摘要：This paper presents the mapping of elements of the high school and university students' density epistemological profile. We have applied tests to a sample of 324 students from these two levels to identify profile elements from the segmentation of the concept in the first three zones: naive realism, empiricism, and traditional rationalism. The tests were built using high school-level content as the parameter. Our results show that knowledge consolidation related to the concept of density, which allows the differentiation of contexts of use: scientific and every day, and the appropriation of theoretical elements to deal with the concept, is only found, significantly, in students of higher level. Based on these results, we question the training at the high school level regarding what has been promoted while developing concepts since there is evidence of not succeeding common sense. Also, there seems to be no good teaching to provide the necessary theoretical elements to understand empirical situations. Finally, we point out the need for more research to show how the schooling process provides subsidies for students to overcome common sense and operate with scientific theories.
