Portfolio: perception of undergraduate students in the healthcare field

Abstract

Introduction: A degree in healthcare guides the professional practice, directly affecting the healthcare attention and assistance offered to the population. In this sense, the use of active learning and assessment methods, such as portfolios, can contribute to the construction of critical-reflective knowledge. Objective: To highlight the perception of students from health courses, who study the Health and Citizenship discipline at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, regarding the use of the portfolio as an instrument for evaluating teaching and learning. Methodology: Data were obtained through the formation of a focus group and analyzed using content analysis. Thematic categories were then defined: perception of the portfolio; the preparation of the portfolio and its contribution to training; difficulties in formulating the portfolio; the portfolio as an assessment tool. Results: Students understand the portfolio as an instrument of dialogue between teachers and students, through reports of group experiences in social facilities and individual reflections in the construction of concepts and theoretical deepening. They still report insecurities and doubts about the structuring and creation of the instrument, however, they perceive the portfolio as powerful and innovative in helping to build knowledge as it allows the monitoring of the teaching-learning process, enabling greater interaction between educator and student, with the production of significant learning. Conclusions: The portfolio encourages reflection and criticism about the experiences in the practical scenarios where the curricular component -SACI is developed, greatly supporting the construction of students' knowledge.

Keywords: Assessment Methods; Educational Models; Pedagogical Methods.