Percepção dos mediadores do Museu de Biodiversidade do Cerrado (MBC) sobre a importância da extensão na sua formação

Abstract

The University Extension is governed, among other principles, by the inseparability between teaching and research and by the articulation between the University and society, establishing a dialogic relation with the collective. The objective of this work was to evaluate the perception of mediators participating in an extension project of the Federal University of Uberlândia at the Cerrado Biodiversity Museum (MBC) regarding the importance of extension in their formation process and the contributions of their performance to their professional development, focusing on their understanding of science. For this, an online form was developed using Google Forms which contained 21 items, divided between the aspects of university formation and the vision of science, based on Athayde (1990). Respondents should select one alternative: agree, disagree, or indifferent. A specific section for general comments and suggestions was provided to capture their views beyond what was asked by the mediators. The form received eleven responses from scholarship holders and volunteers who worked between 2017 and 2021. The overall approval of the form's questions was 97.84%, disapproval 0.43%, and indifference 1.73%. These results, analyzed together with the spontaneous comments on the form, corroborate the importance that mediation in the MBC, as an extension project, had for the training of students and how this has contributed to their perception of the importance of education in non-formal spaces and its potential to integrate with society. Further studies are proposed to achieve more mediators and identify other impacts that extension provides on their construction as individuals and professionals.