Resumo

PEREIRA, Geraldo Magela et al. Diagnostic evaluation: A tool to evaluate the progression of student performance in the Dentistry Course of The Newton Paiva University Center. Rev. ABENO [online]. 2012, vol.12, n.2, pp. 142-146. ISSN 1679-5954.

SINAES (National Higher Education Evaluation System) was established on April 14, 2004, to improve the quality of higher education and serve as a guide for expanding the number of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). SINAES represents a significant advance in HEI course evaluation, insofar as it has made it possible to establish quality standards for higher education. The improvement in the assessment process has shown a strong trend toward matching the views of the assessor with the objectives proposed by the educational project of the course to be assessed. This improvement drives the effort to create internal tools that address the peculiarities of each course and that aim at achieving excellence in the students' educational process. Based on these needs, the Evaluation Committee of the Newton Paiva University Center Dentistry Course designed a tool to evaluate the progression of student performance. This tool consists of questions related to memorization, data analysis and development of reasoning processes. It seeks to cover the different moments of the course, taking into account contents related to basic, technical and interrelated knowledge. This article presents in-depth analyses of the results of the diagnostic evaluation. It was found that an evaluation process promotes continuous improvement and produces knowledge that shores up decision-making processes by the Structuring Faculty Core. As such, the Diagnostic Tool of the dentistry course plays a fundamental role in steering the student to achieve educational excellence.

Palavras-chave : Education, Dental; Teaching; Educational Mesurement.