/library/oar/handle/123456789/124467 2025-11-11T21:27:49Z 2025-11-11T21:27:49Z Attard, Ritienne Chetcuti, Deborah /library/oar/handle/123456789/135098 2025-05-07T09:48:47Z 2024-12-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Policy to practice : assessment reform in Maltese science classrooms Authors: Attard, Ritienne; Chetcuti, Deborah Abstract: New ideas about learning and assessment have led to assessment reforms in many countries, with governments and educators introducing new assessment policies that focus more on assessment for learning rather than measuring achievement. What is problematic about assessment reform is that new policies are written by one group of individuals, usually administrators, and passed down to teachers who need to implement them within the classroom context. The shift from policy to practice is not without its challenges and there is no guarantee that new assessment policies are successfully implemented by teachers. This study explores how teachers in Maltese science classrooms implement assessment reform. More specifically it focuses on the introduction of School Based Assessment (SBA) to replace summative half-yearly examinations. Using a qualitative methodology, the study looks at the experiences of two Maltese Science Education Officers (EOs) and five Integrated Science teachers in two Maltese state schools as they navigated the shift from using assessment practices that involved traditional testing to school-based assessment practices that were more focused on student learning. The findings suggest that for the participants of the study the implementation of assessment reform was not a linear journey. The participants went through a process that involved: (i) an initial resistance to change, especially the removal of the half-yearly examinations; (ii) using coping mechanisms; and (iii) becoming empowered within a teacher community to embrace and implement new assessment practices. The study suggests that to implement reform science teachers need to develop an ‘assessment literacy’ within professional learning communities that give them voice, provide them with support and empower them with the knowledge, skills, and resources that lead to successful assessment reform.

2024-12-01T00:00:00Z Saliba, Brian Zarb, Ayrton /library/oar/handle/123456789/135092 2025-05-07T09:15:09Z 2024-12-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The impact of sport participation on academic performance among Maltese secondary school students Authors: Saliba, Brian; Zarb, Ayrton Abstract: Existing research suggests that smaller class sizes, diverse teaching methods, and engagement in sports yield positive returns on students’ educational outcomes. This paper investigates whether students participating in sports when preparing for their Secondary Educational Certificate, a pivotal milestone in their life, exhibit higher academic performances in English language and Mathematics than their non-participating counterparts. Utilising online self-completion questionnaires from students who underwent exams in the past two years, these findings reveal a statistically significant positive correlation between the frequency of sports participation and academic performance regarding improved grades. Furthermore, the study highlights that this positive influence of sports is more evident in Mathematics than in English. Additional insights from this study indicate that students in private schools generally achieve higher grades than state school students, and academic marks vary according to the students’ residential district due to diverse cultural backgrounds.

2024-12-01T00:00:00Z Bezzina Busuttil, Anne-Marie Bajada Sultana, Jessica /library/oar/handle/123456789/134977 2025-05-05T10:21:01Z 2024-12-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Attitudes towards foreign language learning at post-secondary education level in Malta Authors: Bezzina Busuttil, Anne-Marie; Bajada Sultana, Jessica Abstract: In recent decades, numbers of students taking up modern foreign languages (MFL) in post-compulsory education in Malta have shrunk to an alarming low, and the Maltese population’s past multilingual skills have undergone a significant decline. This study aims to understand the reasons for post-secondary (PS) students’ avoidance of MFL in their choice of subjects for Advanced level studies by analysing their attitudes to MFL and investigating which external and internal factors of influence impact on their level of interest in foreign language learning (FLL). A questionnaire was distributed to PS students in four of the six pre-university institutions in Malta. Results from the representative sample of respondents confirm the existence of negative attitudes to FLL among PS students. External factors of influence such as discontinuity between secondary and PS language curricula, and unsatisfactory FLL experiences at secondary level appear to be among the factors dissuading some PS learners from pursuing MFL studies. Internal factors such as causal attributions of success or failure in language studies compound the feelings of low learner agency. A case study is conducted concerning French, a foreign language (FL) in sharp decline, revealing perceptions of difficulty with regard to the language, as well as stereotypical associations that cling to the language, making it to some extent subject to lingering prejudice. Understanding actual PS learners’ beliefs about FLL is an important step towards effectively addressing the unpopularity of MFL.

2024-12-01T00:00:00Z Calleja, Annaliz /library/oar/handle/123456789/134976 2025-05-05T10:18:28Z 2024-12-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The educational challenges of Italian migrant learners in their transition to secondary schools in Gozo : a comparative study Authors: Calleja, Annaliz Abstract: This paper draws on research which addresses a topic of interest in recent times, given the rise in the number of migrant learners in Maltese schools, especially those originating from Italy. First, it sheds light on the educational challenges that Italian migrant learners face in their transition to state schools in Gozo (such as language barriers, the loss of Italian, participation in class, books, homework, examinations, inclusion and parental involvement) taking account of the experiences of these learners themselves, their parents, and their teachers. Secondly, it examines the support strategies that are in place to facilitate these learners’ move between two education systems, characterised by substantial differences. Thirdly, it explores similarities and differences between the Italian and the Maltese education systems to understand in what ways different education systems can favour or hinder the inclusion of these learners into local schools. This research continues to build on other local studies focusing on the inclusion of Italian migrant learners in Maltese schools (Baschiera & Caruana, 2020; Caruana & Pace, 2021; Palazzo, 2020). The results confirm that Italian migrant learners are generally well included in local schools, more so if they started schooling in Malta at a young age. However, some parents claim that their children have experienced exclusion, especially at the beginning of their transition into local schools. While teachers in general do their best to support these learners and sometimes switch to Italian when necessary, they have limited time and leeway to make further adaptations, because of an exam-oriented pedagogy that they feel constrained to adopt.

2024-12-01T00:00:00Z