https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/1056 2026-07-21T06:19:43Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147795 Title: Phenomenography in a more-than-human world - clarity, coherence and critical renewal Authors: Cutajar, Maria Abstract: Phenomenography is an interpretative research approach for investigating the “qualitatively different ways in which people experience, perceive, and understand various aspects of, and phenomena in the world around them” (Marton, 1986, p.31). In its short history of a few decades phenomenography accumulated a substantial body of literature. A few stand out as seminal works developing phenomenography knowledge. Historically, Marton and Booth (1997) was an unmatched reference work that set out the philosophical and theoretical foundations of phenomenography, elevating it from a set of qualitative research methods to a research approach, while concurrently laying out the foundations of the variation theory of learning as a pedagogy using phenomenographic outcomes for scaffolding students’ thinking and learning. [Excerpt] Description: This extended book review does not include an abstract. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147778 Title: Finding care in networked learning : close encounter with a virtual assistant Authors: Cutajar, Maria Abstract: A theme that emerged from the selection of papers drawn from the 14th edition of the networked learning conference and included in the edited book in the Research in Networked Learning series was that of care. The editorial team noted that while care is an assumed aspect of networked learning, it has not received direct attention in the networked learning literature. What began as a curiosity about the presence of care in recent networked learning scholarship developed into a motivated inquiry to examine both the thematic representation of care and the possibilities researching with a virtual assistant. The guiding question was: What are the distinct ways in which care is thematically represented in recent networked learning literature? The question was answered with reference to the proceedings of the two most recent conferences on networked learning that generated a dataset of 92 papers. This corpus was chosen as representative of the field in the period following the Covid-19 pandemic and the concurrent rise of generative artificial intelligence (Gen-AI) and other AI-driven applications. These developments and related regulatory debates increased the attention to care and care ethics. The study confirms the limited direct focus on care in the recent networked learning publications. From the small subset of papers that explicitly address the theme, it is evident that care in technology mediated education settings is a troubling concern, spanning practices, approaches, values and beliefs and tensions in the intersectionalities cutting across them. Care demands genuine action towards the mattering of both human and non-human actors. The tensions surfaced suggest that care needs to be foregrounded more explicitly in networked learning to highlight conflicting perspectives, counter hollow political discourse, and emphasise care as integral to design, implementation and practice. As the postdigital entanglement with sophisticated AI-driven technologies deepens, appeals for care and care ethics are expected to intensify. This experimental study conducted with a chatbot illustrates such entanglement. The personal experience of doing this work further underscores the necessity of human oversight – not only to verify and validate the outputs of non-caring algorithmic systems but also to ensure that digital assistants remain accountable tools rather that arbiters of what the world is. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147442 Title: Aligning pharmacy education with evolving community practice : a comparative study of Europe and Mauritius Abstract: INTRODUCTION : Community pharmacy practice in Europe has evolved from a dispensing-focused model to a clinically oriented, patient-centred profession supported by structured competency frameworks, experiential education and integration within primary care systems. In Mauritius, community pharmacy remains largely product-focused, with limited formal recognition of pharmacist-led clinical services.; AIMS : This study aims to explore how differences in regulatory and organisational frameworks influence professional roles and examines the implications for pharmacy education and curriculum development. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/146321 Title: MUŻA di La Valletta : conversazione con Sandro Debono Authors: Rinaldi, Marco; Debono, Sandro Abstract: Ho trovato immediatamente una singolare coincidenza e affinità con il pensiero di Sandro Debono, ideatore del neonato MUŻA di La Valletta. Mi piace pensare metaforicamente le opere d’arte, in rapporto a un contesto che sia il pubblico, un museo, un luogo o altro ancora, come questo bellissimo incipit di un celebre libro: «Ci sono, nell’aria che respiriamo, i cosiddetti gas inerti. Portano curiosi nomi greci di derivazione dotta, che significano ‘il Nuovo’, ‘il Nascosto’, ‘l’Inoperoso’, ‘lo Straniero’. Sono, appunto, talmente inerti, talmente paghi della loro condizione, che non interferiscono in alcuna reazione chimica, non si combinano con alcun altro elemento». Questi gas sono chiamati anche gas nobili o gas rari. Il brano è tratto da Il sistema periodico di Primo Levi. Poi leggo un saggio di Debono dove scrive: «Una possibile via per la storia dell’arte potrebbe comunque essere una tavola degli elementi specificamente costruita e messa assieme dal contesto storico». [estratto] Description: The MUŻA concept was conceived and developed by Dr Sandro Debono between 2014 and 2024. These papers collectively stand for the concept’s main wireframe. Further related links within this collection provide additional documentation:; https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar//handle/123456789/20637 https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/108359 https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/141154 https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/107355 https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/141153 https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/141290 https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/107354 https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/123097 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z