THE SUCCESS OF STUDENTS IN MANAGEMENT COURSES: CLASSROOM AND DISTANCE EDUCATION

Distance education has been gaining attention in recent years due to the capacity of expansion of under graduation education and also to including a group of people who otherwise could not hold a degree. The objective of this research was to identify variables that influence the process of permanence of Management students; comparing results of distance education to classroom education, and taking the Universidade Estadual do Maranhao (Uema) as a case to be studied. As the main theoretical framework of this study, we chose the Student Integration Model of Tinto (1975), considered the first academically recognized proposal for determining the variables that interfere in the process of evasion and retention of students in an undergraduate course. One component of the model captured the interest of comparing the two modalities (classroom and distance) in a special way: social integration, as a result from interactions among students and professors, who are generally poorly explored in empirical studies. The method defined for the study was descriptive with a qualitative basis. The submission of all the variables observed in the literature to an analysis of judges resulted in the definition of three main dimensions and 60 components, namely: (1) Profile of the student, (2) in network; and (3) Conditions for permanence. These variables formed the framework for analysis of categorical content, resulting from the application of multiple data collection instruments (two questionnaires and an in-depth interview) that were used in triangulation with secondary data obtained in the actual Exame Nacional de Desempenho do Estudante (Enade). As a theoretical contribution of this thesis, it is noted the possibility of integration of three philosophical views: Cognitivism, Constructivism and Connectivism that are interrelated in the management of academic degree courses by the uniqueness of education envisioned by the Blended Learning as the future trend for higher education. Other contributions are presented in relation to components: individual attributes, work and training, family background, schooling, and previous use of ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies), professors and students interaction, personal commitment and institutional and academic integration.