Soft skills are a collection of people management skills, important to many professions and job positions, including academic librarianship. Yet the concept of soft skills lacks definition, scope, instrumentation, and systematic education and training. This literature review explores the definition of "soft skills"; contrasts skills with…

Most students have gaps in their background knowledge and basic skills-gaps that can stand in the way of learning new concepts. For example, a student may be excited about studying probability--until he realizes that today's lesson on probability will require him to use fractions. As his brain searches frantically for his dim recollection of the…

The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to identify the experiences that support the success of Latina/o community college students who began in basic skills courses at two or more levels below college-level and went on to complete college-level English and math. Fifteen Latina/o community college students attending a large…

"Embodied trainings" allowing children to move their whole body in space have recently been shown to foster the acquisition of basic numerical competencies (e.g. magnitude understanding, addition performance). Following a brief summary of recent embodied training studies, we integrate the different results into a unified model framework…

This article outlines four different views of ELA's economic mission. It also presents a classroom activity in which students (a) evaluate the four views and (b) advocate for their own ideas about ELA and economics.

Proficiency in fundamental motor skills (FMS) is important for both the health and the overall growth and development of young children. To identify factors that facilitate the development of FMS, the study provided preliminary data on the effect of videomodeling (VM) on the acquisition of FMS by typically developing young children. Participants…

Disc golf is a lifetime activity that can be enjoyed by students of varying skill levels and abilities. Disc golf follows the principles of ball golf but is generally easier for students to play and enjoy success. The object of disc golf is similar to ball golf and involves throwing a disc from the teeing area to the target in as few throws as…

This article describes how public, nonprofit, and private partners in Detroit are working to improve and expand adult foundational skills development opportunities and connect them to workforce training as the city begins to make an economic comeback. It outlines the adult foundational skills challenge in Detroit, chronicles the work of a strategy…

The ageing labour force, and concerns with productivity and social inclusion have driven foundation skills policy development in Australia and internationally (SCOTESE 2012; Newton 2016). However, little existing literature focusses on the relationships between foundation skills, community education providers and regional location. Thus, this…

The introduction of strict social distancing measures and mandated lockdowns necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic created new and unprecedented challenges for the vocational education and training (VET) sector. In response, approximately three-quarters (75.2%) of registered training organisations (RTOs) surveyed in early 2021 moved training to…

Three different course models devoted to preparing science and engineering students for successful research endeavors were offered at three research institutions. Goals of this work include (a) involving students early in their academic career so they can gain the most out of subsequent research experiences and (b) providing basic skills to make…

In designing policies and programmes targeting populations with poor literacy skills, it is important to take into account differences in the level of these skills within and among these populations. For example, native speakers of the mainstream language may require different language-development training than non-native speakers; and most adults…

Vertical scales are widely used in educational assessment as a basis for considering grade-to-grade changes in student performance. Typically, the underlying construct is assumed to be essentially unidimensional; however, if there is a change in the measured construct across grades, this assumption may be untenable. Developing a multidimensional…

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) works in more than 50 developing countries to ensure that children have access to a quality education and the skills needed to be productive members of society. USAID invests in global education because they know that the positive effects of education are far-reaching - that it serves…

Pearson sought to explore whether the use of MyLab Foundational Skills, a mastery and competency-based online platform designed to assess and remediate a selection of skills to prepare students for college and careers, is related to students' course grades. This Research Report presents findings from two research studies: one comparative study…