The Development of Inter-Disciplinary Belief Systems: The Effect of Academic Disciplines

Purpose: Higher education curriculum development in the construction industry has historically received scant academic attention and often, courses/programmes are largely developed using the tacit knowledge of individual tutors. This research investigates the core interpersonal and technical skills and competencies required of a contemporary construction management graduate. Specifically, the work culminates in the development of a proof-of-concept model that could be incorporated into higher education curriculum development. Methodology: A mixed philosophical stance is implemented using both postpositivism and interpretivism together with inductive and abductive reasoning to examine built environment academics’ perceptions of the phenomena under investigation. Descriptive and inferential statistics (i.e., weighted average, relative importance index, one sample t test, Chi-square test and Kruskal-Wallis test) are utilised to formulate a foundational set of core interpersonal skills for construction management curricula. Such knowledge provides a strong foundation for building an optimised course curriculum. Findings: Research findings demonstrate that, whilst technical skills are relatively important for the construction manager’s role, they significantly pale in comparison to interpersonal skills. Furthermore, an aggregate ranking of skills and competencies suggests that a substantial number of interpersonal skills and competencies out-rank numerous technical skills and competencies. Surprisingly, digital-esque themes rank towards the bottom of the table, with ‘traditional’ skills competencies (i.e., workflow, budgeting and costing) ranking higher. Originality: This research constitutes the first attempt to: understand the core interpersonal and technical skills and competencies required of a contemporary construction manager; and premised upon this, generate a construction management education curriculum foundation model. Nascent findings pinpoint the core interpersonal skills and competencies that serve as the curriculum’s foundation and expose the inadequacies of digital technical skills in core construction management teaching.

Introduction by the column editors: Social skills training as a mode of treatment and rehabilitation of persons who have mental disabilities has been well documented for its efficacy in controlled clinical trials in the United States and in other countries (1). However, only a few attempts have been made to apply social skills training in the context of vocational rehabilitation (2–4). In a recent column, Wallace and colleagues (5) focused on one such effort—a module on workplace fundamentals— and presented data in support of the module’s utility in facilitating the job adjustment of persons who have serious mental illness (5). In this month’s column, Tsang describes a similar program in Hong Kong that is based on the principles of social skills training and that focuses on job search and job tenure for persons with schizophrenia who have a high level of functioning. This program, derived from the “job club” approach of Jacobs and colleagues

Development of valid tasks that tap into implicit knowledge is a prerequisite for understanding the interface between explicit and implicit grammatical knowledge in second language (L2) acquisition. However, the extent to which elicited imitation tasks (EITs) draw on implicit or/and explicit knowledge has been a subject of controversy, due in part to the limitations of behavioral methods. To overcome this drawback, in this study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the neural circuits underlying explicit and implicit knowledge (i.e., declarative and procedural memory) during the listening and speaking phases of an EIT performed by advanced L2 speakers of Japanese living in Japan. While the behavioral data suggest that the EIT primarily draws on automatized (speeded-up) explicit knowledge, the neuroimaging data revealed learners’ dynamic use of explicit and implicit knowledge during its comprehension and production phases. Higher explicit knowledge scores (derived from a metalinguistic knowledge task) were associated with greater declarative memory (left hippocampus) activation during the speaking EIT phase, indicating a prominent role of explicit knowledge in production. During the listening phase, however, higher explicit knowledge scores predicted lower activation in declarative memory (left hippocampus) and higher activation in procedural memory (left inferior frontal gyrus), suggesting that explicit knowledge plays both inhibitory and facilitative role in the use of implicit knowledge for comprehension. Taken together, these findings suggest that advanced L2 speakers utilize their explicit and implicit knowledge efficiently and dynamically—characterized as a hallmark of automaticity—for comprehension and production during the EIT.

To prepare for the transition to management, technical personnel must (1) develop their administrative, communication, and interpersonal skills; (2) learn to delegate, and (3) learn management principles and concepts. This last activity can be accomplished through in-house management training programs, on-the-job training, or formal management degree programs. These activities will help increase the chances for success among technical personnel making the transition into management in a clinical or industrial setting.

Considering that previous research had predominantly focused on explicit FFI as the preferred method to enhance explicit and implicit knowledge, This study examined the impact of implicit form-focused instruction (FFI) on learners’ explicit and implicit knowledge. This quasi-experimental study was conducted at a selected international school in Malaysia, with 30 participants divided into two intact groups: an experimental group and a control group, each comprising 15 participants. The explicit and implicit knowledge of learners were assessed utilizing four tests: Elicited Oral Imitation Test (EOIT), Timed Grammatical Judgment Test (TGJT), Untimed Grammatical Judgment Test (UGJT), and Metalinguistic Knowledge Test (MKT). ANCOVA and Scheffe’s tests were used to analyse the obtained data. The findings demonstrated that implicit FFI, like applying input enhancement techniques and recasting, significantly affected learners’ implicit and explicit knowledge. This finding suggests that learners do not need to improve explicit knowledge to enhance their implicit knowledge. Therefore, the significant role of implicit FFI in second language acquisition (SLA) should not be underestimated. Thus, teachers could consider the effectiveness of implicit FFI when crafting impactful lessons that consider implicit and explicit knowledge. Also, this study has provided reliable support indicating that L2 learners would substantially benefit from pedagogical activities, such as input enhancement and recasting.

This study seeks to explain the different influences of Form-Focus Instruction (FFI) on Explicit and Implicit knowledge based on many previous studies. Furthermore, this study aid three main research problems to be solved; (1) How does Form-Focus Instruction influence on Implicit knowledge?, (2) How does Form-Focus Instruction differently influence on Explicit knowledge?, and (3) In what ways can Form-Focus Instruction be implemented in acquisition of implicit and explicit knowledge? Those research problems are examined by reviewing several articles which have studied the effects of Form-Focus Instruction on explicit and implicit knowledge. The conclusion of this study suggests that FFI provides learners metacognitive knowledge, explicit and implicit knowledge, in second language acquisition, with the several implementations which are ‘focus on form’, ‘focus on forms’, and corrective feedback. Furthermore this current study suggests to the second language teacher that the FFI is the best grammatical instruction to the learners but gives some ideas how this instruction might help in language acquisition.

There are two basic types of human knowledge: explicit and tacit knowledge. Explicit knowledge is codified and consists of facts, rules and procedures and its owners are aware of it. Tacit knowledge helps its possessors to use their explicit knowledge. Personal experience, perceptions, insights, aptitudes and know-how that are implied or indicated but not actually expressed — they are hidden in the minds of their owners. Explicit knowledge has no meaning without relevant tacit knowledge; it remains a collection of memorized pieces of mosaic. Good teaching methodologies must develop and enhance both forms of learners' knowledge. In our paper, we study the difference in between their delivery in traditional (on-site) learning and e-learning. We concentrate primarily on tacit knowledge delivery because our long-time e-learning experience shows that there is almost no difference between traditional learning and e-learning in delivering explicit knowledge. The presence or absence of the educator may result in big differences in students' tacit knowledge. E-learning educational methodologies should concentrate on its development. The authors designed and developed a method based on best practices of Knowledge Management, in particular on the Nonaka-Takeuchi SECI model of learning. It combines gaining of both tacit and explicit knowledge during four stages: Socialization, Externalization, Combination, and Internalization. Each of them requires specific teaching activities for its development. Socialization evolves communication with the educator as well as among students; Externalization helps the students to express their knowledge in a legible form. During Combination the students evolve their existing knowledge and share it with their classmates. During Internalization they co-opt their knowledge to make it an integral part of their individual knowledge system. Every e-learning course must demonstrate all of these components — naturally, in different formats depending on the course content and its learning objectives. All courses at our university are delivered in both on-site and online modes. The stepwise development of our on-line methodology allowed us to reach the quality of knowledge of our external students' comparable with that of the students of daily courses. To demonstrate it, we compare the grades of traditional students with their online counterparts from five courses in which tacit knowledge is crucial since none of them can be passed by the mere memorization of facts. Contrary, students must comprehend the content and be able to demonstrate it practically. The exam results show no substantial differences. Lessons learned from our methodology development allow us to make its generalization and recommend those educational activities that lead towards a higher portion and quality of tacit knowledge. As tacit knowledge guide us in applying the explicit one, its presence result in more durable, solid and sustainable knowledge.

Social communication and motor skill deficits are prevalent characteristics of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This systematic research review investigates whether and how broad social skills and motor skills may be related among individuals with ASD. We performed a PubMed search of articles written in English, using these study inclusion criteria: (a) an association between social and motor and skills among individuals previously diagnosed with autism; (b) one or more social skills measures were used; and (c) one or more measures of gross or fine motor skills were used. We classified data into two categories, and we based the association of these variables on correlation coefficients, p-values, coefficients of determination, and authors’ description of “may be associated” and “may not be associated.” Despite heterogeneity among these relevant studies, a highly likely association between social and motor skills emerged. Of a total of 16 studies reviewed, 12 reported associations between these skill sets. Three studies reported that fine motor skills had a stronger relationship with social skills than did gross motor skills. Among the gross motor skills associated with social skills, object control skills seemed most closely linked to social skills. Among fine motor skills, manual dexterity seemed to most closely related to social skills.

The conceptual understanding related to being a citizen involves not only the explicit knowledge acquired through explicit instruction and course books but also the implicit, experiential knowledge acquired in socio-cultural and political environments. Explicit and implicit conceptual knowledge we have acquired about being a citizen affects our values, attitudes and behaviours we demonstrate as citizens. The purpose of this study is to investigate secondary school seventh grade students’ implicit and explicit knowledge about the concept of citizen. The study adopted a convergent parallel mixed method. 27 students were chosen using typical case sampling for the identification of implicit knowledge, and 124 students were chosen using simple random sampling method for the identification of explicit knowledge. Data were collected from secondary school seventh grade students who were enrolled in three state schools, who had their parents’ consent and who volunteered to participate in the study. Implicit knowledge about the concept of citizen was identified using the repertory grid technique, and explicit knowledge was identified using the “Explicit Knowledge Test” about the concept of citizen including seven open-ended questions. Qualitative data obtained for implicit knowledge were analyzed using content analysis methods and Idiogrid 2.4 program. Students’ answers given in the explicit knowledge test were analyzed using a holistic rubric. Analysis of the data included the use of frequencies, percentages, arithmetic means, standard deviation, t-test, and one-way ANOVA.An analysis of implicit knowledge about the concept of citizen showed that the students interpreted the concept of citizen mostly as “being a good person” and least as “an individual who has rights”. According to the students’ eigenvalue (Euclidean distance coefficient) that reflected the difference between the “Me as a citizen” and “What kind of citizen do I want to be”, “Me as a citizen compared to other people in my environment”, “What kind of a citizen do I have to be? central elements showed that majority of the students had high eigenvalues (self perceptions) as citizens. Majority of the students were found to have “first level-insufficient” explicit knowledge about the concept of citizen; a small number of students had “second level-partially sufficient” knowledge; and there were no students who had “third level-mostly sufficient” and “fourth level-sufficient”. Students’ explicit knowledge test scores displayed significant differences according to mother’s education level, having friends with different cultural characteristics, and the languages spoken at home variables; no significant differences were determined according to gender, the location of the school, father’s education level, and mother language variables.

Knowledge management (KM) extends the health information technology (HIT) literature by addressing its impact on creating knowledge by sharing and using the knowledge of health care professionals in hospitals. The aim of the study was to provide insight into how HIT affects nurses' explicit and tacit knowledge of their ongoing work processes and work engagement. Data were collected from 74 nurses in four wards of a Dutch hospital via a paper-and-pencil survey using validated measurement instruments. In a quasiexperimental research design, HIT was introduced in the two experimental wards in contrast to the two control wards. At the time of the HIT introduction, a pretest was administered in all four wards and was followed by a posttest after 3 months. Data were analyzed via partial least squares modeling. Generally, nurses' tacit knowledge (i.e., their insight into and their capacity to make sense of the work processes) appears to be a significant and strong predictor of their work engagement. In contrast, nurses' explicit knowledge (i.e., information feedback about patients and tasks) only indirectly affects work engagement via its effect on tacit knowledge. Its effect on work engagement therefore depends on the mediating role of tacit knowledge. Interestingly, introducing HIT significantly affects only nurses' explicit knowledge, not their tacit knowledge or work engagement. Nurses' tacit and explicit knowledge needs to be systematically distinguished when implementing HIT/KM programs to increase work engagement in the workplace. Tacit knowledge (insight into work processes) appears to be pivotal, whereas efforts aimed only at improving available information will not lead to a higher level of work engagement in nurses' work environments.

This research is focused on management in small-scale industries in Bandar Lampung seen from entrepreneurs’ leadership aspect consisting of technical, interpersonal, and conceptual skills. The success of management in the industries is inseparable from the leadership skills. Without these skills, it is anxious that gradually the industries might develop slowly and be difficult to adapt to the change and development of their environment. This research is aimed at finding out leadership skills of the entrepreneurs in small-scale industries reflected in the employees’ performance, satisfaction and commitment to the industries. The analysis unit was at small-scale processing industries in Bandar Lampung. The number of the samples was 63 units consisting of 26 food industries, 16 printing industries, and 21 furniture industries. The assessment of leadership skills and their influence on employees’ performance, satisfaction and commitment was performed by giving questionnaires to the 371 employees. The standards used in the questionnaires were semantic differential scale and analysis tool using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with software Lisrel 8.30. The research result shows that the leadership skills comprising technical, interpersonal and conceptual skills collectively influenced the employees’ performance, satisfaction and commitment to the industries. While, individually, this can be seen as follows: 1) technical skill did not significantly influence their performance, satisfaction and commitment to the industries; 2) interpersonal skill significantly influenced their performance and satisfaction, except commitment; 3) conceptual skill significantly influenced their performance and commitment, except satisfaction. Furthermore, it was found that the employees’ performance in small-scale industries in Bandar Lampung did not significantly influence their commitment, but their satisfaction significantly influenced their commitment to the industries. It also was found that the employees’ satisfaction significantly influenced their performance. Keywords: Leadership skills: technical skill, interpersonal skill, conceptual skill, Employees’ performance, satisfaction, commitment, small-scale industries in Bandar Lampung.

The analysis of students' perceptions of job readiness was conducted using the Pareto analysis method. The results showed that interpersonal skills were the main factor that most influenced students' perceptions of job readiness, with a frequency of 40%. Hard skills had a frequency of 37%, while soft skills had a frequency of 23%. Interpersonal skills are necessary for building good relationships between employees and superiors, colleagues, and customers. Hard skills determine whether employees have the technical skills required in their field of work, while soft skills are essential in problem-solving and making the right decisions in the workplace. Therefore, students need to improve their interpersonal skills by training skills such as communication, leadership, collaboration, and empathy. Hard skills can be improved by increasing technical knowledge and direct practice in the desired field of work. Soft skills can be honed through exercises in creativity, innovation, data analysis, and conflict resolution. Students also need to understand the importance of having a balanced set of interpersonal, hard, and soft skills to prepare themselves well for the job market. They should take advantage of opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities, internships, or relevant training and certification courses. By improving their interpersonal, hard, and soft skills, students will be able to strengthen their perception of job readiness and increase their chances of getting good jobs and succeeding in the future. Furthermore, companies can obtain more qualified and productive employees, helping them to achieve their business goals more effectively.Keywords: Student Perceptions, Job Readiness, Interpersonal Skills, Hard Skills, Soft Skills, Pareto, Gaps

This article investigates the development of social and professional skills in students through work and enterprise-based learning within vocational education and training (VET). It underscores the foundational role of social skills in effective communication, relationship building, decision-making, and conflict resolution, which substantially influence various aspects of students’ lives, including academic performance and social interactions. The study emphasizes the significance of the workplace environments in shaping these skills, asserting that effective social skills contribute not only to successful personal relationships but also to professional achievements and broader societal contributions. The article outlines the importance of integrating formal instruction in social skills into educational curricula and extracurricular activities, highlighting various pedagogical approaches that enhance skill acquisition. Through empirical research involving qualitative and quantitative methods, the paper advocates for targeted, interdisciplinary training to engender competencies such as teamwork, negotiation, and client relations, essential for success in contemporary economic environments. Furthermore, the study calls for ongoing evaluation of educational strategies to refine methods for effectively cultivating social skills among students, preparing them for future challenges in a rapidly evolving world.

Abstract: Innovational leadership is a set of practices and skills that leaders develop to promote innovative behaviors in their workers at the individual and collective levels. This is a novel concept focused on one role of leaders: the facilitation of the generation of new or significantly improved products and services. Previous studies with other styles of leadership have shown that transformational leadership encourages a climate for innovative work behaviors, while transactional leadership influences exploitative innovation activities. Knowledge sharing involves the transfer of experience and expertise to facilitate business development and the accomplishment of organizational objectives. Self-efficacy is an individual´s confidence in their abilities to execute a particular task. It influences learning and performance. This research studied whether innovational leadership influences two types of knowledge sharing: tacit and explicit. At the same time, the role of self-efficacy as a mediator variable was evaluated. The sample consisted of 415 workers from different sectors in Colombia. According to the results, innovational leadership positively influenced tacit and explicit knowledge, although the effect on tacit knowledge was higher. Finally, self-efficacy played a mediator role in the relationship between innovational leadership and knowledge sharing. Additional research is suggested to explore the differences between innovational leadership and other types of leadership in the process of sharing tacit and explicit knowledge. At the same time, complementary investigations about the dynamics of innovational leadership are needed to understand why it affects more tacit knowledge than explicit knowledge.

The study objective was to elucidate the differences in factors related to overall patient satisfaction levels among subgroups based on whether patients placed higher priorities on technical or interpersonal skills of health care personnel. This questionnaire survey targeted 2341 patients discharged from five Japanese hospitals in 2007. Patients were grouped based on whether they prioritized technical or interpersonal skills by chi-squared automatic interaction detection (CHAID) analysis. Multiple regression analysis was used to compare and evaluate differences in various factors related to patient satisfaction among the subgroups. Survey respondent rate was 55.7% (1305 patients). CHAID analysis showed that patients, in particular those warded in surgery departments, tended to place a higher value on technical skills, although paediatric and rehabilitation patients also placed a high value on interpersonal skills. While it has been shown that non-surgical patients tended to prioritize interpersonal skills, our results revealed that patients warded in the surgery department who did not undergo operations still prioritized technical skills. These variation patterns among patient subgroups were further supported by regression analysis of overall patient satisfaction. In surgical patients, the 40- to 79-year-old subgroup regarded technical skills to be more important and the role of the doctor was found to be more associated with overall satisfaction. However, even among surgical patients, older patients placed higher values on interpersonal skills, and overall satisfaction was found to be more associated with health care professionals (besides doctors) and living arrangements. We conclude that differences in patient satisfaction levels could be influenced by different perspectives on prioritized skills.