This pilot plan aims to support first-year students, who took various diagnostic tests in January.

“This process has been very good for the students who have just entered the University (…). The teachers have had a lot of understanding and patience to explain each step of the subjects to us. It has been a very good experience". With these words, Heidi León, from Mechanical Civil Engineering, refers to the leveling process that the University of La Serena offers for its new students.

Like her, more than 800 students are attending the classes that take place between March 5 and 15. Catalina Rivera, from Dentistry, is also participating and estimates that “I found the leveling quite didactic and the teacher was very willing, not only because of the understanding of the contents, but also because of the participation of the students. It is something super positive that leveling comes before induction (…) I am happy.”

For his part, Camilo Calderón, from Nursing, highlights that “the classes are quite interactive and it is super good that this leveling was done based on the context of the career, for example, that Mathematics was linked to this career in the area of Health. “We have felt very welcome.”

William Zuribe, from Civil Mining Engineering, says that “I took this class because it is necessary to level up, since we may not all have the same base. We all come from different schools that give us all kinds of possibilities.”

For his part, Jaime Rodríguez, Director of Teaching at the ULS, explains that the diagnostic tests that the students took in the month of January were analyzed and those who did not achieve the minimum passing percentage were informed that, as of January 5 March, they had to access these leveling courses. "It is something that the institution does with all the love, truly concerned about the students who enter the University, and it is one of the many instances and initiatives that come from the Rector's Office to be able to support our students," he says.

Claudia Toledo, Coordinator of the Student Support and Monitoring Office, OAME, details that “this pilot Leveling plan must be understood as an initial process of strengthening skills, which are the basis for university life in the areas of Language, Mathematics and Study Skills, and to date it has stood out for the motivation and willingness of the students to participate in the process, both those who passed and those who failed, generating a high rating so far. The challenges of this leveling plan are the review of diagnostic instruments and generating more efficient participation and coverage mechanisms.”

Rodrigo Garrido, psychologist in charge of Leveling Study Techniques, states that “it is a very significant and positive process for the integration of new students into the university context, considering sometimes how complex it can be to go from a school context to higher education. , from aspects such as how complex the transfer is to adapting to a social context.”

This Intensive Institutional Leveling Pilot Plan (NII) is led by the Academic Vice-Rector's Office and planned and implemented by the OAME and UGIP support units.

Pedagogies

The Integrated Pedagogy Management Unit (UGIP) is in charge of the activities aimed at the 178 students who enter the 11 Pedagogy courses at the University of La Serena. In the case of these programs, they are framed in compliance with Law 20.903, on the Teaching Professional Development System, which establishes the mandatory application of an Institutional Diagnostic Evaluation to Pedagogy students entering their first year and the subsequent completion of leveling and accompaniment instances based on the results obtained.

For the person in charge of the I Want to Be an Education Professional Program at the UGIP, and professor of the Study Skills area in leveling, Dr. (c) Jasna Cortés, these instances “are a great opportunity for students, to be able to shorten educational gaps. . This is a great benefit for the student to achieve metacognition and realize what their weaknesses are and can correct them. This instance is a privilege that the student has to be able to improve their learning processes and be able to achieve the development of their goals.”

For his part, Danniel Olivares, student of Pedagogy in Biology and Natural Sciences, emphasizes that “I found it quite good to participate because I felt that it is a glimpse of what is going to come the rest of the year, instead of having everything at once. I felt that in the test that I did poorly I did need to learn more and I feel that on my own I would not have done it. I think I would have been with everything at the U and I wouldn't have had time to go back to what I hadn't learned.”

Finally, María Cecilia Ramos, director of the UGIP, emphasizes that “starting this year, the institution has made an extraordinary effort to optimize the application of diagnoses and the analysis of the results. This has allowed students to know their results before the summer break, and that, starting today, they can begin to receive leveling support prior to the start of the semester.” Furthermore, she adds that “all this effort is aimed at enabling first-year students to improve and strengthen their knowledge and skills, which is expected to contribute to successfully facing the beginning of their training paths.”