The Emotional Side of Learning at UM

Ever wondered why the same lecture can leave some students feeling motivated, and others discouraged?

University life is not just about lectures, assignments, and exams: it is also emotional. Students can feel proud, hopeful, anxious, bored, confident, or overwhelmed, sometimes all within the same week. 

A new study by Dr Ing. Lawrence Farrugia Caruana, Dr Colin Borg (Academic Registrar) and Ms Leanne Torrilla, published in the International Journal of Emotional Education, explores exactly that question at the University of Malta.

A first of its kind, the study offers important insight into the local higher education context and encourages a more reflective conversation about engagement, wellbeing, and the overall student experience. Rather than simply measuring emotions, it looks at what may be driving them.

Drawing on responses from 380 undergraduate and postgraduate students, the research examines how students’ concerns about their studies shape how they feel in class. These concerns include whether lecture content feels relevant to future careers, whether expectations are clear, whether workload is manageable, and how easy it is to balance university with work and family life.

It also highlights that emotions in the lecture room are closely connected to how students interpret their academic experience. When lectures are perceived as meaningful, clear, and manageable, positive emotions are more likely to emerge. When coursework feels overwhelming, unclear, or disconnected from professional goals, negative emotions can follow.

By bringing together students’ emotional experiences and the concerns behind them, the research draws attention to the emotional side of learning, an aspect that is often overlooked in discussions about higher education. It suggests that teaching approaches, curriculum design, and institutional support structures influence not only what students learn, but also how they feel while learning.

A copy of the academic article, titled 'Classroom-related emotions through the lens of students’ academic concerns in higher education', was recently presented to Rector, Prof. Alfred J Vella. 

Read through the article online.