The New College's System

This year all assignments are very important and valid to our area of study. I’m saying this because in the previous years we used to have that one or two assignments per semester which weren’t that important to our area of study. However, today I look back positively that I managed to pass and achieved decent grades although they were challenging to me. Such assignments were also preparing me to tackle challenging situations where I wouldn’t much relate to or don’t like.

This year although all assignments are very important for our preparation to the future career, I can still mention some things which aren’t being tackled well, probably because of the new system. Last year we were starting this new course (Spatial Design) which is now not related to the BTEC system anymore but now it’s being offered by MCAST for free, which is a positive direction for MCAST. Another positive thing is the new grading system, where previously the grading were only based on four grades the ‘Distinction’, ‘Merit’, ‘Pass’ and ‘Referral/Fail’, which weren’t that accurate. While the new system grades from 0 to 100, typically 50 being the pass mark. This is a more accurate grading system, while we also have the advantage of receiving feedback where students understands where to improve. However something I don't really agree with the new grading system is that if you fail an assignment, one has to do the assignment all over again in a very short period of time, and that no feedback is given after submitting a task from an assignment, it's only given along with the final mark.

Since we were the first to attend this new course, we felt like we are being ‘guinea pigs’, because they made lots of changes from the BTEC course and some changes weren’t ‘tested’ previously. So, this was a disadvantage for us because it made us feel frustrated at times when things weren’t going well. Last year we also had to stand together and literally use ‘power from below’ to show our voice about issues that we were facing to the administration. Sometimes we managed to have a suitable compromise and sometimes not so much, and lots of things still need to improve within the new system!

Due to our complaints and suggestions, this year for the same course (Spatial Design, year 1), I noticed that there were some better adjustments and changes in the course delivery.

At the same time this year, we are still first ones to be doing the second part of the course, and I still have the same feeling that we are being the ‘guinea pigs’. Few assignments aren't planned well and sometimes we feel misguided or lost. However one particular assignment which for the previous years (in the BTEC course) was being delivered in one semester is now being delivered in both semesters and it is planned very well, which gives us adequate time to learn and explore such subject, which is about 'Design Principles and Methods'.

Another new assignment which was introduced this year and is very important to our thesis for next year which is 'Critical Thinking and Research Methods'. For the previous courses (BTEC) this assignment was being delivered during the last year of the degree. So this is something positive about the new changes which is putting us in the advantage to start preparing us for our thesis earlier. The thing with this assignment is that it is only being delivered in one semester and I think it would have been better for us if it was delivered during both semesters, as we will have enough time to think and do our assignment properly.

An assignment which is about sustainable design should have been planned better, because it’s quite complicated as design which is being requested from this assignment. The first lectures of this assignment were about introducing the subject then follows some other information related to sustainable design. What I would suggest for a better delivery to such topic is to give us more information related to sustainable solutions (especially for Malta), materials, showing us other case studies, etc. Another thing is that a lot of marks have been allocated with one task and another task to which had fewer marks allocated to, had lots of work to be done.

Now that we have done half of the assignment individually and everyone came up with his own design, we needed to present our design to the client who is an engineer from the MCAST institute of engineering, and he had to criticize our designs according to how could it be working. Then from 24 students, only 6 had to be chosen and mine was one of them which I am proud of. Now for the next stage, we have to be in groups of four to further develop the design chosen. At this stage we haven’t established who will be working with who, as we need to have some sort of meeting with the engineer and our lecturer to assign us into groups. Something which we’re worrying about is that the meeting is going to happen right after the holidays and at the moment this assignment is put on hold for the Christmas holidays, which this time could have been essential to us to start working as groups. I hope that due to all this, we will be given an extension as lots of work still need to be done, and it is impossible to be done in just less than a month. Our knowledge learned from this topic should prepare us enough to be able to design sustainably, which is very important to our future career.

In addition, during the Christmas holidays I will be trying to have some relaxing time with family and friends and also continue to work on assignments to keep myself on track and on time hopefully. 

Thinking Critically

From the beginning of the semester till now, I have changed the way of thinking and I’m starting to think critically unintentionally to almost everything. Reflecting on my weekly blogs, I think I’m improving week after week. So in this blog, I decided to do some critical thinking on my previous blogs to reflect on my improvements and difficulties I am encountering.

During the first weeks of this semester I wrote on different topics, in order to make myself thinking critically about different topics. This is also helping me formulate constructive criticism, where one criticize in a manner that is valid and expresses own opinions.

There were blogs which I know that should have been written better, particularly their written structure and arguments. Although it’s a short task that I have to do weekly, sometimes I find it difficult to find the right time to write properly. Sometimes my difficulty when writing in English is my vocabulary, which I know that it could be improved, at the same time, I feel that I’m improving from time to time by practice. One of the reasons I struggle to find the appropriate vocabulary, is the lack of reading during the last summer holidays, because reading is a very important practice to flourish one’s vocabulary.

Building up arguments is a bit challenging, especially now that I’m aware of the methods that could be used to have stronger arguments. I still find it difficult when it comes to building up well-structured arguments and I’m aiming to work on that to improve further in the coming weeks.

Parking Issues in Malta.

Currently the situation of parking in Malta especially in some certain localities, is quite huge. I’m one who experience this problem of parking quite often but not on a daily basis, because when I go to college, somehow I manage to find a parking space. Although it’s becoming quite problematic and usually have to find a parking space quite far from the institute. Cars are always increasing and many students are preferring to get a car licence and go to college by their own car rather than using the public transport. When going back home, the problem of parking isn’t that much next to my house, although cars are also increasing by neighbours living nearby.

Central localities around Malta are very problematic to find a parking space, such as Valletta, Sliema, St. Julians, Birkirkara, Qormi, etc. When I need to go to such locations, sometimes I choose to go by public transport which I really dislike because it takes longer to travel. The poor system of public transport is one of the reasons, people are choosing to own and use private cars which also leads to more traffic in our roads. Although, I believe that there were few improvements within the system, people are still choosing to travel by their own cars. I think by having a better public transport system and maybe introduce incentives to people who make use of the public transport, people would start using it more. In some localities there is also the option of parking malls, which reduces the parking problem, but sometimes their parking fee is too expensive and makes it more difficult to people who don’t afford to pay such amounts.

On the other hand, there are people who park irresponsibly, which will cause unnecessary inconveniences towards other road users. For instance, I frequently notice drivers who double park in the middle of the road with the hazard lights on, just because they need to have a ‘quick’ stop while causing danger to other drivers who need to overtake them and risk to crash into traffic coming from the opposite direction. Other instance is when drivers who just find a good parking spot while ruin other parking spaces by not using them correctly. Even though people might get a fine for such mistakes, they still keep doing them and it’s something that we as a country need to take care of. 

Books vs. eBooks

Nowadays technology is always evolving in everything and people are choosing to read a book on digital devices. Not long ago, I have tried to read a book on a tablet and didn’t really quite enjoy it, as much as a printed book. This concern can be debatable with various people having different opinions and I’m one who don’t agree much with the use of eBooks, I’d rather enjoy reading the old-fashioned way... Both have its own advantages and disadvantages. Although, I have to admit that I never was a great fan of reading, but every once in while I would love to read a book that keeps me focused and wouldn’t want to leave the book before I finish.


I’d rather prefer using such digital devices to watch a movie rather than reading. I’m also aware that E-books has also advantages such as; less paper is being used, quick downloads of a book (saving money), no shipping costs, font could be adjustable, ease of accessibility, etc. However, an eBook can cause eye strains, can be expensive depending on the software used, will not have that user experience, etc.

My views about using an eBook is more about the sensory aspect whereby having a printed book can be felt and smelt, therefore the user experience. In other words the “tactile loss” according to an article I found. (Rosso, S., 2009.) I believe that reading a printed book is more effective, and I also like the idea of having a collection of books which could be kept somewhere which will later remind you of its reading experience, whereas having a book on a digital device you will not enjoy such emotional aspects.

theawkwardyeti.com, 2014.

Reference:

Rosso, S., 2009. What are ebooks? Advantages and Disadvantages of Electronic Books. [online] Available at: https://whenihavetime.com/2009/03/09/what-are-ebooks-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-electronic-books/ [Accessed 02 December 2016].