NCFHE is conducting a research on
student engagement among former students of Sixth Forms and MCAST Introductory
and Foundation years. The project seeks to identify the reasons for students
being engaged or disengaged in their learning. This information is important to
improve Further Education in Malta and encourage more young people to continue
their education.
The research focuses on
former students, who completed or dropped out of Sixth Form or MCAST
Introductory and Foundation years during the academic year 2012/2013 or
2013/2014. This focus was chosen to identify whether or not they continued
their studies and to what extent their engagement in school may have influenced
their decision. Besides that, it also addresses teachers and the administrative
staff of these institutions to better understand how they perceive and support
student engagement.
The research is based both on
data collected through online surveys from former students, teachers and
administrative staff and on in-depth interviews with these three groups. The
interviews allow the NCFHE to get a more complete and rich perspective of the
experiences, forms and conditions for student engagement.
The data collection for this
project commended in April 2015 and will close in August 2015 with findings
expected to be published in 2016.