Epistemology teaching in information science: theoretical and didactic approaches in a postgraduate program

Abstract

The teaching of epistemology in undergraduate and graduate courses is essential for understanding the development of knowledge in a science. No curso de pós-graduação em Ciência da Informação no Brasil, a epistemologia tem comumente apresentado um objetivo pedagógico voltado para a apropriação de conceitos elementares como “informação” e “conhecimento”. Thus, the general objective of this work is to report the development of an epistemology discipline linked to a postgraduate program in Information Science in Brazil. The specific objectives seek to verify the mentioned hypotheses: a) identify the main objects and questions of epistemological thought; b) verify the presence of objects and epistemological discussions in spaces of thought in Information Science; c) evaluate the didactic choices for conducting the discipline. The specific method of the theoretical and didactic approaches of the discipline was observation by analysis and synthesis towards reasoned questioning. As the main result of the reflection on this report, a theoretical and didactic model built from the reflection on the "Epistemology of Information Science" discipline, offered in the 2nd semester of 2021 to the Postgraduate Program in Information Science from the São Paulo State University “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP) in Marília. Based on the results of the proposal, it was concluded that it is possible to reconsider the importance of didactic procedures also in postgraduate studies to keep masters and doctors engaged, committed and motivated to face theoretical challenges proposed by epistemology and, thus, revisit their own construction practices knowledge, understand the challenges, results and impacts of science. This work contributes to a continuous evaluation and an environment open to the criticism of the essays, providing objective conditions that will be demanded by the scientific community.