6 years of gOPAL – over 2000 users – summary and a look into the future.

The digital study assistance system gOPAL serves as an interface for new students in STEM and economics as well as teacher training courses to the wide range of support services available at the Technical University of Dresden. It provides gamified knowledge modules on subject content, campus, study processes and strategies to support the precarious initial phase of study in a needs-based and timely manner.

Since the beginning of the gOPAL era (2016), over 2000 students have been enrolled in gOPAL courses. When comparing the enrolled gOPAL students to the new students in the respective departments, gOPAL reaches an average of 15-20 percent of the new students in a winter semester.

Since 2016, gOPAL has been accompanied by three qualitative and quantitative evaluations. Across all of these, the courses are highly frequented: 87 percent (2017), 94 percent (2020) and 75 percent (2021) used the offer at least once a month. The students were also asked about their favorite learning game units (LSE). It turned out that they were particularly interested in the missions "learning techniques" and "time management", among others.

A core element of gOPAL is the knowledge repository, which is included after the gamified missions with the topics of study organization, study strategies and campus life. In total, there are 100 topics and 300 tasks. It has been shown that students rate the user experience of gOPAL as particularly positive. Since the winter semester 17/18, there have been more than 50,000 clicks on the platform and 87 percent of users were active on gOPAL on a monthly basis.

The project product, the digital study navigator gOPAL, is currently being integrated and expanded within the MINT Orientation Study (OSM) project. The OSM is an orientation program that is currently in the conception phase and can be used as a precursor to the MINT degree programs at TU Dresden. A comprehensive range of events helps students to find the right degree program and to start their subsequent studies optimally prepared. What should I study? Is a MINT degree program suitable for me? Do I even want to study? The MINT Orientation Study (OSM) is intended to provide answers to these questions.) the TU Dresden offer.

At OSM, new students get a taste of various MINT courses (MINT stands for Mathematics, Icomputer science, Nnatural sciences, Technik) and can thus get to know their field of study as well as the full student life. From attending lectures, taking part in workshops and excursions, taking exams and even visiting the cafeteria.

During the OSM, the new students intensively examine their own ideas, abilities and goals so that at the end they can make an informed and motivated decision for their future.

gOPAL and the OSM benefit from each other through existing cooperation with the already gOPALized faculties of electrical and information engineering, economics, computer science, mechanical engineering, mathematics and teaching.

The first run of the OSM will start in the winter semester of 2023/2024. Until then, the OSM can be actively shaped through a surveyThe survey already has 1200 participants after just one month. After a brief interim assessment, it is already clear that the majority would like an orientation course. It's worth taking part, because we're giving away 40 surprise packages worth 50 euros each to all participants.

Authors: Matthias Heinz, Robin Heitz, Paul Nietzsche