In order to facilitate the transition from high school to higher education, and to overcome the self-censorship mechanisms at work among some high school students, particularly in Nouvelle Aquitaine, the University of Poitiers is developing a video game project called “Campus Explorer” aimed at high school students and newcomers.
This game should allow players to discover the university virtually before their arrival. It is designed to facilitate access to higher education for people with specific needs, particularly high school and university students with disabilities.
Improving the arrival of all new students
This project is an innovative part of the University’s welcome policy and its particular work on the “bac -3 / bac +3 continuum”, with particular attention to the “bac -1/ bac +1” period when high school students become students and their daily life changes abruptly.
These changes can be stressful and many questions arise, especially during the first year and for people with special needs. “Campus Explorer” will allow these people to discover the university before their arrival and/or during the first weeks of their integration. This tool will guide them in understanding the steps to be taken and the activities of student life. In this aspect, the game is a facilitator of access and retention of young people with disabilities in higher education.
This game is aimed at young people with disabilities, but more generally and in a logic of inclusion, it is aimed at people with special needs who wish to discover the university, which includes first-time students and international students. This game will help to improve the welcoming of students thanks to the anticipated knowledge of their environment.
Furthermore, the extension of the game to other university sites will allow young people from the Deux-Sèvres and Charente to discover the campuses in their department, which will contribute to the fight against territorial inequalities.
From virtual to reality
In an inclusive approach, thinking about student life for students with special needs is a way of improving the living and studying conditions of all students.
Through the video game, the players will experience concrete situations of student life that newcomers are confronted with and will be able to create reference points that they will be able to use once at university:
Knowing the essential services
Anticipate their arrival
Knowing how to find and access a building or a service
We have tried to make the university’s services visible in a different way through the video game so that high school students who are considering enrolling feel accompanied and supported in their approach in order to overcome their difficulties and encourage their success as students.
Being able to anticipate one’s arrival in higher education will reinforce the feeling of capacity and the power to act of high school students so that they can fully realise their potential. The game will enable them to gain skills that they can then apply in their student life, and live more serenely at the beginning of the academic year.
