino das ciências reside, dentre outros aspectos, nas suas funções como vía comunicativa privilegiada tanto no ensino como na aprendizagem, bem como mediadora e reguladora do desenvolvimento do pensamento dos estudantes. Neste trabalho são apresentados alguns resultados parciais da analise de textos escritos elaborados por estudantes da primeira série do segundo grau (16-17 anos), do sistema educativo espanhol (bacharelado), no campo conceitual da respiração. Os objetivos centrais foram: caracterizar a linguagem usada por estes estudantes, analisar a coerência discursiva e o tipo de representação lingüística dos textos escritos por eles e identificar possíveis obstáculos lingüísticos no processo de aprendizagem. Dentre os principais resultados encontra-se a elaboração de textos con coêrencia local. No entanto, são freqüentes as seqüências de orações relacionadas mediante conetores causais, nas quais não é clara a função de cada oração dentro do texto completo. Também foi encontrada uma baixa estruturação global dos textos dos estudantes e uma mistura de diferentes modelos explicativos a respeito da respiração.