University adds a little something extra to its degrees

As from this academic year, University of Malta first year students are being offered "degreeplus", a programme that allows them to attend a number of innovative courses and activities aimed to help them break out beyond their disciplinary boundaries and explore other areas for their personal, intellectual, and professional development.

Emphasising fun and employability

Degreeplus' aim is to enable students to augment their academic studies with additional practical skills and a broader educational experience. The programme is not about accumulating more 'credits'. It is intended to emphasise fun, employability and the chance of a more holistic approach to formal education. In other words, it seeks to encourage students to use their time on campus to engage in a series of activities or courses which will be over and above the credits appearing in their final certification.

As Malta's leading tertiary education institution, the University of Malta is the place where one achieves a high degree of specialisation in a particular area of study. But is that specialisation enough? Could more perhaps be done to diversify students' experiences and formation at university? Might something be added to the familiar package of attending lectures, hanging out on campus and elsewhere, going to the library and having a snack at the canteen or at an establishment just outside the premises?

The programme is an initiative of the rector, Professor Juanito Camilleri, and has been introduced thanks to the efforts of the degreeplus committee, which was set up last March with the objective of offering a number of units that can provide participants with additional practical skills and formative experiences that can enhance their character and employability.  The committee is made up of Professor Albert Caruana, as chairman, Dr Ivan Callus, Dr Sandro Caruana, Professor Joseph N. Grima, David Herrera, representing the University Students Council (KSU), and Dr Chris Staff.

Holistic approach

The philosophy behind degreeplus is based on a number of considerations. At the heart of the programme is the notion of lifelong education: University is not just an educational machine which churns out credits, but aims at offering a holistic approach to those students who wish to embrace it. The very idea behind degreeplus is that of offering courses that are not necessarily in the student's field of specialisation. An engineering student, therefore, may choose to follow a course to improve his/her level of professional English, a student studying the Arts may wish to follow a course in ICT or in entrepreneurship, while students who wish to carry out voluntary work will find the set-up and the means to do so. This will lead to a more holistic tertiary education and will enhance the student's profile in whichever sector he/she may be employed.

Another important notion on which degreeplus is based is the idea of learning in an enjoyable atmosphere. Credits and examinations at university often lead to stressful situations. degreeplus veers away from this. The courses on offer do not intend creating further stress but aim at 'educating' the student in the very best sense of this word: the term 'educate', from Latin ex ducere, literally means 'to pull out', 'to make something emerge from somebody'.

The emphasis is therefore on learning, rather than on teaching or lecturing. The idea is to help students discover more about their broader potential and to make it possible to follow programmes in a university setting where the emphasis is on facilitating student engagement within areas beyond their main field of study.

Participation is therefore central to degreeplus. The programme aims to involve students in university life and to make the campus a site for further learning. University students will be able to follow courses they are interested in during the hours they spend on campus rather than having to seek them elsewhere.

This will hopefully lead to more inter-faculty exchange and thereby revise the idea of individual faculties being monolithic blocks, with students who may not be open to what could be on offer in different faculties.

When degreeplus is launched later this month participation will be available only to first year students but the programme will be expanded each year. At the end of their university studies, students will be entitled to receive a degreeplus certificate listing the units they successfully complete. The University is stressing that these units will not be evaluated by means of traditional testing but by using formative means of assessment that will also take active participation into account.

The following degreeplus streams will be launched this year. There is no fixed deadline for registration; however there is a threshold on each stream and applications will be received until available places fill up. Further information on degreeplus is available on the Website www.um.edu.mt/degreeplus, and by sending an e-mail to : degreeplus@um.edu.mt.

Culture and Heritage

The Culture and Heritage option within degreeplus will give students the opportunity to participate in a number of guided visits to various museums and sites around Malta and Gozo. These sites are managed by Heritage Malta, the national agency for museums, conservation practice and cultural heritage. Through these visits participants will learn about Malta's priceless heritage and about local cultural locations and traditions. This option is open to all students who have a genuine desire to appreciate better various aspects of Malta's rich cultural heritage.

Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship has long been recognised as the catalyst for business development, innovation and growth. It is about making or procuring the necessary resources to offer something that satisfies a perceived opportunity. The entrepreneurial stream seeks to foster an ethos of idea-sharing and to inspire participants to be future leaders. Further objectives include developing the skills to participate in the development of society as well as to help participants understand the practicalities of setting up a business.

ICT

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) units are aimed to provide a basic understanding of computers, on the basis of which further units can be pursued in subsequent years.

The ICT option within the degreeplus programme seeks to address misconceptions students may have about certain principles of computing.

It also seeks to make participants more 'savvy' about how computers work, and to understand IT jargon better such as the differences between the Internet and the World Wide Web.

In addition, it seeks to enable participants to create a simple Web presence for themselves, and to unlock the potential of using the Internet as a powerful research tool.

Languages

The Language programme caters for students with different levels of proficiency in Arabic, English, French, Italian, and Maltese, and each individual course will set out to attain distinct levels of linguistic competence according to the following criteria:

• Courses at basic and post-basic level will develop notions regarding the fundamental structure of the language as well as basic communicative functions;

• Courses at vantage and proficiency levels will develop notions regarding more complex communicative situations as well as issues regarding style and textuality.

Voluntary work

The aim of the voluntary work option within degreeplus is to provide students with the opportunity to get involved in a voluntary work project.

Participants will be able to develop their social and teamwork skills as well as their ability to plan and manage small-scale projects. It also helps students analyse social realities in Malta.

No specific requirements are needed except a generous heart, enthusiasm and motivation to reach out to others.