Journal of Education & Social Policy

Organic Chemistry Lectures in Higher Education and Pedagogical Link-Making
Ana Luiza de Quadros, Laila Thayanne Gomes de Almeida, Mariana Gonçalves Dias

Abstract
The curricula of undergraduate courses have been receiving criticism due to fragmentation of knowledge. In this study, we analyze the use of pedagogical link-making in Higher Education as possibility to reduce this fragmentation. For this, we have selected six professors who teach Organic Chemistry for several undergraduate courses, three of whom with more than 60% of students approved in disciplines and three others with less than 60%. We filmed and analyzed a set of lectures aiming to identify the links made to provide continuity to the content and to help students in the knowledge building in the classroom. Data analysis shows that professors make few macro continuity links, which can be a result of the little knowledge on the curriculum as a whole. Moreover, we observed that students are more successful with professors that make more pedagogical link-making, leading us to argue that these links help in the understanding of the “scientific story”.

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