/library/oar/handle/123456789/1055 Wed, 05 Nov 2025 14:43:03 GMT 2025-11-05T14:43:03Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/140606 Title: A study of employees’ perception of the need for a stress management programme at the place of work in Malta Abstract: This study explores how employees perceive the necessity of structured stress management programmes across diverse workplace sectors in Malta. Amid rising concerns over work-related stress and its adverse impact on employee well-being and organisational productivity, the research investigates how government, catering, and health workers experience stress and evaluate existing support systems. Guided by three research questions, the study examines perceptions of stress management, organisational readiness for intervention, and factors influencing long-term sustainability. A qualitative case study approach was adopted, with data gathered through three sector-specific focus groups comprising 6-8 participants each. Thematic analysis revealed common issues, including a lack of managerial support, role ambiguity, emotional exhaustion, and limited formal interventions. Findings indicate a broad demand for culturally sensitive, accessible, and sustained stress management measures. Barriers such as stigma, insufficient organisational commitment, and constrained resources were also identified. The study recommends integrating participatory approaches, leadership-driven mental health policies, and context-specific strategies aligned with Maltese workplace dynamics. This dissertation contributes to the growing literature advocating for comprehensive and culturally relevant stress management programmes that balance individual care with organisational accountability. Description: B.A. (Hons)(Melit.) Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT /library/oar/handle/123456789/140606 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/140605 Title: Higher education teachers' perceptions of online teaching at MCAST : affordances and challenges Abstract: Considering the rise of online courses worldwide in the past two decades in addition to the Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic years, this study explores online teaching (OT) through educators’ perceptions. By prioritising Higher Education (HE) lecturers’ voices this inductive study aimed to uncover their broader outlook on OT including its place in the future HE landscape, their viewpoints on the affordances and challenges encountered and how these impact the students’ learning and teacher’s teaching. Participants constituted educators teaching at Level 5 or higher at a local Further and Higher Education Institution (FHEI), the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST). The study addresses a knowledge gap in the local HE scene, concurrently empowering educators by valuing their outlook, enhancing their expertise and consequently that of students. In doing this the researcher implemented a qualitative study involving 12 participants who selfenrolled to participate in the research. Data collection took the form of individual, semistructured interviews, the strength of which lies in the rich data they yield. Interview transcriptions were later analysed using a thematic analysis (TA) technique. The research uncovered three overarching themes, mainly Technology-, Pedagogy- and Human-related aspects of OT, with multiple sub-themes in answer to the three research questions (RQs). The results illustrate a complex web of both positive and negative perceptions of OT, concurrently an acknowledgment of OT’s growing place in HE, the possible move to blended learning as the mainstream teaching modality and a need for upskilling. The need for institutional support is key, not least in the provision of Continuous Professional Development (CPD), which comes through the research participants’ own recommendations for training in technological and pedagogical aspects of OT. The study also conveys possibilities for future research about OT, which apart from extending this narrative, can further explore novel aspects such as the vocational element and learning difficulties in OT. Description: M.A.(Melit.) Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT /library/oar/handle/123456789/140605 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/137184 Title: Ignorare - to ignore : forgotten publics and museum materiality Authors: Debono, Sandro Abstract: Museums have come to recognize accessibility as a fundamental requirement guiding all facets of their management and curatorial practice. Access would generally concern the experience that the museum provides within its musealized perimeter, oftentimes centred around museum materiality that is prevalently more often than not a collection of objects and artefacts. It is a given, at least at face value, that the museum would exhibit and interpret tangible and intangible heritage to which publics are given access, both physical and intellectual, occasionally also empowering them to participate in the «varied experiences for education, enjoyment, reflection and knowledge sharing.» This somewhat superficial understanding of accessibility sits within the proviso that access concerns museum publics rather than museum collections. Indeed, as museums invest their time and energies in becoming more and more accessible, these oftentimes forget that the content presented within their musealized container might be the real challenge to engage with. It might be a case of choice, which could also be the direct outcome of a historic process, but also a matter of interpretation. Translating the historic museum, conceived as a place to conserve material culture, and make it more accessible to its publics and corresponding communities is far from being a linear process of change. Could it be that the museum’s very own raison d’etre and underlying values are lost in translation as the museum transitions from an object centred to a people-centred institution or would this transformation achieve the right equilibrium between historic identity and contemporary necessities? [excerpt] Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT /library/oar/handle/123456789/137184 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/137183 Title: Collecting from the future embedding strategic foresight in museum collections development Authors: Debono, Sandro Abstract: The paper calls for an alternative mode to the present-centric collections development practices guided by futures-oriented perspectives. This new approach, tentatively referenced to a curated choice of strategic foresight tools, would introduce the concept of “future memories” in collections management. Thanks to these tools, museums would be better equipped to anticipate societal change, address representational gaps, and curate collections for relevance in a multiple range of futures. Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT /library/oar/handle/123456789/137183 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z