Assessment as an Accessibility and Inclusion Strategy in the Training Process of a Distance Learning Course

Abstract

This text aims to evaluate the training experience of the first public lato sensu postgraduate course in the area of ​​Special Education in Rio de Janeiro. The collaborative work developed in partnership between the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro and the CECIERJ Foundation provided the opportunity to develop an active and dynamic methodology, with its study anchored in the action research methodology. Reflecting on these aspects, our main objective is to analyze the evaluation process that permeates a large-scale distance learning course, considering the specificities of the student body, the pedagogical proposals used and the resources used to guarantee an evaluation that is effectively accessible. Through action research, immersion in the research locus and participant observation are considered as basic elements for our analyses. Therefore, among the results, the following stand out: a) The adoption of pedagogical strategies and the diversity of instruments, such as portfolios, self-assessments, formative assessments, systematic observations, podcasts, among other resources that favor this process, such as the replacement of activities; b) The importance of collaborative work of planning and evaluation in the execution of the specialization and; and c) Experiencing the assessment practices/strategies of the course, which has interaction as its main point, allows us to perceive that the assessment itself becomes a mediator of the process by signaling new potentialities. Finally, we indicate, through the theoretical framework used in the research – Vygotsky's historical-cultural approach – the contributions of pedagogical mediation in the assessment process, since collaborative and peer-to-peer work affected what is imminent, the coming to be.  

Keywords: Assessment. Accessibility. Inclusion. Distance learning.