TEACHING ASTRONOMY TO THE BLIND: A DIDACTIC PROTOTYPE ON CONSTELLATIONS
Inclusive education, blind individuals, 3D print, Astronomy education, Constellations.
Inclusive education is legally supported in Brazil, particularly through the Law of Guidelines and Bases (LDB) No. 9,394/1996 and the Brazilian Law for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities (LBI) No. 13,146/2015. However, in the general educational contexto - and specifically in Astronomy education - there is still much progress to be made regarding inclusive teaching strategies. In Astronomy, the integration of tactile resources and the use of raised-relief star maps are examples of materials proposed to promote inclusion for blind individuals. These resources assist in Internal Didactic Transposition, that is, the adaptation and mental restructuring of a pedagogical concept or knowledge by a teacher to make it understandable and applicable to students in a specific teaching context. Accordingly, this dissertation aims to contribute to the development of an inclusive educational product for blind individuals within the context of Astronomy education, focusing specifically on constellations and their diverse cultural interpretations. To this end, educational technologies were employed through 3D printing to create material for building celestial maps. Additionally, the educational product was structured based on the Three Pedagogical Moments: problematization, knowledge organization, and knowledge application. Overall, the material is expected to support equitable access to educational content and academic development in Astronomy for all students, whether or not they have visual impairments.