https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/18581 Tue, 07 Jul 2026 23:24:04 GMT 2026-07-07T23:24:04Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147679 Title: Stimulating change at the human–computer interface : cultivating cognitive and critical thinking through immersive virtual reality as an innovative pedagogy in STEM education Authors: Camilleri, Patrick; Frendo, Clarisse Schembri Abstract: Crafting STEM teaching into meaningful experiences can transform facts into knowledge. Immersive virtual reality (IVR) represents a significant pedagogical disruption, offering novel modalities of engagement with science content, extending beyond passive reception towards enhanced critical inquiry, reflective evaluation, and the cultivation of higher-order thinking skills. This study investigated how 20 Maltese students (mean age 12) adjusted their perceptions and acceptance of IVR when encountering it for the first time in formal STEM education. A quasi-experimental design was employed over six weeks, with data collected through pre- and post-intervention questionnaires. The analytical framework combined the Technological Frames of Reference (TFR) and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to capture perceptual snapshots and attitudinal shifts. While IVR initially stimulated enthusiasm, sustained exposure prompted critical reflections on its potential and limitations, particularly in relation to subject relevance, peer communication, and ease of use. Such deliberations are themselves suggestive indicators of reflective engagement. Rather than being demonstrated evidence of cognitive skill development, they are consistent with the early exercise of analytical and evaluative reasoning. These insights underscore the recursive dialog between technology-in-use and user contextualization, revealing how perceptions mature through experience. By examining how young learners engage with emergent technologies, this research highlights education’s role in cultivating adaptability, reflective judgment, and critical thinking capacities—central to innovative pedagogy and support for uncertain futures. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147679 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/146484 Title: Transformation through decentralisation : learning, democracy and technological sovereignty Abstract: Taking inspiration from the Barcelona smart city, European Commission policy and prominent European universities and organisations, this paper argues that pedagogical strategies and technological infrastructure for citizen lifelong learning should be incorporated within a paradigm of the digitally sovereign individual, city and nation state. In support of the proposed European Union Single Market fifth freedom of knowledge, the author suggests that lifelong and lifewide learning are a crucial part of digital epistemic human rights for access to and interactions with digital knowledge as a digital public good that sustains democratic society. The right of the citizen to learn, share and contribute to information and knowledge is considered in relation to individual agency, autonomy and personal data sovereignty, within the idea of an authentic learning city. In this context there is a pressing need to adopt self-hosted, open source technical solutions for provision of information management and social channels that are supported by civically owned, decentralised and federated knowledge resources, open and freely accessible to all. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/146484 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/146482 Title: Hacker–maker urban spaces as infrastructures of incidental civic learning Authors: Lister, Pen Abstract: This conceptual paper explores existing debates related to urban local communities who hack the city to make their own spaces for meeting, making and learning. Referring to these as ‘hacker-maker’ spaces acknowledges the alternative cultural activist roots of hacking and making, shifting focus from technological innovation to the social activism of occupying unused urban spaces for development of mutually supportive networks and shared resources. This paper argues that these spaces, activities and networks lead to emergent forms of incidental civic cultural learning as an authentic part of lifelong learning in smart learning cities. The smart citizen is therefore considered in terms of a culture of mutual self-realisation and right to the city, within citizen-led efficient, effective, collaborative smart learning environments. Areas of debate lead to reflections on the pedagogical foundations of civic learning for smart citizen self-realisation, with combinations of situated, dialogic and social activist pedagogies in an action-research orientated, learner-experience based context. Envisaged as a ‘pedagogy for urban space incidental civic learning’, this flexible framework would seek to support incidental civic cultural learning in these hacker-maker spaces for building value and mutual trust within urban communities. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/146482 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145875 Title: Designing player experience goals to support learners in a digital game about mathematics anxiety Authors: Matić, Ljerka Jukić; Palha, Sonia; Huhtasalo, Jenni; Busuttil, Leonard; Calleja, James; Leino, Mirka; Gomes, Isabel Abstract: Mathematics Anxiety (MA) is a multifaceted academic anxiety that disrupts learning and performance, often leading to lifelong avoidance of mathematical contexts. This paper details the early preparatory phase of the MathifyMe project, an Erasmus+ initiative aimed at developing a digital learning game for students aged 8–15. Adopting a playcentric design and design-based research (DBR) approach, the authors establish design principles focused on emotional self-regulation, autonomy, and collaborative play. By integrating Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and positive psychology, the game aims to create a low-stress, failure-tolerant environment that enhances self-efficacy and fosters a growth mindset through multisensory tools and storytelling. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145875 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z