Study suggests 17-student limit for MCAST classes

Larger class sizes are leading to lower end-of-course scores obtained by MCAST students, according to a study published in science journal Xjenza.

An empirical study based on a dataset of 874 full-time students from 2018-2020 who followed a course within the Institute of Business, Management and Commerce at MCAST, the Maltese post-secondary college, found a “significant negative relationship” between larger class sizes and average end-of-course scores.

According to the study this “signals that students perform better when assigned in smaller classes vis-à-vis larger classes”.

The study’s results show that for every additional student in class, the average score of each student decreases by 0.27 marks. This means that having ten more students in each class decreases the class average score by 2.7 marks.

In the study, the end-of-course score was obtained by taking the average score of all the units attempted by the students through the course.

The study also considered other variables, including gender, nationality and attendance.  Although on average, female students obtain higher scores than males, the difference is not considered “statistically significant”. And being a native or foreign student was also found to have no significant impact on the average test score obtained during the course of studies.

But a statistically significant positive relationship was found between end-of-course scores and the students’ age, level of studies, attendance rate, family background and the distance from college.

The study shows that the greater the distance between the student’s locality and the college, the lower the final score. This is potentially due to students “exerting more effort prior to arriving at the college which creates fatigue and stress”.

The study, authored by MCAST lecturer Ayrton Zarb, includes a number of recommendations to address the situation. “Such findings encourage management teams in schools to design smaller classes to enhance students’ academic wellbeing and advance the economic and social development of society.”

Zarb recommends designing lower class sizes, ideally including less than 17 students as recommended in international literature. It also calls on the Ministry for Education to “recruit more teachers” and expand schooling facilities within MCAST so as to accommodate more classrooms.

In this way MCAST will contribute to higher employment prospects among students while enhancing the reputation of the college in producing better quality students. And by designing smaller classes, MCAST “can contribute towards decreasing the percentage of early school leavers in which Spain and Malta currently top the charts,” Zarb said.