UA Informa contribution to attract prospective students: an exploratory study

Abstract

Student recruitment rates are essential for Higher Education institutions’ sustainability. Universities may try to attract prospective students by providing information in their institutional website, advertising or offering campus visits, among other initiatives. In this line, the “UA Informa” is a project towards the promotion of extension activities for the community, to promote the image of the University of Aveiro (UA) and enhance education for sustainability. The project is relevant to UA students, prospective students, and other visitors. In this context, a set of open educational resources was developed to be accessed through QR codes spread across the campus. This exploratory study analyses the contribution of a non-formal game-based university campus visit into two dimensions: a) promotion of the institution's image; and b) students’ satisfaction with the proposed activity. The game prompts the players to find nine points of interest with specific QR codes, resulting on a path through the campus. A total of 23 students attending grade 10, from a school out of the UA influence zone, participated in the campus visit. At the end, students filled in an individual and anonymous questionnaire exposing their opinion on the experience. The students revealed an overall favorable perception on the university and game-based campus visit, as they classified the activity as interesting and with good value for learning about the university. Nineteen students considered they would like to attend a UA course in the future (after grade 12), although many presented a neutral position regarding this possibility. This study indicates that the UA Informa may enhance the university image to capture prospective students, but its utility does not end here, as it may also facilitate the integration of students who attend the UA for the first time, and opens the university to the overall community. Furthermore, the QR codes are a visible and practical way to provide outreach and promote involvement of the community with sustainability issues, so it might have impact in the society sustainable habits as well.