The use of animals in Higher education: construction and validation of questionnaires to students and professors.
animal use, science teaching, animal law, animal ethics, alternative methods
The use of animals in science is a controversial issue in academia. Although the practice has been consolidated centuries ago, many debates about this issue have been raised by both members of the academy and activists who care about moral consideration of animals and the consequences of anthropocentrism. In this research, the focus is on the use of animals in teaching, addressing a critical analysis of the use, moral debate about the animals, the implications generated both for the animals in disregard of their lives, and for the students' uncritical formation. Therefore, in order for animals to cease to be used in didactic practices, it is necessary to open up efficient alternative methods. Some Brazilian universities have already done the replacements in some courses, but it is necessary that the academic community gives importance to the change and, from that, it becomes legal the abolition of the use of animals. Therefore, the relevance of the reformulation of teaching to more ethically and responsibly committed practices for the future professionals of science is emphasized. The objective of this work was to develop an online questionnaire to characterize the knowledge, values and practices of teachers and students about the use of animals and alternative methods in didactic-scientific practices. The questionnaire was developed from the literature survey and validated by peers and by pilot test with students and teachers. The data were collected and through the analysis of the data the necessary changes were made to refine the instrument.