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The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine if training through debates can be used as a rationale to enhance learning skills. In particular, it investigates whether debating can be useful in developing both, key graduate capabilities skills (critical thinking and communication skills) and the process to facilitate learning (motivation, intellectual challenges and learning in depth). The research validates some of the previous findings and argues that integration of debates into a curriculum enhances learning.

Third‐year undergraduate students participated in this exercise. The University invited the United Nations Association to administer their model conference that involved debating. A survey questionnaire was distributed to the students. Given that the sample was small, the data were analysed using cross tabulations.

The research found that learning through debates for developing both, key graduate capabilities skills (critical thinking and communication skills) and the process to facilitate learning (motivation, intellectual challenges and learning in depth) were statistically significant. Not all students reflect a positive attitude to debating.

Knowledge can be conceived as being based on inter‐subjective reasoning processes that students are likely to adopt. This is dependent on how students want to learn, as they have different learning approaches, expectations, motivations, and meta‐cognition.

The implications of these findings are essential for training, learning, and open opportunities for further research.

Findings from this study demonstrate quite clearly that debating is statistically significant on several learning outcomes that are desirable for graduate capabilities and learning processes.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the development of students’ commercial awareness within the curriculum of professional accredited courses. The targeted area of study is the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) accredited property courses. This paper also discusses how the curriculum of RICS-accredited courses can be designed to successfully incorporate commercial awareness within them and suitable delivery methods for developing this within the curriculum. Commercial awareness is one of the most important employability skills, however, employers have expressed dissatisfaction with graduates’ performance in this area.

This paper presents the research findings of two sets of questionnaire surveys, as well as interviews and e-mail discussions with the course directors and current students of the RICS-accredited property courses in the UK. Descriptive analysis was used to analyse the questionnaire data. Fisher’s exact test was used to identify the statistical significance between academics’ and students’ views on the development of students’ commercial awareness as part of the RICS-accredited property courses’ curriculum. Content analysis was used to analyse the texts in the questionnaire survey, interviews and e-mail discussions.

Academics and students involved with the UK RICS-accredited property courses agreed that commercial awareness is an important employability skill in the property sector and they mostly agreed on the definitions of commercial awareness, except in their “understanding of the wider business environment”. They also agreed that commercial awareness has three components: strategic, financial and process. Academics and students agreed that the commercial awareness components and process sub-components are largely incorporated into the curriculum of RICS-accredited property courses but they have divergent opinions on the level of incorporation of strategic and financial sub-components. A suitable way to deliver commercial awareness in RICS-accredited property courses is to incorporate it into the overall curriculum, ensuring that the components of commercial awareness are closely linked to the RICS APC and match relevant competency levels. They also commented that including practical experience in the curriculum is the most useful way to develop a student’s commercial awareness.

This paper is the first to discuss the development of commercial awareness in professional accredited courses such as RICS-accredited property courses and also identifies suitable methods to enhance students’ commercial awareness as part of the curriculum. The research findings can also be applied to other professional accredited courses that have a strong vocational focus, such as nursing, engineering and accountancy. These courses are usually accredited by relevant professional organisations and students studying these courses usually plan to embark on a career in a relevant profession. The design of the course curriculum has a strong focus on equipping students with the essential competencies to develop their careers within the relevant field.

The purpose of this study is to examine the differences in sustainability knowledge, behaviors and attitudes among college students and to estimate the influence of knowledge of sustainability on students’ sustainable behaviors.

A cross-sectional online survey was used to collect quantitative data on sustainability knowledge, behaviors and attitudes among 291 undergraduate college students at a mid-size Midwestern US university. This study used a structural equation model to answer the research questions.

In all, 291 students completed a sustainability attitudes and behaviors survey. The results of this study show sustainability knowledge is poor (average score 5.3/10). Statistical modeling indicates positive influence of economic attitudes on sustainable behaviors; however, ecology and social attitudes were not associated with sustainable behaviors. Furthermore, those with greater sustainable knowledge engaged in fewer sustainable behaviors.

Sustainability and/or wellness initiatives can provide education targeting actionable behaviors college students can make to reduce their carbon footprint, including washing clothes in cold water, limiting red meat consumption, recycling, reducing food waste and taking shorter showers. Sustainability initiatives such as organizing a recycling competition and coordinating volunteers for local clean-up days and events such as Earth Day celebrations offer opportunities for collaboration between campus departments and engagement and socialization among students, staff and faculty. The inclusion of sustainability in college curricula may increase students’ knowledge, develop critical thinking skills and self-efficacy related to sustainability and promote climate action.

First, this study adds to the literature in terms of the use of structural equation modeling. Second, this study’s results indicate a dissociation between positive sustainable attitudes as they relate to sustainable behaviors. Why is it that students think the environment is important yet do not place importance on sustainable behaviors? These issues are highly relevant and present opportunities for future research and interventions aimed at increasing sustainable behaviors.

The study investigates the comparative efficacy of the culturo-techno-contextual approach (CTCA) and the lecture method in students’ understanding of the human resource management (HRM) curriculum in Ghana.

A quasi-experimental design is employed to gather data from 245 4th-year undergraduate students studying HRM at a Ghanaian public university. The experimental group with a population of 115 students was taught with CTCA, whilst the control group with a population of 130 students was taught using the lecture method. The data was collected using the HRM achievement test (HRMAT). The data were analysed using the descriptive analysis of covariance technique with pre-test scores added as a covariate.

The findings reveal that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group in the study of HRM, affirming the effectiveness of the CTCA over the lecture method.

This study is novel because it is the first paper to apply the CTCA to the study of HRM in the Ghanaian higher education space. It will, therefore, benefit HRM education in the country when educational stakeholders adopt a sequential and methodical approach to teaching and learning HRM using the CTCA.

The study aims to refine the local university’s supply chain management curriculum to meet regional industry demands, thus boosting the local economy.

Mixed-methods action research combined with neural network modeling was employed to align educational offerings with the needs of the local supply chain management industry.

The research indicates that curriculum revisions, informed by industry leaders and modeled through neural networks, can significantly improve the relevance of graduates' skills to the SCM sector.

The study is specific to one region and industry, suggesting a need for broader application to verify the findings.

Adopting the recommended curricular changes can yield a workforce better prepared for the SCM industry, enhancing local business performance and economic health.

The study supports a role for higher education in promoting economic vitality and social welfare through targeted, responsive curriculum development.

This study introduces an innovative approach, integrating neural network analysis with action research, to guide curriculum development in higher education based on industry requirements.

This study investigated the effect of cooperative learning on the performance of female college students enrolled in “writing and research” courses at Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University (Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia). Cooperative learning (CL) activities were employed in place of traditional lectures and group activities. Two populations were compared, one with the CL methodology and one with traditional methodology. The results were assessed by final exam scores, final course grades, the number of students passing, pre and post-tests and a self-report survey. We found that this sample of Arab college students performed at a higher level in the CL classes than in the traditional classes. Findings suggest that CL is an effective method for teaching Arab college students.

The study aimed to assess the digital literacy skills of the students of Sacred Heart College, Chalakudy, to know whether they possess the digital literacy skills to perform well in the digital environment. The study also analyzed how digital literacy skills were affected by various factors.

The study used stratified random sampling technique, and data were collected through a self-assessment survey using an online questionnaire designed based on DigComp 2.1: The Digital Competence Framework by the European Commission.

The results indicated that the college students needed training on digital literacy skills, as the majority students had only moderate to low digital literacy skills. It was proven that exposure to technology and the Internet will not necessarily yield skills to perform well in the digital environment. Also, digital literacy skills were not affected by various factors like age, level of study, etc.

The study helped to identify the digital literacy deficiencies in the students of Sacred Heart College, and it can serve as a valuable model for conducting similar investigations in diverse educational institutions. Conducting such studies offers institutions valuable insights, enabling them to create and implement personalized digital literacy training programs that can enhance students' abilities to navigate the digital landscape with proficiency and effectiveness. The study results can be insightful for educators, policymakers and the Kerala Government to reassess the current approaches and design an effective curriculum for integrating technology in education.

Although there are several studies that evaluated college students’ digital literacy in India and other countries, there are very few studies in the context of Kerala. Therefore, this study is distinctive and will serve as an example for all such studies in the future.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate self-competence—the ability to act responsibly on one's own—and likely nonlinear wage returns across different levels of self-competence as part of training curricula.

The authors identify the teaching of self-competence at the occupational level by applying machine-learning methods to the texts of occupational training curricula. Defining three levels of self-competence (high, medium, and low) and using individual labor market data, the authors examine nonlinearities in wage returns to different levels of self-competence.

The authors find nonlinear returns to teaching self-competence: a medium level of self-competence taught in an occupation has the largest wage returns compared to low or high levels. However, in occupations with a high cognitive requirement profile, a high level of self-competence generates positive wage returns.

This paper first adds to research on the importance of teaching noncognitive skills for economic outcomes, which recently—in addition to personality traits research—has primarily focused on social skills by introducing self-competence as another largely unexplored but important noncognitive skill. Second, the paper studies not only average but also nonlinear wage returns, showing that the right level of self-competence is crucial, i.e. neither teaching too little nor too much self-competence provides favorable returns because of trade-offs with other skills (e.g. technical or professional skills). Third, the paper also examines complementarities between cognitive skills and noncognitive skills, again pointing toward nonlinear returns, i.e. only in occupations with a high cognitive requirement profile, high levels of self-competence generate positive wage returns.

Little is known about how assistive technology standards have been implemented in preservice teacher preparation. This chapter provides a review of the literature concerning the importance of evidence-based practice and the research base supporting assistive technology in order to set the context for reporting the results of a comprehensive national study of the status of assistive technology state standards for teachers in all of the 50 states (plus Washington, DC). This chapter includes the findings of the study, the research that the study was based upon, and a review of relevant research in the fields of assistive technology, educational technology, and evidence-based practice. Only six states reported having AT standards and six states reported having AT competencies. Three states reported having both standards and competencies, yielding nine unique states (out of 51) with AT standards and/or AT competencies. Regression analyses to determine the relationship between the study variables and national reading and math performance of students with disabilities were inconclusive. The implications of the study findings and recommendations for future research are presented.