Resumo

LARRAN LOPEZ, Josefa; APARICIO PATINO, José  e  MARTINEZ NIETO, José Manuel. Evaluation of prior factors potentially related to academic progress in Physiotherapy students. Educ. méd. [online]. 2004, vol.7, n.2, pp.70-77. ISSN 1575-1813.

The importance of evaluating prior academic knowledge possessed by students beginning a new course is well known. The results of the teaching-learning process depend to a large extent on students’ previous level of instruction and motivation. Therefore, identifying factors related to academic progress is key to improving the quality of university teaching. We present data resulting from an initial evaluation of first year physiotherapy students enrolled on the course "Human Cell and Tissue Biology". The questionnaire consisted of several items requiring free choice answers and provided information on variables such as sex, route of access to University, motivation, post-degree expectations, prior knowledge of the subject, etc. The final grades obtained by students (accumulative evaluation) were also recorded. We performed a descriptive analysis of initial variables, and evaluated the possible correlation between these variables and the final grades obtained in order to identify factors related to academic performance. We observed that prior knowledge of the subject is generally insufficient or confused. The students coming from Secondary school (COU / Bachillerato) had higher instruction levels than those from vocational education centres (Formación profesional). Among the variables assessed, the relation between prior instruction and final grades was statistically significant .

Palavras-chave : Initial diagnosis; prior factors; academic progress.

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