The national examination of students' performance in chemistry: comparative analysis between beginners and undergraduates

Abstract

This article aims a classification and analysis of the general training objectives of ENADE-2014 based on the taxonomy of critical thinking. From this classification, we worked with the performance variable, corresponding to the grades obtained by the students in the questions, relating it to three other independent variables: i) course (bachelor and licentiate, considering entrants and graduates students); ii) institution (public or private) and iii) school (public or private). In the analysis of these pairs, the chi-square test was used in order to identify which variable is most relevant for the students' performance in questions that possibly demand critical thinking skills. It was verified that the questions general formation objective demand critical thinking skill for their resolution and that in the course variable, the graduate students of both courses, present superior performance in the variable institution. When the students belong to private IES, the student’s graduates present a superior performance, when students are from public IES, the students present a greater prominence in performance. In the school variable, public school students demonstrate better performance when they are graduate students. Students who have come from private schools perform better when they are beginner students.