Abstract
The entrance to public universities in Brazil depends on scores obtained by
students in Enem, Brazilian National Assessment of High School Education. This
exam consists of four multiple choice tests (Language, Maths, Natural and Human
Sciences) scored by Item Response Theory (IRT). It is a high stake exam for
students, allowing the use of its results of this exam to provide conditions
for monitoring high school learning and quality of education in Brazil. We
present a study of the Physics items of Enem from 2009 to 2014. The questions
were classified based on qualitative categories, providing a profile of the
Natural Sciences test: a disciplinary exam (Physics, Chemistry and Biology),
with mostly qualitative questions, long and time consuming items, only a few of
them demanding more complex reasoning and assessing some problem solving
skills. The answers of the students were analyzed, using basic statistical
exploration and IRT to draw the ICC of the Physics items. A comparison was made
between the qualitative analysis and the quantitative analysis for the Physics
questions. The study of student performance reveals the low attaining levels of
Physics learning at the end of high school, with a small percentage of correct
answers; students perform worse in questions that require disciplinary
knowledge or use of basic mathematical reasoning. It is also possible to
observe discrepancies on the results of two subsets of groups: female students
perform worse than male students in most items, and students that come from
federal and private high school perform significantly better that those from
state high school (75\% of students in high school attend state or regional
schools). In conclusion, the combined analysis of student's performance and
content of the items reveal some of the characteristics of student's learning
in Brazil, at around 18 years, that can impact Physics Education system.
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