Cultural Astronomy: a Mapping of Academic Production in Brazil

Abstract

Here we present the partial results of a study carried out with the aim of seeking contributions from research in Cultural Astronomy. Firstly, we seek to establish an overview of the existing literature on cultural astronomy in order to answer the following question: how is the topic of cultural astronomy being addressed in scientific publications on Astronomy Education? This research offers a review of publications in the Capes BTDD (Repository of Theses and Dissertations). We then filtered the database for research that addressed elements of Astronomy Education. The data were analyzed according to Bardin's content analysis. We then go through a filter according to year of publication, author, research advisors, name of the postgraduate program, title of work, higher education institution, geographic region and state, keywords, cited references, justification theory, most cited researchers, data collection technique, methodological analysis, thematic focus and specific content of cultural astronomy. This research shows that research in Cultural Astronomy is still in its early stages; few authors work in this area in relation to the growing production in astronomy teaching in general, especially in Brazil.