Abstract:

During the last academic years, the Valencian regional government (Generalitat Valenciana) and the Technical University of Valencia (Universitat Politècnica de València) have been offering a practical programme for students doing the First Year of Spanish Secondary Education or modules of the vocational training education system. It is a grant for those students to enjoy certain activities from university student life. This programme lasts a week at the end of the academic year. Only students with an excellent academic performance may access the programme. There is a wide range of proposed activities, and the main ones are related with the University’s degrees, although a series of ludic and sport activities are also included.

The School of Design Engineering (ETSID) takes part in this project with a high level of success. Five programmes are proposed corresponding to the Bachelor degrees of the institution: Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Electronics and Automation Engineering and Industrial Design and Product Development. In the mornings, several workshops are set up to allow the participants to get to know key aspects of the degrees in a very practical and concrete way. The students carry out experiments, are involved in manufacturing processes, observe, practise… in other words, they learn. It is a programme that enables them to solve many of their doubts regarding the selection of the specific degree they want to study in the future. In this work, we describe the participation of the ETSID in the Praktikum UPV during last academic year and discuss what the five proposed programmes have consisted of as well as the students’ perception as regards the experience.

Keywords:

Prospective undergraduates, High School-University.