After the students have discovered what type of academic they want to become at the end of their studies during Discover Your VUture, they explore the route towards this goal in an active and playful way through the game Explore Your VUture. In three rounds on the game board, the students go through the three bachelor years of their own study, and along the way they are confronted with choices or key moments that they will also encounter 'in real life'. For example, 'am I going to join a student association committee or not?'. Or, 'what is the best way for me to use my elective space?'.
At (almost) every field on the game board, the student has to decide whether the presented option is a useful step towards the final goal of the study or not. And, of course, whether it is realistic to choose something extra: the exams still must be passed.
Obstacles, windfalls and helplines
In addition to the conscious moments of choice, students also encounter unexpected factors in (university) life that turn out to be obstacles or windfalls for their study progress. They may not be able to settle down in Amsterdam, or they may have to deal with family circumstances that throw them off balance. It could also be that they really feel at home with their fellow students, receive a nice compliment from their teacher and become more motivated.
They can turn to seven different 'helplines' for a helping hand: the study advisor, student psychologist, student dean, student mentor, teacher mentor, study skills courses and a 'family member' give the students a nudge in the right direction. The students learn which forms of student counselling are offered at VU and they get to know some of the faces: the counsellors have all recorded a video that can be viewed during the game.
Goal-oriented graduation
During Explore Your VUture, students must divide their time and energy ('effies', from efford) in such a way that after three play rounds they graduate according to the final goal they set for themselves via Discover Your VUture.
Explore Your VUture is a blended board game: the players are seated around a game board with pawns, cards and chits, but there is also a tablet in the middle which shows, among other things, game explanations, videos and quiz questions (www.yourvuture.nl). These quiz questions, but also the exams that students come across, are based on the students' own studies. The use of the tablet means that Explore Your VUture can be customized for each bachelor programme.