A monitoria na educação profissional e tecnológica: contribuições para o seu entendimento por meio de um manual interativo

Abstract

This research, which is part of the research line “Educational Practices in Professional and Technological Education (EPT)'', within the macro-project “Methodological proposals and didactic resources in formal and non-formal teaching spaces in EPT'', had as object of study the IFMS Monitoring Program – an action that is part of the Program for Permanence and Success of Students of the Instituto Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul – understood as a pedagogical support tool that aims the improvement of teaching and learning process. In this context, we took as a general objective to analyze the conceptions of teachers and students regarding the role of monitoring in the process of permanence and success in the scope of integrated education of the IFMS, based on the application of an interactive manual. In order to reach the general objective, we established as specific objectives: 1) Understand the current context of execution of the IFMS Monitoring Program; 2) Evidencing the vision of students and professors regarding the objectives of the Monitoring Program and its relations with permanence and success; 3) To develop a manual as an educational product that allows contact with essential information about the program and the interaction between its participants; 4) Analyze the elements of the manual that contribute to a better understanding of the IFMS Monitoring Program and its objectives. To understand the relationships and practices developed in the monitoring activities we had as reference studies from the perspective of the cultural-historical theory, especially, some central concepts in Vygotsky's work, such as Scientific and Spontaneous Concepts, Zone of Imminent Development, Imitation and Sense and Meaning. We adopted an investigation with a qualitative approach, of an applied nature and with descriptive-explanatory objectives. We established as data collection instruments the documentary survey, the bibliographic survey and the semi-structured interview before and after the application of the manual with the monitors and guiding professors of the integrated high school courses of Informatics, Electrotechnics and Mechanics and of the superior courses of Technology in Systems for Internet and Mechanical Engineering at IFMS Campus Campo Grande. We develop, apply and analyze the educational product to complement the Monitoring Program, providing relevant information about the institutional norms and procedures that regulate the functioning of the program and, also, provoking reflections on this important instrument of permanence and success. Initially, the results showed that most subjects understood monitoring as an activity to resolve students' doubts. After reading the interactive manual, we found that there was an expansion in the participants' conceptions about monitoring, with an addition to their previous understanding that it is an instrument to support the permanence and success of students, as it contributes to student learning and enriches the training of the monitor. They also denoted the understanding that such action: can be welcoming; contributes, to a greater or lesser extent, to all the actors involved; enables social transformations; and it can also be a research activity. We confirmed, therefore, that the lack of information, dissemination or absence of materials, which would contribute to the understanding of monitoring as a support tool for students' permanence, was limiting the participants' conceptions. Based on the results, we point out as assumptions: the need for a prior work before the selection of monitors, leading them to understand the Monitoring Program in greater depth; training of monitors beyond operational issues; and the importance of an instructional material that provides information dynamically and in a language accessible to its audience.