Development of Living Documents and Experimentation with the Physical World as Strategies for the Retention and Attraction of Undergraduate Students in Programming Courses

This article describes the pedagogical strategies planned within the Computer and Systems Engineering program attached to the Faculty of Engineering of the University - before the COVID-19 pandemic, to attract the attention of new students and improve the retention of active students. In attracting new students, promotional activity is created based on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) initiatives, which target schools through academic events and competitions. In retention, we redesigned digital classrooms from the personalized construction of didactic materials used in the fundamental courses of computer science in engineering programs. In the short term, it would be a collateral benefit for the continuity of operations in the time of the pandemic. With these measures, the program reduced inter-monthly dropouts by 7% and increased the number of students by 77% in a five-year window. © 2021 Latin American and Caribbean Consortium of Engineering Institutions. All rights reserved

Development of Living Documents and Experimentation with the Physical World as Strategies for the Retention and Attraction of Undergraduate Students in Programming Courses

Este artículo describe las estrategias pedagógicas que fueron planeadas al interior del programa de Ingeniería de Sistemas y Computación adjunto a la Facultad de Ingeniería de la Universidad --- antes de la pandemia, para captar la atención de nuevos estudiantes y mejorar la retención de estudiantes activos. En el caso de atracción de estudiantes nuevos, se crea una actividad promocional basado en las iniciativas relacionadas a Ciencia, Tecnología, Ingeniería y Matemáticas (STEM por sus siglas en inglés), que se presenta en colegios focalizados a partir de eventos académicos y concursos. En el caso de la retención, se rediseñaron aulas digitales a partir de la construcción personalizada de materiales didácticos usados en los cursos fundamentales de ciencias computacionales en los programas de ingeniería y a corto plazo sería un beneficio colateral para la continuidad de operaciones en la época de pandemia. Con estas medidas, el programa logró reducir 7% la deserción intersemestral y aumentar en un 77% en el número de estudiantes en una ventana de cinco años.This article describes the pedagogical strategies planned within the Computer and Systems Engineering program attached to the Faculty of Engineering of the University --- before the COVID-19 pandemic, to attract the attention of new students and improve the retention of active students. In attracting new students, promotional activity is created based on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) initiatives, which target schools through academic events and competitions. In retention, we redesigned digital classrooms from the personalized construction of didactic materials used in the fundamental courses of computer science in engineering programs. In the short term, it would be a collateral benefit for the continuity of operations in the time of the pandemic. With these measures, the program reduced inter-monthly dropouts by 7% and increased the number of students by 77% in a five-year windo