External assessments and active methodologies: practices, learning, and student performance

Abstract

The objective of this study is to reflect on and examine academic works that address active methodologies and external assessments, investigating how schools develop strategies and engage in order to respond to the demands and challenges imposed by these evaluative processes. External assessments are already part of the daily routine of Brazilian schools and, in recent years, have gained prominence in educational debates. The study is justified by a data survey, which revealed that few works address the relationship between external exams and active methodologies. In this survey, only three studies showed similarities with this research, which were analyzed as part of the study’s results. For the methodological framework, a qualitative approach was adopted, based on the analysis of studies and research on active methodologies and external assessments, with a focus on the commitment of pedagogical practices to learning outcomes. For theoretical support, we used reference authors who discuss external assessments and active methodologies, such as Moran (2018), Diesel, Baldez and Martins (2017), Silva, Castro and Sales (2018), SPAECE (2022), as well as the contributions of Paulo Freire and Ausubel. We conclude that the combination of technologies and active methodologies, as pedagogical support, significantly contributes to achieving positive school outcomes. These strategies can be applied in different ways to make classes more modern and dynamic, thereby raising the performance indexes of external assessments.