Students’ view on the impact of extension actions on the formation of undergraduates in the health field

Abstract

The Law of Education Guidelines and Bases (LDB) incorporated into the statutes and bylaws of higher education institutions the principle of inseparability between teaching, research and extension, legislated by the 1988 Constitution. Considered one of the pillars of higher education, extension plays a relevant role in the training of professionals. However, there is little work quantifying the impact of extension activities on the development process in training. To quantify and identify the impact of extension actions on the vocational training of undergraduate health courses. Method: exploratory, retrospective and quantitative field research. Students from the last semester of several health courses that performed extension activities answered questionnaires regarding achievement as well as academic performance (including domains of skill, knowledge, attitudes, values and ethical aspects). In addition, the contributions of extension in the training process as a person and professional were also evaluated. The group was mainly composed of young people, who had a job, and women. It was verified that most of the students reported improvement in academic achievement. It was found that in all domains, the average scores given by the group that reported improvement were significantly higher than the group that reported improvement in academic performance. Extension students mentioned that the actions contributed to the development of the relationship with the team and the public; as well as training to identify individual and collective needs; and awareness and reflection on the individual role in social transformation. It was found that the extension program positively impacted the academic achievement of extension students, as evidenced by the affirmation of the improvement in academic performance, the high average grades awarded by students in the quantitative questioning of the various domains and the description of students' positive perception of the effective contributions in their process and formative journey as a person and professional.