Integrative seminar: A teaching resource?

Abstract

This article was migrated. The article was not marked as recommended. We propose to assess integrative seminar (IS) as a learning tool. In this descriptive quantitative study, 84 out of 107 (78%) first-year medical students from the Universidade Federal de Goiás responded to a self-administered semi-structured questionnaire. The item "Integration with the community" received the highest score (3.3-3.6), demonstrating that IS deepened the relationship between students and the community. The positive assessments of the items "Preparation of a written essay" (3.3-3.5), "IS as a learning resource" (3.2-3.5), "Oral presentation," and "Interpersonal relationships" (3.1-3.4 in both) suggest that teacher guidance and adequate time for preparation enable IS use as a teaching-learning strategy that stimulates communication development and interpersonal relationships. The low scores for the items "Tool Moodle" (2.6-2.7) and "Assessment of preparation and seminar presentation" (2.7-3.0) suggest that the evaluation process and feedback preparation by teachers did not meet students' expectations. IS was well accepted by students. The high score for "Integration with the community" demonstrates the importance of shared learning, because it facilitates problem recognition and feedback to the community. However, the low score for "Tool Moodle" points out that this learning instrument needs adjustments to virtual learning environments based on the community.