Portfolio: a formative assesment tool for stricto sensu

Abstract

Student assessment in the health professions plays an importante role in their training. The portfolio is pointed out as an innovative teaching-learning method that allows to record reflections and impressions about a course or subject, favoring the effective learning based on experiences. This descriptive study aimed to analyze the application of the portfolio in the learning assessment of master´s degree students in biotechnology. The sample consisted of 11 portfolios that were performed as a compulsory activity in the subject Higher Education Didatics, and content analysis proposed by Bardin was applied to the documents, with initial and intermediate categorization of the perception records until the final categories were defined: the description and significance of the moments and critical-reflexive posture as an ally of the possibility of practical application of learning. The portfolio proved to be a valid evaluation method for the course, giving to the educational context creativity, reflection and interaction of the theoretical content with the practical activities proposed in the course. Positive results achieved with the portfolio suggest a stimulus to student protagonism and significant learning and stimulate its continuity of use.