Abstract Book of the 9th International Conference on Advanced Research in Education
Year: 2025
[PDF]
A Participatory Approach to Academic Success in Higher Education
Catarina Mangas, Susana Sardinha Monteiro
ABSTRACT:
The Observatory for Academic Success – OPSA 2.0, developed at the Polytechnic University of Leiria (Portugal), constitutes a comprehensive institutional strategy to promote student success, well-being and inclusion in higher education. Structured around seven interconnected programmes, OPSA 2.0 integrates mentoring and tutoring systems, pedagogical innovation, personalized learning support, and data-driven monitoring mechanisms that employ artificial intelligence to identify students at risk of dropout. One of the project’s most innovative initiatives, “OPSA Goes to School,” was launched in 2025 as a decentralized action across the institution’s five campuses. Through gamified workshops and participatory sessions, this initiative aimed to raise awareness of the support mechanisms available in OPSA 2.0, while empowering students to reflect on their own perceptions of academic success and the strategies they adopt to achieve it. The approach fostered engagement, co-responsibility, and collaborative dialogue between students, faculty, and staff. This presentation discusses the design, implementation, and preliminary outcomes of “OPSA Goes to School,” emphasizing its contribution to promoting inclusive participation and academic empowerment. The initiative illustrates how higher education institutions can foster student engagement by combining pedagogical innovation, community involvement and institutional commitment to equity and excellence.
Keywords: Academic success; gamification; higher education; inclusion; student empowerment