On the one hand, if students dedicate themselves to studying throughout the year in order to get into college, those who participate in exam preparation also have a long journey to prepare for an exam that will determine the future of many students. And technical knowledge is not enough: it is important to research interesting items and learn about current topics while creating questions.
Answered the main state exam at the University of São Paulo (USP)Fuvest works with 30 drafters and 10 reviewers. “We also have in-house staff working on customer service.
On average, panels are composed of three drafters (all USP professors) who are dedicated to each field. For Portuguese, there are four because it involves more questions. All panels meet in a separate room within the Fuwest building to prepare questions. “Even Fuwest employees don't know who the board teachers are. Apart from the entrance exam, we also conduct other exams,” says Monaco.
Between the first and last meeting is almost a whole year. The first stage and the first review will take about two months. “The first meeting is to try to define the issues. Later, new appointments are scheduled. They bring pictures, diagrams, charts, tables, excerpts from articles, a book, text to help explain issues in detail”, he observes.
The questions are then handed over to the reviewer. “He comes to USP to evaluate if the problem is good but can be improved or if the problem was already charged last year,” reveals Monaco. This feedback was returned to the drafters. In some issues, it is also possible for panels to examine the same topic. “For example, the history group worked on the topic of serving English.”
So, Fuvest reaches a scenario of 120 to 130 questions in September. Out of this total, it is necessary to select an additional 90 candidates from the second phase. In this context, less current is eliminated.
After completing 90 questions, there is curation work. “We need to see what connections we can make between the questions, so that the test tells a story”, says the executive director, citing the possibility of use in different fields. Still in October, this stage will be completed and the proofs will be printed.
Next month, the National High School Examination (Enem) will also be held, in practice its questions will be prepared by experts and selected through a public call for employees of the National Bank of India (BNI). , based on criteria of academic training, teaching experience, and experience in large-scale educational assessment.
According to Inep, activities include training, preparation, review and pre-testing of personnel, and measuring difficulty. The test goes through a careful linguistic review and is then mapped.
Private Universities
In the case of Fundação Getulio Vargas, the preparation for the exam is carried out by a team from each subject, and sometimes this team is made up of professors from FGV itself, other times not depending on the subject. “Each group has at least two writers, because the normal process is that one of the writers asks a question or a part of questions and the other reviews it independently,” says Paulo Cesar Carvalho, academic coordinator of the entrance exam at FGV. In Sao Paulo, Rio and Brasilia. There is also a Portuguese shrine.
Also, FGV has a critical examiner who is a general professor who has mastered most of the subjects that make up the entrance exam. “I also sometimes bring a different perspective from the subject matter expert while formulating the questions. Then there is my role as academic coordinator, which involves participating in the selection of panels and conducting the final review of the exam”, says Oak.
All students take an objective test with 60 objective questions in addition to the essay. Each FGV school, in addition, selects one or more specific logical tests to complete the assessment. Generally, the boards are made up of higher education faculty who have some extensive connection with secondary education.
Internal and external
At the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP), preparation is a long process. “The institute works with panels based on areas of knowledge, made up of internal and external experts,” says Professor Alexandra Geraldini, Dean of Undergraduate Studies.
The National Secondary Education Examination (Enem) consists of an essay written in Portuguese based on a single proposition and an objective test with 50 questions in a multiple choice format, according to the distribution of accepted parts. Apart from the editorial team which brings together 20 to 25 professionals, newsstands have around 20 professionals.
“Experienced teachers in higher and secondary education participate with extensive experience in preparing materials for examination processes. In addition, there is a Portuguese language reviewer and two of those who carry out the general evaluation of the exam, at least one academic or psychiatrist” , says teacher Alexandra.
Every year between February and March, there is a meeting with other universities to exchange information about the dates of the processes. Once the calendar is defined, administrative processes begin to be planned.
A similar process is taking place at the Universitate Presbyteriana Mackenzie (UPM), according to Milton Pignatari Filho, coordinator of selection processes. “We have specific committees for each department. In each of them, question formulation follows a specific style. And a common point: looking for reasons that are important in finding resolutions.”
