New online journal

The Publications Committee of the Faculty of Education recently appointed Dr Carmel Borg, senior lecturer and head, Department of Primary Education, editor of a new, fully refereed, electronic journal entitled Journal of Maltese Education Research (JMER). The journal will be published twice a year with the first issue due in February.

JMER will provide established and emerging scholars and practitioners with a space for critical and empirical analysis of issues central to Maltese education policy, curriculum reform and pedagogy.

The scope of this journal is not limited to schooling. JMER should be of interest to scholars and practitioners working in pre-school education; adult and continuing education; vocational training; popular education; popular culture; education for leisure; museum education; media education; distance learning; TEFL; open learning; education and the Maltese diaspora; education administration and management; education planning; and history of education.

The editorial team consists of a local board of consultants and an international panel. The local board of associate editors consists of Dr Christopher Bezzina, Professor Mark Borg, Dr Mary Darmanin, Professor Peter Mayo and Professor Kenneth Wain. Dr Valerie Sollars is reviews editor.

The international panel of editors consists of Aukse Balcytiene (Vylanius Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania); John Baldacchino (Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland); Len Barton (Institute of Education, University of London); Mark Bray (University of Hong Kong); Leslie Caul (The Queen's University, Belfast); Costantinou Costantinos (University of Cyprus); Jim Cummins (OISE/University of Toronto); Carmen Dalli (Victoria University at Wellington, New Zealand); David Livingstone (OISE/University of Toronto); Maelis Karlsson Lohmander (Göteborg University, Sweden); Attilio Monasta (Università degli Studi, Florence); Patricia Murphy (Open University, UK); Andrew Pollard (University of Cambridge, UK); Cathy Holden (University of Exeter, UK); Miriam K. Rosenthal (The Hebrew University, Israel); Nelly P. Stromquist (University of Southern California); and Joseph Zajda (Australian Catholic University).

Bernard Agius of the Teachers' Resource Centre is the online systems manager. Articles submitted to the journal will be reviewed by at least two independent referees. Manuscripts and books to be considered for review should be sent to: The Editor, Journal of Maltese Education Research, Faculty of Education, Department of Primary Education, University of Malta, Msida MSD 06.

Details regarding the review process and manuscript format can be found at: www.educ.um.edu.mt/jmer.

The CAT ate my paper

After the recent uproar on the Matsec examinations, with some feeling it was an over-reaction and others saying that the reactions were fully justified, one feels that one should start from now discussing the different ways possible of examining in the future. This requires a great involvement of IT. It is important to get our students used to those methods to prepare them for examinations set in foreign universities especially in encouraging student mobility.

For example, a new type of test is called the Computer Adaptive Test (CAT). It is more than just a computerised version of a traditional paper-and-pencil test. The CAT allows you to see only one question at a time, and you must answer that question to continue the test. Once you answer a question, it is part of your score - for better or for worse.

That means, unlike the traditional GRE, the CAT does not permit you to skip around within a section and tackle questions in any order. You also cannot go back and change an answer. Instead, you have to do your best to get a question right the first time you see it.

The CAT is called "adaptive" because the test selects questions for you based on how well you are doing. If you keep answering questions correctly, the test will increase in difficulty; if you slip and make some mistakes, the test will adjust and start giving you easier questions. If you answer all the inquisitions correctly, the CAT will return to the harder ones.

This is a way of finding what one knows rather than what one does not know. This may have an important psychological effect where everybody feels that he has some knowledge alert that may need to be improved. The purpose of the CAT is to give you a score based on the level at which you answer questions correctly about half the time. That means the overall number you get right is not as important as the level at which you start getting about half the questions wrong. In spite of the differences computer-based test scores are considered comparable to paper scores.

Technophobes should start working on these factors as soon as possible since these examination systems are no longer science fiction. The CAT is more convenient. You can take it at hundreds of computer centers around the country and overseas. The paper tests, on the other hand, are scheduled on particular set times during the year whether one is feeling well or not.

You do not need to be computer-literate to take the CAT. During the exam, you will be given a tutorial that includes practice on techniques for using a mouse. The computer test allows you more time per question, while a paper test's timing is more stringent.

As far as strategy goes, skipping tough questions on the CAT is not an option. You have to answer every question as it is presented. If you like to do the easy and medium questions first, you are better off taking the paper test. If you like to "warm up" as you go along, be wary of the CAT. Success on the computer test depends on a solid performance on the first few questions that you answer.

The CAT gives you your score immediately. But, if you are not happy with your performance, you must cancel your scores before you see them. You can take the test again in at present determined times. You do not get a paper examination result anywhere for four to six weeks. This is slow considering the fast world of IT. With the CAT, your score will be reported to registry or to an employer faster than with a paper test.

When you take the CAT, you are alone with a computer (a video camera records you to make sure you are not cheating). Some people prefer this no-distractions environment. Others feel claustrophobic and would rather share space with hundreds of other nervous applicants. Students and authorities are urged to get ready for computerised tests before the CAT eats away all the paper.

This warning was already given some years ago in the "How to get into Graduate School" edition of Newsletter. Malta may be fast in forming an e-government. It is certainly not so fast in e-examinations, some say, perhaps rightly so.

ETC policy on provision of information

The Employment and Training Corporation (ETC) has endorsed a policy on demands for labour market information available at ETC, as may be requested by bona fide academics, members of the staff at the University of Malta.

This concludes a long-drawn out period of discussions and consultations, during which the ETC has always recognised the crucial contribution that University academics can and do make towards the critical review of research material. The eight-point agreement is as follows:

1. The ETC recognises the valid contribution that research initiatives, and the findings thereof, undertaken by University academics can provide to the collation, dissemination and critical analysis of knowledge on labour market issues in Malta and the development of suitable public policy in this regard.

2. Within this context, the ETC agrees that requests by University academics for information available at ETC will be entertained free of charge.

3. ETC will only provide the information requested where: a) it is to be provided in reasonable time; b) it is not considered confidential; this precludes including personal details of specific individuals; c) the volume is not so extensive as to obstruct normal ETC operations; and d) they are data already released by the National Statistics Office or a breakdown of them.

4. The ETC is entitled to receive a copy of any report, document and article, produced using ETC-provided data in accordance with these terms.

5. This agreement deliberately excludes requests for data made by University academics who intend using such data for the purposes of private business or consultancy, directly or indirectly.

6. Academics benefiting from this agreement are requested to sign a declaration which confirms that their request is not intended for the uses which are not for academic purposes.

7. Should it come to the ETC's knowledge that an academic has breached the signed declaration, then the ETC will not entertain any further requests for information by that academic, except those charged according to the normal applicable rates.

8. The ETC and the participating academics agree to review this agreement at the end of 2002 in the light of actual practice.

Workshop on the future of transport policy

A discussion workshop was held last month at Student's House on "Which Way to Go? The Future of Transport Policy in Malta", organised by the University of Malta Geographical Society (UMGS) combining the visit of Professor John Adams (Geography Department, UCL) to the Mediterranean Institute's Geography Division of the University.

The workshop started with a presentation by Professor Adams about the OECD's Environmentally Sustainable Transport Project and the Maltese transport situation. It was followed by a very lively discussion among the 50 participants on congestion, traffic management, public transport, road charging and alternative modes of transport.

Participants came from the academic and governmental organisations, including the Planning Authority, the Malta Transport Authority, Malta Police Force, the EU Directorate within the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry for Justice and Local Government.

Other NGOs included the Public Transport Association, Friends of the Earth, the Foundation for Transport Studies and a representative of the Nationalist Party.

The aim of the workshop was to find common ground on which to build a sustainable transport policy for the future. The workshop concluded with a general consensus among the participants that the direction of policy should be towards sustainability, and that it is achievable gradually given that there is a plan which will be followed by government departments and authorities.

Geography students also had the opportunity to present an exhibition of the current "Town Centres Project", which included information about transport and land use issues in Victoria, Gozo.

Pharmacy education in Europe

Professor Anthony Serracino Inglott, head of the Department of Pharmacy, recently addressed the annual conference of the European Association of Faculties of Pharmacy.

The conference, held in Cracow, Poland, was attended by about 200 delegates from 40 schools of pharmacy. The theme was "Integration in pharmacy education in Europe" and experiences in different countries were presented on the integration of the basic sciences with practice learning and on curriculum developments.

Professor Serracino Inglott presented a paper on "Integrating in-service practice within the academic education of pharmacy students" where he elaborated upon the student's journey through acquiring knowledge using both a theoretical as well as a practical approach to teaching.

More boys born in southern Europe

According to a recent study published in the British Medical Journal, couples living in southern Europe have more male children than those in the north, but the latitude link is reversed in the North American continent, where more boys are born in Canada and the US than in Mexico.

Consultant paediatrician Victor Grech, former Head of Paediatrics Paul Vassallo Agius and obstetrician Charles Savona-Ventura from St Luke's Hospital, obtained 50 years of birth data from the World Health Organisation for analysis. These data comprised some 550 million births.

However, as indicated by the title of the paper: "Unexplained differences in sex ratios at birth in Europe and North America", they were unable to account for these statistically highly significant findings.

A temperature-related effect is unlikely due to the opposite trends in the two continents. Moreover, research shows that the ratio of male to female births over the past 50 years has been decreasing worldwide possibly because male embryos may be more susceptible to environmental toxins. "We are currently analysing our data to look for trends which may corroborate this," Dr Grech said.

The New Brahms Edition

Professor Robert J. Pascall from the University of Wales will deliver an illustrated lecture on "The preparation of the Neue Brahms Ausgabe" on Friday at 10.30 a.m. in Room 124, Mediterranean Institute, University of Malta (entrance from near HSBC on Campus).

Interested members of the general public and all music students are cordially invited to attend.