1) Evaluate the value and strength of a competency framework for identifying and measuring performance requirements for expeditionary surgeons; 2) Verify psychometric integrity of assessment ...instrumentation for measuring domain knowledge and skills; 3) Identify gaps in knowledge and skills capabilities using assessment strategies; 4) Examine shared variance between knowledge and skills outcomes, and the volume and diversity of routine surgical practice.
Expeditionary military surgeons provide care for patients with injuries that extend beyond the care requirements of their routine surgical practice. The readiness of these surgeons to independently provide accurate care in expeditionary contexts is important for casualty care in military and civilian situations. Identifying and closing performance gap areas are essential for assuring readiness.
We implemented evidence-based processes for identifying and measuring the essential performance competencies for expeditionary surgeons. All assessment instrumentation was rigorously examined for psychometric integrity. Performance outcomes were directly measured for expeditionary surgical knowledge and skills and gap areas were identified. Knowledge and skills assessment outcomes were compared, and also compared to the volume and diversity of routine surgical practice to determine shared variance.
Outcomes confirmed the integrity of assessment instrumentation and identified significant performance gaps for knowledge and skills in the domain.
Identification of domain competencies and performance benchmarks, combined with best-practices in assessment instrumentation, provided a rigorous and defensible framework for quantifying domain competencies. By identifying and implementing strategies for closing performance gap areas, we provide a positive process for assuring surgical competency and clinical readiness.
•We identify, analyze and propose managerial competencies for Industry 4.0.•We undertook a robust methodology involving systematic review and expert consultation in identifying 14 key competencies ...for Industry 4.0.•We propose conceptual framework for Industry 4.0 from human capital perspective.•We discussed the implications of these competencies for Industry, academia and policy makers.•We highlight the different technologies adopted in Industry 4.0.
Industry 4.0 (I4.0) is creating a paradigm shift within the current industrial context. The study presented in this paper involved identifying and proposing the managerial competencies needed for a successful I4.0 environment. I4.0 is a complex phenomenon that spans multiple technologies and requires an extensive set of capabilities that managers and organizations need to develop in their functional and business contexts. Using the published literature on I4.0, we uncovered the key themes following a qualitative coding method that identified the managerial competencies most relevant to I4.0. We thus identify a set of 14 managerial competencies as crucial to I4.0. We further contribute to the literature by making an assessment of the significance of all these competencies and proposing a competency model with behavioral descriptors for each. We expect the findings in this paper to benefit business organizations, policy makers, academics, and other stakeholders engaged in developing the capabilities required for an I4.0 ecosystem.
Aim
To identify the theories used to explain learning in simulation and to examine how these theories guided the assessment of learning outcomes related to core competencies in undergraduate nursing ...students.
Background
Nurse educators face the challenge of making explicit the outcomes of competency‐based education, especially when competencies are conceptualized as holistic and context dependent.
Design
Theoretical review.
Data Sources
Research papers (N = 182) published between 1999–2015 describing simulation in nursing education.
Review Methods
Two members of the research team extracted data from the papers, including theories used to explain how simulation could engender learning and tools used to assess simulation outcomes. Contingency tables were created to examine the associations between theories, outcomes and tools.
Results
Some papers (N = 79) did not provide an explicit theory. The 103 remaining papers identified one or more learning or teaching theories; the most frequent were the National League for Nursing/Jeffries Simulation Framework, Kolb's theory of experiential learning and Bandura's social cognitive theory and concept of self‐efficacy. Students’ perceptions of simulation, knowledge and self‐confidence were the most frequently assessed, mainly via scales designed for the study where they were used. Core competencies were mostly assessed with an observational approach.
Conclusion
This review highlighted the fact that few studies examined the use of simulation in nursing education through learning theories and via assessment of core competencies. It also identified observational tools used to assess competencies in action, as holistic and context‐dependent constructs.
This book presents a structured yet flexible methodology for developing intercultural competence in a variety of contexts, both formal and informal. Piloted around the world by UNESCO, this ...methodology has proven to be effective in a range of different contexts and focused on a variety of different issues. It, therefore can be considered an important resource for anyone concerned with effectively managing the growing cultural diversity within our societies to ensure inclusive and sustainable development. Intercultural competence refers to the skills, attitudes, and behaviours needed to improve interactions across difference, whether within a society (differences due to age, gender, religion, socio-economic status, political affiliation, ethnicity, and so on) or across borders. The book serves as a tool to develop those competences, presenting an innovative adaptation of what could be considered an ancient tradition of storytelling found in many cultures. Through engaging in the methodology, participants develop key elements of intercultural competence, including greater self-awareness, openness, respect, reflexivity, empathy, increased awareness of others, and in the end, greater cultural humility. This book will be of great interest to intercultural trainers, policy makers, development practitioners, educators, community organizers, civil society leaders, university lecturers and students – all who are interested in developing intercultural competence as a means to understand and appreciate difference, develop relationships with those across difference, engage in intercultural dialogue, and bridge societal divides. The Open Access version of this book, available at https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780429244612, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.
The Nurse Professional Competence (NPC) Scale with 88-items has been used to measure self-reported competence among nursing students and registered nurses in many national and international nursing ...research projects. However, a shorter version of the scale with maintained quality has been requested to further enhance its usability.
To develop and evaluate the construct validity and internal consistency of a shorter version of the NPC Scale.
A developmental and methodological design.
The study was based on a sample of 1810 nursing students at the point of graduation from 12 universities in Sweden.
The number of items in the original NPC Scale was reduced using several established research steps and then evaluated for data quality and construct validity using principal component analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Reliability was measured as internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha.
The extensive process of reducing the number of items resulted in a version with 35 items. Principal component analysis resulted in six factors explaining 53.6% of the variance: “Nursing Care”, “Value-based Nursing Care”, “Medical and Technical Care”, “Care Pedagogics”, “Documentation and Administration of Nursing Care”, and “Development, Leadership, and Organization of Nursing Care”. All factors showed Cronbach's alpha values of >0.70. The confirmative factor analysis goodness-of-fit indexes were for root mean square error of approximation 0.05 and for comparative fit index 0.89.
The NPC Scale Short Form (NPC Scale-SF) 35-items revealed promising results with a six-factor structure explaining 53.6% of the total variance. This 35-item scale can be an asset when used alone and together with other instruments it can provide the possibility of more complex analyses of self-reported competence among nursing students and registered nurses.
Background: Competency-based education (CBE) has emerged in the health professions to address criticisms of contemporary approaches to training. However, the literature has no clear, widely accepted ...definition of CBE that furthers innovation, debate, and scholarship in this area.
Aim: To systematically review CBE-related literature in order to identify key terms and constructs to inform the development of a useful working definition of CBE for medical education.
Methods: We searched electronic databases and supplemented searches by using authors' files, checking reference lists, contacting relevant organizations and conducting Internet searches. Screening was carried out by duplicate assessment, and disagreements were resolved by consensus. We included any English- or French-language sources that defined competency-based education. Data were analyzed qualitatively and summarized descriptively.
Results: We identified 15,956 records for initial relevancy screening by title and abstract. The full text of 1,826 records was then retrieved and assessed further for relevance. A total of 173 records were analyzed. We identified 4 major themes (organizing framework, rationale, contrast with time, and implementing CBE) and 6 sub-themes (outcomes defined, curriculum of competencies, demonstrable, assessment, learner-centred and societal needs). From these themes, a new definition of CBE was synthesized.
Conclusion: This is the first comprehensive systematic review of the medical education literature related to CBE definitions. The themes and definition identified should be considered by educators to advance the field.
This Open Access book examines the link between intercultural competence (IC) and pragmatics by asking frontline modern foreign language teachers in higher education teaching a variety of languages ...(e.g., Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Swedish) how they conceptualise intercultural competence and which skills, competences and knowledge they consider important in their teaching contexts. The data were collected with an online survey that focused on the relationship between intercultural competence and pragmatics. While international organizations such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) or the Council of Europe (CoE) agree that intercultural competence should play an important role in education, it is not always clear what IC may encompass in specific teaching contexts and subject areas. Examining how modern foreign language teachers in higher education conceptualise intercultural competence and the value they attach as well as the attention they give to various areas of pragmatics in their teaching is highly important, since those language professionals may be the final teachers learners encounter during their formal foreign language education. They are therefore in a unique position to shape modern foreign language learners’ intercultural and pragmatic awareness, competence and skills. This book will be of interest to language professionals, modern foreign language teachers and teacher trainers, as well as students and scholars of applied linguistics, pragmatics, and language education.
Aim
The aim of this study was to report a systematic and psychometric review.
Background
The Nurse Competence Scale is currently the most widely used generic instrument to measure Registered Nurses’ ...competence in different phases of their careers. Based on a decade of research, this review provides a summary of the existing evidence.
Design
A systematic literature review of research evidence and psychometric properties.
Data sources
Nine databases from 2004 ‐ October 2015.
Review methods
We retrieved scientific publications in English and Finnish. Two researchers performed data selection and appraised the methodological quality using the COnsensus‐based Standards for the selection of health status Measurement INstruments checklist.
Results
A total of 30 studies reported in 43 publications were included. These consisted of over 11,000 competence assessments. Twenty studies were from Europe and 10 from outside Europe. In addition to experienced nurses, the Nurse Competence Scale has been used for the competence assessment of newly graduated nurses and nursing students, mainly in hospital settings. Length of work experience, age, higher education, permanent employment and participation in educational programmes correlated positively with competence. Variables including empowerment, commitment, practice environment, quality of care and critical thinking were also associated with higher competence. The Nurse Competence Scale has demonstrated good content validity and appropriate internal consistency.
Conclusion
The value of Nurse Competence Scale has been confirmed in determining relationships between background variables and competence. The instrument has been widely used with experienced and newly graduated nurses and their managers. Cross‐cultural validation must be continued using rigorous methods.
Curricula designed in the context of the European Higher Education Area need to be based on both domain-specific and professional competencies. Whereas universities have had extensive experience in ...developing students' domain-specific competencies, fostering professional competencies poses a new challenge we need to face. This paper presents a model to globally develop professional competencies in a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) degree program, and assesses the results of its implementation after 4 years. The model is based on the use of competency maps, in which each competency is defined in terms of competency units. Each competency unit is described by a set of expected learning outcomes at three domain levels. This model allows careful analysis, revision, and iteration for an effective integration of professional competencies in domain-specific subjects. A global competency map is also designed, including all the professional competency learning outcomes to be achieved throughout the degree. This map becomes a useful tool for curriculum designers and coordinators. The results were obtained from four sources: (1) students' grades (classes graduated from 2013 to 2016, the first 4 years of the new Bachelor's Degree in Informatics Engineering at the Barcelona School of Informatics); (2) students' surveys (answered by students when they finished the degree); (3) the government employment survey, where former students evaluate their satisfaction of the received training in the light of their work experience; and (4) the Everis Foundation University-Enterprise Ranking, answered by over 2000 employers evaluating their satisfaction regarding their employees' university training, where the Barcelona School of Informatics scores first in the national ranking. The results show that competency maps are a good tool for developing professional competencies in a STEM degree.
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