The Department of Environmental Science (DoES) was established with the inception of the Junior College of the University of Malta in October 1995. It initially formed a semi-independent part of the Department of Biology but became fully independent by October 1996.
The DoES is presently staffed by four full-time
lecturers who service approximately 900 students. The principal course
offered by DoES leads students to the Intermediate Level examination in
Environmental Science (unit code IM11) offered by the University of Malta.
Who can take this course ?
Course IM11 is open to all students who are in
possession of the minimal qualifications required by the Junior College
Who usually takes this course ?
In practice, the bulk of students registering
for IM11 are majors in arts, languages or humanities who are looking to
add some science (most usually, quite unwillingly) to their list of qualifications.
The University of Malta requires that students registering for degree courses
should hold such qualifications.
What if I'm not particularly enamoured of science
?
No matter. Most people who have taken this
course in the past weren't particularly keen on science either. Many
applicants tend to conjure up visions of physics or mathematics from their
secondary school days. Most of the material that shall be covered
is probably new to most students. If you're interested in earthquakes,
plate tectonics, pollution, weather , climate and genetics, amongst many
other topics, then this course should appeal to you.
But do I have to do any of that stuff again ?
Some, yes, but by no means all. The programme
of work being offered to students tends to focus on everyday problems and
situations that most people would probably be familiar with anyway.
However, an ability to appreciate such situations necessitates a solid
grounding in basic science. Such a foundation is supplied during
the first year of the course. The second year of the course is taken
up with using such basic principles as tools to interpret the dynamics
of the natural environment.
So it should be interesting.....
Interesting, yes. But not by any means
trivial.
What background knowledge do the lecturers assume
?
Well, if we wanted to we could assume that you
have an elementary knowledge of integrated science and physics. In
practice, we don't. We start from absolute scratch and assume zero
scientific knowledge. But not zero intelligence.... So
you'll be expected to do your bit too.
Would you be trying to ram all that conservation
and animal rights stuff down our throats ?
No, of course not. This is a course in
environmental science not in environmentalism. You shall,
first and foremost, follow a course in science. The rise of environmentalism
is obviously discussed in the course, as is also conservation biology.
But students are generally left to make up their own minds about any social
attitudes arising from their studies.
OK, interesting stuff. But at the end of
the day I'll have to sit for an exam....
True. The current MATSEC paper consists
of a single three-hour long session in which students are required to answer
ten (relatively) short questions and two essay-type questions.
What sort of grades did previous students obtain
? Do I stand any chance of making it ?
You certainly do. In our first (and, up
to now, only) session, 97% of our students were awarded a Pass. No
mean statistic considering that 254 of our students took the examination.
So it's not simply a bias caused by a small sample size.
What about instruction ? Who lectures on
the course ?
No problem with that. The DoES presently
comprises four full-time lecturers, all of whom possess high-level qualifications
(i.e. postgrad degrees or diplomas) in this field. Just as importantly,
all four are qualified teachers and also hold additional degrees or certificates
in education. We are well aware of the difficulties that students
may encounter and are therefore available for individual tutorials at any
time. All you have to do is to ask for an appointment.
Perhaps. But you're saying all this.
What was the student response to this course ? Has it been a popular
course ?
Rather. Look at these simple statistics:
1995: 300 students; 1996: 700 students; 1997: 900 students.
I'm tempted....
Pop into our office at any time (Room 154, Junior
College) and whoever may be there would be happy to furnish you with more
information.