Avaliação formativa: implementação de melhorias dos processos educacionais por meio da aplicação de um instrumento de feedback efetivo.

Abstract

Formative evaluation is at the core of the efforts to implement a differential pedagogy and individualize education paths. This type of evaluation is centered on learning and it plays a prominent role by fostering the interaction between students and educators, through a critical and constructive dialogue that enables the identification of available learning resources and the definition of strategies that can be used by students when regulating and monitoring their own learning. Used as an evaluative curricular guideline for a curriculum of the Escola Superior de Ciências da Saúde (ESCS) Nursing course, formative evaluation is part of one of the key principles of its evaluation system, highlighting its role in monitoring, regulating and motivating students. OBJECTIVE: To identify the perceptions of professors and students regarding the practices of formative evaluation and feedback realized in the Nursing course of the ESCS from the use of the Feedback Structuring Guide in the performance of effective feedback. METHOD: This is an exploratory, descriptive study that employs quanti-qualitative methodology. The field selected for the research was the Nursing course at ESCS. RESULTS: The results revealed that, although ESCS Nursing course performs formative evaluation on a systematic basis within its curricular activities, there are discrepancies in the use of an evaluative instrument proposed by the Institution and its effectiveness. The interviewed professors do not agree that formative evaluation is planned by students and professors together or that its results help future learning activities. The proposition of the Feedback Structuring Guide was found to be aligned with the needs observed by professors concerning formative evaluation, revealing itself as an instrument of reflection, systematization and feedback implementation that has a positive impact on student learning. From the students point of view, the Guide approaches evaluation and learning needs more than the instrument used at ESCS does. Some challenges emerged from the Guide application, such as the lack of time to apply it, poor infrastructure to put feedback into practice, high number of students by class and the supporting role of preceptors. CONCLUSIONS: This experience has shown the lack of discussions about formative evaluation and the need to rethink the practice of the formative evaluation performed in the Institution in question. The incorporation of the Feedback Structuring Guide into the evaluative practices of ESCS Nursing course emerges as a possibility, since it had a positive impact on reflection, structuring, joint planning and student learning. There is, however, the need for a comprehensive discussion on this pedagogical tool, expanding its application into other curriculum strands and groups, in order to evaluate its implications and contributions to ESCS formative evaluation process.