Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: MARIA THEREZA PONTES ROLIM

Uma banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : MARIA THEREZA PONTES ROLIM
DATE: 27/09/2023
TIME: 19:30
LOCAL: FEAC - TEAMS
TITLE:

NUDGES PROPOSAL: an analysis to improve the academic performance of students being retained by Ufal's Dean of Students Office

KEY WORDS:

Behavioural Economics, Student Assistance, Academic Performance, Nudge.

PAGES: 44
BIG AREA: Ciências Sociais Aplicadas
AREA: Administração
SUBÁREA: Administração Pública
SPECIALTY: Política e Planejamento Governamentais
SUMMARY:

Education is a fundamental pillar for human emancipation. When it comes to higher education, the role is expanded by providing the foundations for the socio-economic development of the nation.  In this context, student assistance was created as a tool aimed at offering subsidies to students who are part of the historically excluded population. As support for students, it aims to help them complete their course, helping them to overcome the particular and general obstacles that can lead to low academic performance and dropout. This work proposes a low-cost action, considering the limited resources of the public administration. An intervention based on Behavioural Economics (BE), through the suggestion of applying a nudge to improve the decision making of students receiving student assistance at the Federal University of Alagoas (Ufal) who are underperforming academically. To this end, this research aims to identify the most compatible nudges to improve student performance at Proest. To this end, the study will be divided into two stages: the analysis of student assistance documents that present the reasons given by students for their low academic performance, establishing categorisations for these justifications in the light of the precepts of behavioural economics; and the identification of behavioural patterns that hinder student decision-making, making it possible to indicate the application and type of nudge to be used. The methodology chosen for processing the data collected will be content analysis by category and its systematised techniques, with the aid of qualitative analysis software. The design of its theoretical framework allows for an exploration of the field of behavioural economics, starting with topic 2.1. This includes an understanding of the limitations of human rationality, as explained in topic 2.1.1, and, consequently, decision-making can be influenced by heuristics (mental shortcuts) and biases (tendencies to error), presented in 2.1.2. Considering these human characteristics, nudges are conceptualised and presented as instruments that direct the individual towards good choices, and can make use of heuristics and biases to do so - topic 2.1.3. 1.3 These nudges can be applied through effective policies, such as the empirical evidence discussed in this work - topic 2.2.1. It is hoped that this study will make it possible to identify the factors that affect and interfere with academic performance, allowing them to be correlated with behavioural barriers that impact the performance of these scholarship holders. This would point to possibilities for nudge-based interventions, such as using social norms to influence behaviour or the availability heuristic to increase exposure to the university's academic support resources. Finally, we believe that this research can contribute to improving the effectiveness of public education policies, providing better academic results for students in situations of social vulnerability.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Presidente - 1454996 - LUCIANA PEIXOTO SANTA RITA
Interno(a) - 1365875 - RODRIGO VICENTE DOS PRAZERES
Externo(a) à Instituição - NAPIÊ GALVÊ ARAÚJO SILVA - UFERSA
Externo(a) à Instituição - NELSIO RODRIGUES DE ABREU - UFPB