Campus Praktikum: how to bring the UPV closer to the future students in an immersive way

Abstract

[EN] The paper presents the programme designed at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) to attract the best baccalaureate and vocational studies students from the Valencian Community called Campus Praktikum. The first Campus Praktikum took place in 2010. This activity has two objectives: on the one hand, to publicise the different degrees that can be taken at the UPV and to bring the main contents closer to them, and on the other, to win over students and make this the University of their choice for their university studies. The communication describes the selection process carried out to choose the best students, how the workshops are designed and assigned, and how the preferences of the workshops are based on gender (at the UPV, there is still a low number of female students in certain degrees) and if the implementation of this activity will have an impact on the selection process of university studies. The organisers intend to make participation in the programme a kind of "reward" and to make all participants feel proud of their participation. On the other hand, the different activities that will take place during the week-long Praktikum Campus will be explained. Generally, in the morning, students will carry out activities related to some of the degrees they are interested in (33 different workshops have been developed in the Campus Praktikum 2022, oriented to make known the 40-degree courses taught at the UPV). Moreover, the afternoon is reserved for more recreational activities to make known all the services that the UPV offers to its students (sports activities and health classroom, tours around the campus with geocaching activity, sessions with the UPV design factory, etc.). Finally, the feedback from the participants will be presented. The students completed a survey in which different information was collected, ranging from their assessment of the activity to their intentions related to their university studies. With all this information, conclusions will be drawn with the positive aspects, and those that need to be improved to continue with this activity and bring the University closer to future students will be pointed out.