Way of learning and critical analysis in Brazilian vocational education

The exploratory and qualitative study in which this article makes a cut had the objective of characterizing the learning strategies of Brazilian Vocational Education students. The sample comprised 20 students from the first year of a Technical Education course. Participants underwent a semi-structured interview about their learning mode (the way they learn) and their use of critical analysis (the degree of critical analysis employed in learning). The responses were subject to a thematic analysis, which suggests a replication of the surface strategy (mechanization of learning reduced critical analysis), deep strategy (comprehension - high degree of critical analysis), achieving strategy (focus on the contents that will be evaluated) and the intermediate strategy (memorization and understanding of contents). Variations of these strategies were also found.