College Academic Tutoring: Students perception about the subject in The Dental College of The National University of Asunción

Abstract

Academic tutoring is a quality factor and a requirement of the European Higher Education Area. It is part of the quality management system of education. It is a personalized accompaniment to the student, from the beginning of university life. It is not a new program in educational processes. What is new is the real relevant aspect, as support for the development of personal and professional attitudes, focusing on the student as a social entity and not preparing it only for the labor field. It contributes to the critical, responsible and participative formation of the student in society, favoring the learning of values and attitudes without leaving aside knowledge and skills, necessary for the labor field. In 2011, the said Program was created in the School of Dentistry of the National University of Asunción as a strategic plan focused on the integral formation of the student. Its objective is to raise the quality of the educational process, through personalized attention, with a view to identifying the problems that influence social performance and academic performance. A cross - sectional, cross - sectional investigation was carried out to determine the perception of dentistry students about the implementation of the program. 73 students participated, from first to third year, on a voluntary basis. A closed, self-administered questionnaire was applied. According to the results, only 46.6% of the users responded to the tutoring program. The level of empathy of the tutor was good (59%). The disposition of the tutors was good (62.8%) and the perception regarding the capacity of the tutorial was deficient (<50%). Aspects that show that many aspects of the tutors have to be improved, such as more training to assume their role.