Experience with an innovation in the evaluation process at the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the State University of Campinas

One way in which the university can perform its function of providing the community with competent professionals is to impart to the student during the educational process not only the knowledge he needs to exercise his profession, but also confidence to function in the area of his training and an awareness of his limitations. In an attempt to do this, the School of Medical Sciences at Campinas State University (Sao Paulo, Brazil) has established experimentally an evaluation by which it can be determined whether instructional objectives are being attained and, at the same time, needed adjustments to the teaching-learning process can be identified. Introduced in 1971 and modified several times since in the light of experience, the system is based on the identification of objectives, and of procedures and resources for attaining them, through questionnaires that are filled in not only by the teacher as in traditional procedures, but by the student as well. On the completion of each course, the student is required to answer questions that establish his progress in the acquisition of theoretical and practical knowledge and, at the same time, bring out his perceptions and attitudes in relation to the teaching process and its objectives. The system met with some resistance when it was being introduced and hence has not yet been made a prerequisite for admission to medical internship. The initial results showed that, in most cases, closer monitoring of the student's progress is needed, and a fresh evaluation of his knowledge afterwards if the community is to be minimally assured as to the overall performance of the new professional.