Your VUture

The Your VUture games

• Game 1: Discover Your VUture - online mini-quiz

  The first game, Discover Your VUture, is an online miniquiz to help students think about what they want to work toward with their studies. Do they see themselves working at a multinational, at an NGO or perhaps at university?

  By answering questions such as 'Which magazine do you grab at the dentist?', 'What do you prefer to do as extracurricular activities?' and 'Do you want to do an in-depth minor or would you rather have an internship on the Zuidas?', the students get to a profile such as 'Career Tiger' or 'World Citizen'. This reminds of a self-test like 'which animal are you' or 'which actor are you', so it is very inviting to fill in.

  Academic Citizenship
  The answer options for each question are actually based on the three pillars of Academic Citizenship: Academic, Professional and Societal Development. The profile is based on the ratio between the student's academic, professional and societal interests:

  • Academic development - the development into an independent academic or perhaps even scientist. Primarily in the form of knowledge.
  • Professional development - the acquisition of skills that influence the definition and characterization of further study and later careers. Primarily in the form of skills.
  • Societal development - awareness of one's own societal position and responsibility as a future academic and professional. Primarily in the form of involvement.

  Reflection
  After reading the profile, students should ask themselves: does this character profile fit me? What type of academic would I like to be when I graduate? The students then discuss this with each other, under the guidance of their (student) mentor or tutor.

  By offering this reflection exercise in the form of a self-test-with-a-wink, of which there are many circulating on social media, the exercise is an accessible way for the students to think about how they can shape their academic study path. The first message they get from the game is that 'studying is more than reading books and taking exams'. The 'VU tips' at the end of the game is a list of sources of help and inspiration that students can draw from throughout their studies.

• Game 2: Explore Your VUture - blended board game

  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.

• Tips

  Several programmes already use the Your VUture games to support first-year students. They shared three practical tips for using the games to their best advantage:

  Tip 1 - Find the right moment
  When first-year students have just started their studies, they need to acclimatize before they are ready to think about their study career. Around December or maybe even in semester 2, they have more space to look ahead. It also helps to make it a convivial gathering, for example as a fun end to the block.    

  Tip 2 - Explain why  
  Discuss with students in advance what the intended goals of Your VUture are. For example: "We want to help you think about what kind of profession or field of work suits you best and how your studies fit in with that. In doing so, Your VUture offers concrete tips on what you can do during your studies to learn the right skills and already build a CV."  

  Tip 3 - Give a reflection assignment  
  A great assignment, devised by the Human Movement Sciences programme: "from the list of VU tips at Discover Your VUture, choose two tips that you want to start working on immediately. Also choose a third tip: one that attracts you, but that you find more challenging. In a reflection paper, describe why you chose these three tips and how they fit with your study goals."