A perspectiva discente sobre a experiência com a Monitoria na Universidade Federal do Ceará

Abstract

Monitoring is characterized as a formative academic activity widely adopted in higher education, enabling undergraduate students to engage in teaching practice and interact with teaching and learning processes under the supervision of a faculty advisor. It also serves as a space for students’ academic engagement, influencing their professional trajectories and contributing significantly to the training of future educators. This study aims to understand how students at the Federal University of Ceará (UFC) who participated in the Program for Teaching Initiation (PID) perceived and evaluated this experience, considering its formative contributions, challenges, and meanings throughout the process. The specific objectives include: revisiting the historical aspects of monitoring in the educational context; analyzing the activity reports of PID monitors in 2024; developing thematic axes based on the main responses in these reports; presenting the impacts of monitoring on initial teacher training; and reflecting on the role of monitoring in academic development. The research is characterized as qualitative–quantitative and exploratory. Subjective data were organized by thematic axes, which allowed for the interpretation of the perceptions, learning experiences, and meanings attributed by the monitors to their participation, while objective data were analyzed using descriptive statistics to assess the extent to which the program’s objectives were achieved through the monitors’ activities. Data collection procedures included bibliographic and documentary research. The findings revealed that monitoring was perceived as a meaningful learning environment capable of fostering competencies such as autonomy, responsibility, communication, and mastery of content, as well as stimulating interest in the teaching profession among a significant portion of participants. Challenges related to balancing monitoring with other academic demands, mediating pedagogical interactions, and addressing complex situations in the university context were also identified. It is concluded that monitoring goes beyond a supportive activity, establishing itself as a strategic institutional policy for the initial training of future educators and for strengthening the value of higher education teaching. The study contributes to a deeper understanding of the role of monitoring in the formative process of students and provides insights for enhancing this practice in universities. It is expected that the research will promote improvements in monitoring programs in higher education institutions, encourage the training of future university professors, and reinforce teaching as a career choice.