PDCA cycle application to improve remote education –study case: forest management at the UFPR

Abstract

The main objective of this paper was to apply the PDCA cycle to quantify, evaluate, analyze, and find the causes of the problems appointed by the students of the Remote Education Course in Forest Management of Federal University of Paraná (UFPR) and to propose actions for improving the class quality based on the results. The methodology was based in the PDCA cycle development that is composed by four different phases: planning, development, verification, and action. The following quality tools were used in this work: brain writing, Pareto Graphic, Ishikawa Graphic, Fault Analysis Method, and 5W2H Method for the data collection, analysis and proposals of corrective actions and improvements. The results showed that 56% of the interviewed students pointed the instructional material as the main negative aspect, followed by the lack of integration among the participants of the course (12%) and the student’s self-discipline and perseverance (10%). Among the main causes of the instructional material poor quality were: material too extensive to the course duration and lack of practical applications. An action plan was conceived to correct the deficiencies pointed out by the survey.