Astronomy. Spatial location. Astronomical orientation. Geography.

This research work presents an investigation in the field of Astronomy study in the teaching of Geography. In this context, this work is part of the master's degree in Technological Education at CEFET-MG, in Research Line IV - educational practices in science and technology. This research analyzes the use of astronomical orientation and spatial place by students of Professional and Technological Education (PTE) to find themselves in the terrestrial space. This research work dialogues with Ausubel's theory of significant learning, the contributions of Lynch et al. (1960) on the image of the city, reflections on Geography as a practice, skills, and empirical knowledge of Claval (2014). The contributions of Langhi (2016) were used on the notions and conceptions of Astronomy, as well as the concepts of geographic science by Katuta (2000) and Teixeira (1997), among others. The research method adopted in this study follows a qualitative approach, characterized as a case study (exploratory-descriptive). Questionnaires and the researcher's observation were used as instruments for data collection during practical activities. The collected data were categorized and analyzed based on Bardin's content analysis (2016). The research proposal presented in this dissertation started from the following problem: how can the student use astronomical guidance to find in terrestrial space? To find the problem, we searched for articles that approached the theme of learning the notions, concepts, and conceptions of the student to find / orient themselves in the terrestrial space and orient themselves by the stars in the portals of journals of the Coordination for the Improvement of Personnel Higher Education (CAPES) and the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCAR) from 2010 to 2018. This research was carried out in the second term of 2019 in a federal technical school of professional and technological education in Belo Horizonte city - MG and counted with the participation of 17 students of the 1st year of integrated technical courses in Mechatronics and Mechanics. The results of this investigation show that the students were interested in the topic and presented some difficulties in understanding the notions and skills of location and astronomical orientation. It was found that the reflective dialogical classes and the practical activity of observational astronomy, with the naked eye and through a telescope, were valid and positive to contribute to the understanding and clarification of students' doubts during the learning process. It should be noted that, even with the technological resources available in geospatial location applications, it is essential to know the lived space correlated with the spatial reference systems.