The second series of the Student Development Program (Alur Pembinaan Mahasiswa (APM)) at the Faculty of Psychology Unpad, officially concluded on September 28, 2024, with the closing of the “Psypheneous” (Psychology Orientation and Development for Continuous Learning) program. Psypheneous, which was held every Saturday, introduced several soft skills to new students with the hope of assisting them throughout their studies.

The various soft skills taught were derived from the 2020 Student Life framework of the Faculty of Psychology Unpad and the Unpad’s Jatidiri principles. So, what activities did the new students of the Faculty of Psychology Unpad participate in during the five-week Psypheneous program? Let’s take a look together!

On the first day, August 28, 2024, following the adage ‘you can’t love what you don’t know,’ the first meeting was dedicated to introductions with all parties involved, from the Psypheneous committee, small group and lead facilitators, to the mentorship groups (Kakak-Kakak Pendamping (KKP)) that will accompany the new students during their initial period of study until the APM program ends.

Applying adult learning theory, a learning contract was also established on the first day. This aimed to agree upon the rules for Psypheneous and find a middle ground between the expectations of both sides, allowing participants to direct their own learning journey through the provided methods and to prepare themselves for an optimal learning process during the Psypheneous sessions.

On the second day, September 7, 2024, participants were introduced to the first competency: Accurate Self-Assessment (ASA). The ASA lesson was delivered using various methods. Starting from providing an ASA booklet before the session, completing worksheets, a mini-lecture overview from the lead facilitators, experiential learning sessions with small group facilitators, and a wrap-up by the lead facilitators. With 18 small facilitator groups, this activity was conducted in a group setting of 9–10 people, accompanied by 2 small group facilitators per group.

Next, on the third day, held on September 14, 2024, the competency taught was Optimism, which was conducted outdoors using an experiential method of games with the small group facilitators. In addition to learning about Optimism, the third day also featured a “psytracking” session. This was a facility provided by the Psypheneous committee for new students to report on the progress of their cohort project preparations and to ask technical questions about it.