Uma análise de desempenho de estudantes do ensino médio e do ensino superior na resolução de questões de geometria do ENEM

Abstract

The present work had as main objective to analyze the performance of students of High School and Higher Education, of a degree course in Mathematics, in the resolution of questions of the National High School Examination (ENEM), in the area of Geometry. In the text we bring a clipping about the history of Geometry, considering the human needs that led to the further study of this area, and the contributions that it brought not only to Mathematics, but also to its relation with other areas of knowledge. We deal with the teaching of Plane and Space Geometry, based on researchers and official documents that regulate their teaching, and also on the importance of geometric thinking for the basic education student. We discuss the history of the National High School Examination (ENEM), since its inception, focusing on its objectives in the field of Geometry, present in the Reference Matrix of this exam. We performed a qualitative, exploratory research, whose data were obtained through the application of a questionnair e, with eight ENEM items, related to the field of Geometry, in the period from 2012 to 2017. The data were analyzed focusing on the main types of errors committed by students of Higher and High School, as well as the methods used by them to solve such questions. The results of our analysis point to many gaps in the training of most of the students of Basic Education who participated in our study, in view of the demand for resolution of issues of Flat and Space Geometry, even when they were demanded contents that should be studied still in Elementary School. Even with regard to undergraduate students in Mathematics, the results were worrisome, since in some questions their performance was not desirable for students who will soon be legally able to act as teachers of Basic Education.