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Micro-credentials, digital badges and industry recognised certificates have been attracting considerable attention in recent years and with the disruption of many jobs due to the [Coronavirus Disease 2019] pandemic, interest in continuing education has grown. We propose that micro-credentials should be standardised across the higher education sector, incentivised and devised, with student input. This would ensure recognition of the academic context in which they are embedded, and the target audience for whom they are designed. Micro-credentials should be relevant to all aspects of employability, including skills relevant to the academic context, and focus on creating a well-rounded graduate.

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National skill formation strategies based on competency standards are a recent feature of the Anglo-American economies. These strategies reflect a response to the widespread evidence of market failure in training in these economies. This article explores the similarities and important differences in standards frameworks between Australia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand.

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This report is one of a series that explore a number of the most important issues currently impacting the skills ecosystem in Canada. Whether it's new technology or global events driving the pace of change, Canadians are being asked to adapt in the workplace. Canada needs an essential skill framework that includes and looks beyond simple literacy and numeracy. It needs to include the 'soft skills' that industry leaders say are key to success and other essential skills that will help Canadians adapt, no matter what comes their way. Each needs to be measured and tracked to ensure Canadians remain globally competitive, and this paper argues that renewing Canada's Essential Skills framework is the place to start.

Key messages are: (1) it is estimated that half of working-aged adults are without the literacy skills required to perform well in the majority of jobs in the economy or to learn the skills required for new ones; (2) there is growing demand not only for technological skills, but also 'soft skills', such as resilience, emotional stability, flexibility and adaptability; and if skills and competencies are the new workplace 'currency', we need shared approaches to understanding how to define, evaluate and develop them; and (3) in spite of evidence of the positive impact and return on investment from literacy and essentials skills upgrading, the private sector is not stepping up; Canadians lag behind a number of countries in participation of many forms of adult education and literacy training; and a lack of employer investments in essential skills training is an important barrier for many adults with low literacy rates.

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This paper draws on ethnographic research to discuss the textual practices and social relations of language assessment. It examines the tensions that language educators and assessment practitioners encounter while making decisions about immigrant professionals' language competence. It also analyzes the role of other social actors in constituting conceptions of skill. The paper concludes by considering social practice theory as an alternative for exploring conceptions of competence.

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Since 1989, the training context in Australia has undergone significant change and reform. Many of these changes have been the result of specific interventionist policies on the part of the government. The aim has been to create a more flexible, productive and internationally competitive workforce. Along with a range of industrial reforms and training/assisted work schemes for the unemployed, the National Training Reform Agenda was introduced to upskill the Australian workforce to para-professional level. The Training Guarantee Levy, in operation from 1990 to 1992, required enterprises to contribute some of their income to employee training or a government fund for the development of training programs. This paper provides an overview and critique of the impact of these reforms on the training context and workforce development in the seven years since their inception. Show less

The rising prevalence of unemployment and high demands at workplaces require vocational-based education teachers to devise an appropriate practical skills procedure. Teaching through a well-designed instructional procedure that stresses learners' involvement in skill practice is an alternative to cultivating skills. This study proposes a scientific procedure for implementing a vocational-based education curriculum in colleges of education by identifying key activities that lecturers and industrial technicians considered to be important for teaching undergraduate technical skills in Nigeria. There is no accepted framework for teachers to teach skills and evaluate their instruction. Efforts have been made to create such a prospective framework, but none has been put into use (Bannister et al. 2018) because they are poorly understood (Sarker, Vincent, and Darzi 2005). The study utilized the Delphi research strategy to gain consensus about the processes and activities involved in teaching skills. Then, employed the Four D Model (4-D model), which included the steps of task identification, material arrangement, task execution, and task evaluation, was developed in the research. We test a model of factors predicting the appropriate teaching model. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the data. The result revealed the differential effect of the variables considered. However, the activities in each stage were utilized to design the scientific procedure for teaching technical skills in colleges of education. Because learning skills that are shielded in hands-on activities rely upon teaching procedures and skill practice opportunities, we concluded that effectively utilizing this scientific framework in colleges would improve students' practical skills acquisition and make them active in the learning process.

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The Core Skills for Work Developmental Framework (the CSfW) describes a set of non-technical skills, knowledge and understandings that underpin successful participation in work. Participation in work could be as an employee, as someone who is self-employed, or as a volunteer. This set of non-technical skills, often referred to as generic or employability skills, contribute to work performance in combination with technical or discipline specific skills and core language, literacy and numeracy (LLN) skills. The CSfW is not a set of standards, nor an assessment tool. It is a framework for conceptualising and articulating skills, knowledge and understandings that underpin work performance over time, and for guiding further development. It is not intended to replace approaches to developing these skills that are already in place, but to provide a common underpinning that is relevant across sectors. The CSfW, as described in this document, is intended to be reviewed after a number of years of use to check whether it would benefit from adjustment or further development.

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Purpose: Competent nursing care is essential to positive patient outcomes and quality patient care. Graduate nurses begin practice as novices in knowledge and experience often entering an environment where patients have several disease processes complicating their care. A strong foundation of educational competencies prior to entering practice is vital for the development and growth of graduate nurses into the role of [registered nurses] RN. The purpose of this study was to examine the use of the Nurse Competence Scale among nursing faculty.

Method: Nursing faculty were surveyed to determine which competencies were a priority in nursing practice. The Nurse Competence Scale was used to identify and categorize nurse competences. Brenner's novice to expert theoretical framework was used to apply findings to curricular programs. [Institutional Review Board] IRB approval was granted from each educational institution. [Statistical Package for the Social Sciences] SPSS statistical analysis was used to analyze survey results.

Results: Among the categories of the Nurse Competence Scale, nursing faculty identified Acting appropriately in life-threatening situations in the Managing Situations section as most important to practice. In the category of Helping, Planning patient care according to individual needs was identified as most important. Additionally the nursing faculty surveyed rated Contributing to further development of multidisciplinary clinical paths in the Therapeutic Interventions category as the lowest.

Conclusion: This study contributes to the discussion on nursing competence. Priorities for nursing faculty aligned with register nurses in practice. This study helps pair nursing education with practice in several ways including aligning current practice with education. Nurse Educators may use these findings to help join curricular outcomes with practice. Evaluating each item on the Nurse Competence Scale using the critical to practice scale provides insight to the necessary skills and knowledge needed to be competent in nursing. In addition the results may be compared to current practice guidelines to ensure best practice. Further research linking education and practice using nursing competence is needed.

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This report responds to OECD's questions by providing information on policies and activities in Manitoba. Components covered include: Demographic change; Internationalization; New ICT; Economic development and skills shortage/mismatch; Social developments; Description of institutional arrangements; Government and the role of government; Resources; Qualifications, qualification systems, qualifications framework; Credit accumulation and transfer; Assessment methods and procedures; Characteristics of stakeholders; Access; Participation; Incentives and disincentives; Economic benefits; Educational benefits; Social benefits; and Personal benefits.

The pan-Canadian overview is indexed at TD/TNC 92.610. Individual province/territory reports are indexed from TD/TNC 92.611 to TD/TNC 92.620. Show less

The field legality of expertise for job applicants in the field of vocational education is one of the strong considerations. This recognition can obtain through accredited professional institutions such as the Professional Certification Institute (PCI), which operates independently. The problem arises that PCI in the automotive sector consists of several providers (PCI-TO, PCI- INA, PCI- TOP, etc.), and different levels (the 1st Party PCI, 2nd Party PCI, and 3rd Party PCI) so the quality is not the same and requires the right solution. As a result, the automotive PCI requires a reference standard as a professional competency test model standard. This study aims to test and produce a professional competency test model in automotive clusters, namely engine tune-up injection system (ETU-IS), that meet the characteristics and can be applied. The development subjects consist of PCI-TOP informants, Indonesian Training Center in Bandung (BBLKI), and P4TK BOE/VEDC in Malang as automotive competency experts. Instrument validation consists of construction, validation and feasibility test of the instrument. Data analysis uses alpha coefficients and Inter-Rater statistics. The findings of the study are (1) the assessment of professional competency standard assessment on ETU-SI using a Competency-Based Assessment approach in the form of work instructions, including case studies, demonstrations, and interviews that meet the criteria; (2) the fulfillment of instruments related to competency dimensions in aspects of competency testing consisting of TS, TMS, CMS, EMS, and JRES; and (3) verification of the infrastructure and facilities as well as the competency test the ethical requirements such as impartiality and delivery of recommendations have appropriate decision. The new finding in this study is that appraiser's behavior is the key to success in the implementation of competency tests, so technical and methodological abilities require as professional competency examiners.

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