Existing on Unicamp's annual agenda for 15 years, the Meeting with High School Teachers, held by the Permanent Commission for Entrance Exams (Comvest), brought together participants from public and private networks in the state of São Paulo, on Saturday, August 4th, in the Basic Cycle. Throughout the day, they divided themselves into classes and participated in specific workshops on tests in Mathematics, Portuguese Language and Portuguese Language Literatures, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, History, Geography and English.
Conducted by specialist teachers from Unicamp, the classes were a time to “answer questions” about assessment criteria, correction processes, content covered and what to expect from candidates. According to Márcia Mendonça, academic coordinator at Comvest, the event is an opportunity for teachers to better prepare their students for the entrance exam. “The basic material brings together commented tests, resolution of questions and reflection on the rate of errors and successes, based on the exchange of experiences”. In common, the workshops reinforced the importance of mastering reading and interpreting text combined with specific knowledge.
Due to the new additions to Unicamp from 2019 onwards, the meeting also included a general presentation on topics such as the Indigenous Entrance Exam, the Affirmative Action and Social Inclusion Program (PAAIS), the Enem Notice, performance in the scientific olympiads, the Higher Interdisciplinary Training Program ( ProFis) and adoption of ethnic-racial quotas, made by professor José Alves de Freitas Neto, executive coordinator of Comvest, to all participants. “We want to clarify with those who deal with these candidates on a daily basis how the changes can impact the tests in a pedagogical sense”, he explains. According to Alves, the central concern is “attracting the best students, based on the real representation of society”.
Milena Baldo, Élcio Silva and Francisco Amaro are, respectively, teachers of Portuguese Language, History and Geography at Escola Salesiana São José, in Campinas. Amaro also teaches at the popular TRIU course, in the district of Barão Geraldo. “We returned to school with the intention of working better on reading the statements of questions, in addition to interpreting and relating different historical facts”, comment the educators.
Coming from São Roque, about a hundred kilometers from Campinas, public school teachers Roseli Ota and Edna França enrolled, for the second time, in the Portuguese Language workshop and focus on the second phase of the selection process, in which there are essay questions. “We want to go beyond the Writing stage and prepare them to prepare clearer answers in all disciplines”, they explain.
Mathematics is the area of study of Aparecido Dias, from Santa Bárbara D'Oeste, and Claudia M. Oliveira, from the municipality of Americana, both from the public school system. Claudia highlights that only 10% of her students are interested in taking the entrance exam, but she insists on attending the annual meetings. “I’ll be back with tips on time control during the test and more general information, such as exemption from registration fees and possibilities for scholarships during graduation.” For Aparecido, the stimulus also exists for the teacher. “This contact with the university yields suggestions for innovation within the classroom in terms of content and language”, he concludes.
The Unicamp Entrance Exam continues with registrations open until August 31st. Unicamp offers 3.340 places distributed across 69 courses for entry in 2019, with 2.589 places in the Entrance Exam. Find out more at Comvest page.
