Universidad del Desarrollo:
Design Your Future: A Unique Program in Chile
Inspiration:
“Our students have a lot of potential, and part of our task as a university is to maximize that specific potential in each one. To do so, we constantly ask ourselves how to help them discover those talents, and set out to develop their path, to fly as high as they can and want. Specifically, we wonder how to support them so that they ask what their life project is? How to give a deeper meaning their strategy in relation to the university stage and their future projects? We saw the alternatives offered by our different partners in the world and thus we learned that Stanford University was working with Life Design around the life project, identifying meaning and purpose, and inserting it into the study plan."
Ernesto Silva Méndez, Pro rector Universidad del Desarrollo
“When we heard about the Life Design program, it made a lot of sense to us, because we were in the design process of a multivariate system that will support students in their academic progression. This program was the answer to our need to support students with tools, in their search for meaning in its different university stages. We are convinced that if students manage to discover and build their life projects, they will be better students and better people."
Florencia Jofré, Vice rectora de Pregrado Universidad del Desarrollo
Creation:
The Diseña tu Futuro Program ( Design your Future) was born in August 2019, under the Office for Undergraduate Studies and specifically, as part of the Center for Academic Performance Support (CADA). CADA is a center aimed at university well-being, where peer tutoring is coordinated, and counseling, psycho-affective, metacognitive and vocational workshops are held, to which Diseña tu Futuro is incorporated as an intervention strategy in the area of career development.
Context:
Universidad del Desarrollo (UDD), Chile. Private university, with campuses in Santiago and Concepción: 14.000+ students. In 2020, more than 3.700 freshmen arrived.
ACTIVITIES WITH STUDENTS
2019
First semester:
Elective course Diseña tu UDD (Design your UDD) on the Santiago campus (1 professor, 25 students - 16 weeks * 2 modules)
Second semester:
● Workshop prototypes for freshmen and seniors (6 hrs. each).
● Elective course continued on Santiago campus.
Adaptation & Learnings:
● Chilean university system: Chilean students choose their career when entering university, for that reason, the focus and activities of Diseña tu UDD are to support students in the construction of a plan to take advantage of their university career and not to help them choose their major as in the "Design your Stanford" course.
● Elective course: At UDD and most Chilean universities, elective courses must have grades. Creating an evaluation system with marks was a great challenge for this industry. Among the learnings, we can include placing more emphasis on the exercises of the methodology than on the readings and promoting collaborative work in the assessments.
● Workshop:
After prototypes, we diminish the quantity of activities.
Given the difficulty for students to attend any activity that does not deliver a grade or credits, we sought different ways to favor attendance: in the case of freshmen, it was decided to test their completion on Bridge Day (information day prior to the start of classes). In addition, it seeks to have the support of different Schools to carry out workshops, for that reason we began an internal dissemination strategy.
On the other hand, it is perceived that the realization of workshops is very intensive on facilitators. In order to cover the maximum number of freshmen and reduce the number of facilitators required, it was decided to develop an e-learning platform for the Mi primer año UDD workshop (My first year at UDD).
2020
First semester
● Mi primer año UDD workshop (5 hours): face-to-face prototype with 120 Business students on the Santiago campus (workbook). The recommendation rate was 96%. After the pandemic arrived, we decided to track the students´ evolution via Zoom.
● Elective course on both campuses via Zoom.
● E-learning development Mi primer año UDD (started before the pandemic).
● Application of an assessment (Heather Buttler).
Adaptation & Learnings
● Mi primer año UDD: The good evaluation of the students is accompanied by suggestions to simplify the workshop. The pandemic places greater importance on the development of e-learning.
● Elective course via Zoom: The online format does not allow us to generate the necessary link for a course of this type. For this reason, in the second semester more personalized workspaces were incorporated. On the other hand, the pandemic and the completely online classes were extremely stressful, making it necessary to reduce the workload outside of class.
● Assessment: It is too long and does not discriminate. It was decided to adapt it by mixing scales already used in the country with the original Heather Buttler´s assessment.
● Given the difficulty for students to participate in workshops that do not deliver credits or grades, it was decided to do them intra-curricularly, that is, during class hours in a career course, which implies a strong commitment on the part of the Schools.
Second semester
● Mi primer año UDD b-learning: 100 students (50% retention rate, 95% recommendation), grants 2 freely available credits and involves 15 hours of asynchronous work.
● Camino al egreso workshop (Road to graduation) – Zoom: 150 Psychology, Journalism and Advertising students, intra-curricular way (4 modules). 70% recommendation rate.
● Tutors Diseña tu Futuro: Recruiting and training 17 students, to support Mi primer año UDD during 2021.
● Assessment: In its first application with the Diseña tu UDD students, a slight improvement was seen in the career self-efficacy items.
● Elective course Diseña tu UDD – via Zoom: Built-in changes paid off.
Learnings
● Mi primer año UDD b-learning: It became a b-learning workshop because it was necessary to incorporate at least one synchronous activity. Various technical improvements were incorporated for better usability. It was concluded that the b-learning format has very good results, but in a limited group. Therefore, this is not the way to make the workshop massive, but it is an essential resource in times of pandemic.
● Camino al egreso -Zoom: the intra-curricular format is the best option to deliver this type of workshop. After feedback from the students, activities were reduced, modified and adapted to make them more suitable for zooming.
● Elective course Diseña tu UDD -via Zoom: it was decided to involve one more professor to allow more personalized work with students.
2021
First semester
● Mi primer año UDD – via Zoom and b-learning: 1.200 students from 12 Schools on both campuses, and with tutor´s support. Recommendation rate of 93%. (4 zoom modules + 1 asynchronic module).
● Camino al egreso – via Zoom and face-to-face: 450 students from 6 Schools. Recommendation rate 90%. (4 modules).
Preliminary learnings
● Mi primer año UDD: Tutors reached freshmen in a more personal way. Also, it is a formative activity of great value for tutors and helps to reach more students with fewer facilitators.
● Workshops in general – via Zoom: Online requires us to make periodic improvements in the dynamics of the activities.
STUDENTS EXPERIENCES
Elective course Diseña tu UDD (link)
Plan: To improve grades and earn a scholarship
“Although I was not able to obtain the scholarship at this time, I showed a significant improvement in my grades. I feel that I am on the right track and I am happy with the tools that I managed to develop in this process. On the one hand, they bring me closer to a plan that I have tried to come up with since my first year and, on the other, they make me feel that I am capable of achieving things.”
Plan: To expose my watercolors (art)
“The course was an opportunity to discover a talent, develop it and complement it with my career. Collaborative work with my colleagues was very important in this process, and they motivated me a lot and gave me ideas to make my dream come true, for which I am very grateful.”
Plan: To become a vegan
“I am very grateful for having taken up this course and I feel that it gave me tools to be able to carry out future life plans. It helped me get organized to try something that was making noise in my head. It is very pleasant to be able to do something that I always had in mind. But it is necessary not to skip any stage of the process, since each step serves and is essential. You don't understand it at first, but at the end, each little step makes sense. "
Plan: To change from Odontology to Medicine
“I entered this course with the fixed idea of changing my major. I realized that I am much more than a major. I have many interests and it is up to me to be happy, and not because of the career I choose. Now I know that it doesn't matter what happens with the change, because I have many projects for myself."
Workshop
Mi primer año UDD
“When you leave school, you don't always know what you want. The workshop helps you find a way, and thus decide what to do in your university life. It helped me a lot. "
“You can realize that you are the owner of your life. In the university there are many opportunities and in the first year we are undecided, so this workshop guides you, with all the paths, so it makes us be open-minded. "
“The workshop made me feel light. I got to know myself and listen to others. I was able to discover a lot of things about myself and I was happy. "
“It is essential to take into account everything that the university entails, regardless of whether it is face-to-face or virtual; to organize, adapt and take the rhythm of this year.”
“I recommend getting in yes and yes. It serves to grow as a person, orient oneself and follow a path. And see all the opportunities offered by the U! It helps bunches."
Workshop
Camino al egreso
“It motivated me a lot. It helped me to relax a little the approach I had regarding my future. This adaptation and open-mindedness for all areas is promoted very well in this workshop.”
“It helped me to trust; trust myself as a person and in my abilities as a future professional."
“I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. It came at a time when I needed to find my way. I had a bit of anguish and fear about my professional future, and after these weeks, they subsided. So, I really appreciate it."
“It is an instance that anyone should take to reflect on what to do. But it is not only that, because it is very well done: you see your fears, achievements, interests and from that, what you want to do, but in a very healthy way. I loved it!"