Meaningful learning checking of concepts related to equations and functions in physics chemistry according to the main theme gas law

In this article, the authors propose an investigation of the learning process of the concepts and of the mathematical relations in the physical chemistry study of the gas, mapping an interdisciplinary teaching approach. The theoretical background of the research is based on the Theory of Meaningful Learning (ML) and on Gowin´s Epistemology trying to relate events, facts and concepts with other elements of knowledge through the “see” heuristic. The research experiments are being conducted with chemistry graduating students at the Universidade Federal de Pelotas in Rio Grande do Sul, during one semester, but it is planned to extend the studies to the engineering courses. The tests to check the subsumers are based on some theoretical questions related to the mathematical concepts already mentioned. Preliminary results of the testing show arithmetic and algebraic disabilities in a percentage of the group, as only 60% of the students answered the tests correctly. Based on the answers analysis contextualized activities are proposed to enrich the mathematics application in chemistry with the objective of favoring the development of the subsumers needed to the comprehension of the PC phenomena studied.