Public Management: Formation of a Constructivist Model to Support the Virtual School of Public Administration of Santa Catarina in Combating the Evasion of Distance Learning

Abstract

Objective: We aimed to form a constructivist model that subsidizes the management of the Moodle site of training courses offered by the Virtual School of Public Administration of the State of Santa Catarina (SEA-SC), with regard to combating the evasion of registered students.Methodology / Approach: We adopted Multi-criteria Decision Support-Constructivist methodology (MDSC) to support the construction of the model based on the decision-makers’ perspective (School Director and SEA Administrator).  For the selection of the theoretical contribution, we used the Knowledge Development Process-Constructivist (ProKnow-C). An epistemological constructivism approach was adopted.Originality / Relevance: In the current literature on distance training, there is a gap in the process to evaluate an evasion in these courses and, consequently, to aid the decision-making process of its managers and planners.Main results: Based on the knowledge generated by the managers, we found: (i) 13 aspects were considered necessary to evaluate the performance of the training courses, via the Moodle site, and for these, ordinal scales were constructed and their reference levels have been defined; (ii) the status quo in the 13 indicators of the ad hoc model was identified; (iii) the ‘Evasion Management’ area evidenced the need for improvement actions in these aspects: simultaneous tutorials and inscriptions in multiple courses; and (iv) some variances between the aspects (indicators) proposed in the literature and those considered relevant by managers; characteristic of investigations guided by the qualitative approach and constructivist epistemology.Theoretical / Methodological Contribution: This article presents the duality about the understanding of the process and the avoidance factors of the training courses between literature and empirical perception.  We identified that conducting constructivist bases by considering the values, goals and perceptions of the context can result in a legitimate (model) instrument.