Dealing with the new freshers - a not so novel socio-pedagogical project

Portuguese tertiary education includes long and short courses, envisaged so that the latter would fall within the scope of a polytechnic system. The massive arrival of students became a major obstacle to adequately prepare all of those finishing high school. All those dealing with retention constraints acknowledge that the first year in any degree constitutes a critical moment. Portuguese integration in the European Union has been stressing the need for versatility as a key factor for success within today's economy. As a result, institutions, particularly those in higher education, face the contradiction between increasing adequacy outputs and lowering their input standards. Several initiatives have been carried out, especially during the last four years. A two-semester, one-hour weekly course was created in the first year of the Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Management program. A set of individual and structured interviews was carried out in order to select a reduced group of students, 15 (twelve male and three female) among 95 entries. One year after, all the 15 students remained within the graduation. Several short assignments were distributed and their subsequent presentation encouraged among the group. At the end of each semester a set of interviews was made to evaluate the work done. Besides giving their opinions during these interviews, students could also suggest subjects and possible changes in future interventions.