AUTOAVALIAÇÃO, AVALIAÇÃO POR PARES E POR PROFESSORES DE COMPETÊNCIAS TRANSVERSAIS DE ESTUDANTES DE ENGENHARIA: ESTUDO PILOTO

Abstract

Recent changes in the expected leaning outcomes of engineering graduates as an answer to evolution in society have challenged teachers and higher education institutions (HEIs) to develop and assess students' transferable skills. Competencies such as teamwork, communication, leadership, and problem solving are essential not only for engineers but also for managers in many fields. The assessment of transferable skills is a complex process; not yet properly investigated. As so, it lacks the development of adequate instruments for its application in research and on real practice in HEIs. The objective of this article is to present the development process and initial tests of the Questionnaires for the Assessment of Engineering Students’ Skills Competencies of Engineering Students (QuACT, in Portuguese) in the scales of self-assessment, peer and teacher assessment. The research method considered the procedures for constructing psychological instruments as a reference. The study was applied to a class of an Engineering program in a private HEI in Brazil, and involved a group of seven experts in the field. Preliminary results indicate that the proposed system has proved adequate for broadening the perception of soft skills, with the inclusion of students as assessment agents. Students were able to self-assess and assess their peers in transferable skills not assessed by the teacher. There were no significant differences between the medians of self and peer assessments’ results. Further research envisages the expansion of studies to ensure the psychometric quality of the instruments and their use for other courses and HEIs.