Critical Competencies Research Articles

Critical Competencies for Leading Major Institutional Restructuring in Higher Education (Aka Big Scary Change)

Critical Competencies for Leading Major Institutional Restructuring in Higher Education (Aka Big Scary Change)

Developing Chinese Prospective EFL Teachers' NCA: A Qualitative Approach

Improving the Native Cultural Awareness (NCA) of EFL teachers is one of the important challenges facing higher education institutions in China. To give insights in this problem, based on the Intercultural Communication Competence (ICC) theory, this study investigated and analyzed how to develop prospective English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers' NCA. Specifically, this paper recruited 70 Prospective EFL teachers from a university in China to conduct a six-week qualitative study. Non-numerical data related to semi-structured interviews and topic writing were collected and qualitatively analyzed using the qualitative analysis software NVivo. The results show that “Native Cultural Sensitivity” and “Key Native Cultural Awareness” play an important role in prospective EFL teachers' NCA. This paper uncovers specific changes in cultural critical awareness due to the training, providing valuable guidance for enhancing the cultural critical competence of prospective EFL teachers. Moreover, this paper also provides crucial insights for fostering a more sensitive understanding and response to native culture among prospective EFL teachers.

Incorporating Linguistic Landscape (LL) for Developing ESL/EFL Learners’ Linguistics Critical Literacy Competence: A critical literature review

This aimed at investigating and analyzing the significance of incorporating linguistic landscape (LL) into the process of acquiring/leaning English as Second Language (ESL), or Foreign Language (EFL) and finding the approaches and tehniques of integrating linguistic landscape into that processes. Through the critical literature review method, this study was conducted through searching, reading, categorizing, analyzing, evaluating and synthesizing the previous studies combined with other relevant sources. Thus, this study documented two benefits findings. 1) Linguistic landscape helps ESL/EFL learners to advance their comprehension of linguistic critical literacy that includes sociolinguistics, morphological formation, semantics, pragmatics, and semiotics. 2) Experiential learning, situated learning, community-based learning and project-based learning are the effective and efficient approaches that must be applied to integrate linguistic landscape into the teaching and learning English as second language/foreign language.

Developing and sustaining critical intercultural competence through confronting hidden bias in children’s literature in EFL preservice teacher education

ABSTRACT This study explored the gains of pedagogical practices of using critical multicultural analysis to confront hidden bias in children's literature in EFL preservice teacher education. Participants (N = 15) experienced a variety of instructional activities throughout the semester. Using a qualitative case study design, data showed that preservice teachers gained essential knowledge, theoretical and practical, and were, therefore, prepared to promote critical intercultural competence in their future classrooms. As a result, this study calls for institutional and curricular policies that support explicit teaching of critical intercultural competence through children's literature in EFL teacher preparation programs.

Ethical Leadership: The Role of Ethical Competencies in Doctoral Supervision Context in Canada

Due to the influence factor in leader-follower relationships, leadership is an ethical undertaking by nature. In doctoral supervision, ethics are a critical competency, especially since it is an authoritative leadership context based on positional power. Doctoral supervisors have the power to impact their students’ well-being and performance, which means that ethics and ethical leadership could be the most important competency that can make the difference in effective supervision. In this chapter, we examined the nature of ethics and ethical leadership in doctoral supervision based on the supervisors’ and doctoral students’ lived experiences and perspectives. Data analysis of the participant’ responses revealed the importance of key ethical competencies in the context of graduate supervision: commitment, stewardship, honesty, justice/fairness, benevolence, nonmaleficence, respect, and autonomy. The data have shown that these competencies are vital within the doctoral supervision context as they can help maintain students’ well-being and enhance their performance. Findings suggest that attention to ethical practices is key to the development of positive supervisory relationships and the implementation of successful doctoral programs.

Emerging Technologies: Leveraging Digital Literacy for Self-Sufficiency Among Library Professionals

In today's rapidly evolving information landscape, library professionals play a pivotal role in helping individuals and communities’ access, evaluate, and utilize digital resources effectively. As technology continues to reshape the way information is accessed and disseminated, library professionals must embrace digital literacy as a key competency. This essay explores the importance of digital literacy in the context of emerging technologies and how library professionals can leverage it to achieve self-sufficiency in their roles. The paper concludes that digital literacy empowers library professionals to navigate the digital landscape, harness AI and data analytics, curate digital resources effectively, teach online information evaluation, and promote digital inclusion. Given the ever-evolving digital information landscape, librarians are entrusted with the critical task of providing access to knowledge and guiding patrons through a complex web of digital resources. From the paper, it is believed that leveraging digital literacy is the key to achieving self-sufficiency in these roles. As information navigators in the digital age, librarians must continue to cultivate their digital literacy skills and adapt to emerging technologies. The paper recommends that librarians should invest in continuous training and professional development programs focused on digital marketing, e-commerce, and content creation, libraries should allocate resources strategically to invest in the necessary digital tools and platforms for income generation and libraries can implement change management strategies to address resistance to digital transformation and foster a culture of innovation.

Стратегія підвищення конкурентоспроможності як фактор впливу на забезпечення економічної безпеки організації

The article considers the requirements for the provision of modern competitive services and determines the direct impact of competitiveness on the economic security of the organization. Ensuring economic security within the framework of increasing competitiveness requires adjustment for optimal functioning and development of investment capacity, that is, a system of diagnostics and analysis, response to actual and potential changes in the external and internal environment, ensuring a stable level of competitiveness. Each enterprise faces various risks and threats throughout its life cycle, which negatively affect economic security within the framework of increasing the effectiveness of competitiveness. The enterprise’s competitiveness is the key to profitability, survival, and adaptation to various challenges, risks, and threats, which requires adaptation to the dynamism and demandingness of consumers regarding products and services. Increasing the competitiveness of a business entity in the conditions of an unstable external environment is relevant. Therefore, a general approach to developing a strategy for increasing competitiveness is considered, where stability and customer orientation are defined as significant competitive advantages. The implementation of this strategy will contribute to the further strengthening of the organization’s economic security. Customer orientation is a critical competence in achieving sustainable development of the enterprise. Implementing such a strategy ensures a constant strengthening of economic security, improvement of image and reputation, expansion of the client base, and increased competitiveness. The article aims to define and substantiate the directions and priorities of Ukraine’s post-war economic development. The development strategy’s elements are proposed, considering external and internal factors of competitiveness. The importance of finding innovative approaches to managing subjects of economic relations in post-war conditions is proven. The priorities of achieving sustainable functioning of the economy based on a closed production cycle and achieving sustainable development goals have been determined. The client-oriented strategy that considers globalization challenges focuses on overcoming structural disparities and develops innovative projects within the domestic resource base is competitive. The study results have value in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine’s economy. Keywords: competitiveness, economic security, clients, risks, post-war development, strategy for increasing competitiveness, agricultural sector.

Core competencies in critical care for general medical practitioners in South Africa: A Delphi study.

Despite a high burden of disease that requires critical care services, there are a limited number of intensivists in South Africa (SA). Medical practitioners at district and regional public sector hospitals frequently manage critically ill patients in the absence of intensivists, despite these medical practitioners having had minimal exposure to critical care during their undergraduate training. To identify core competencies in critical care for medical practitioners who provide critical care services at public sector hospitals in SA where intensivists are not available to direct patient management. A preliminary list of core competencies in critical care was compiled. Thereafter, 13 national and international experts were requested to achieve consensus on a final list of core competencies that are required for critical care by medical practitioners, using a modified Delphi process. A final list of 153 core competencies in critical care was identified. The core competencies identified by this study could assist in developing training programmes for medical practitioners to improve the quality of critical care services provided at district and regional hospitals in SA. The study provides consensus on a list of core competencies in critical care that non-intensivist medical practitioners managing critically ill patients in healthcare settings in South Africa, especially where intensivists are not readily available, should have. The list can form the core content of training programmes aimed at improving critical care competence of general medical practitioners, and in this way hopefully improve the overall outcomes of critically ill patients in South Africa.

From Flawed to Flourishing: Reshaping the Nigerian Curriculum for Sustainable National Development

The Nigerian education system plays a crucial role in shaping the nation's future. However, over the years, there have been concerns about the effectiveness and relevance of the curriculum in preparing students to face rapidly changing global challenges. This research aims to explore the weaknesses within the current Nigerian curriculum and propose strategies to reshape it to drive sustainable national development. It is a comprehensive and systematic literature review, a critical step to thoroughly understand the challenges within Nigeria's curriculum and identify potential improvement strategies. This research allows for a comprehensive synthesis of scholarly articles, governmental reports, and educational publications, establishing a strong foundation for subsequent methodologies. The study begins by analyzing the current state of the Nigerian curriculum, highlighting its limitations and shortcomings. It delves into how the curriculum inadequately addresses critical skills and competencies needed by the 21st-century workforce, such as critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, and digital literacy.The study emphasizes the need for continuous evaluation mechanisms and feedback to ensure the effectiveness of the modified curriculum. Regular assessments and monitoring systems should be implemented to measure the impact of curriculum changes and identify areas for improvement. By addressing these deficiencies and integrating relevant and practical skills, the curriculum can better prepare students to face future challenges.

Combining Contrastive Learning with Auto-Encoder for Out-of-Distribution Detection

Reliability and robustness are fundamental requisites for the successful integration of deep-learning models into real-world applications. Deployed models must exhibit an awareness of their limitations, necessitating the ability to discern out-of-distribution (OOD) data and prompt human intervention, a critical competency. While several frameworks for OOD detection have been introduced and achieved remarkable results, most state-of-the-art (SOTA) models rely on supervised learning with annotated data for their training. However, acquiring labeled data can be a demanding, time-consuming or, in some cases, an infeasible task. Consequently, unsupervised learning has gained substantial traction and has made noteworthy advancements. It empowers models to undergo training solely on unlabeled data while still achieving comparable or even superior performance compared to supervised alternatives. Among the array of unsupervised methods, contrastive learning has asserted its effectiveness in feature extraction for a variety of downstream tasks. Conversely, auto-encoders are extensively employed to acquire indispensable representations that faithfully reconstruct input data. In this study, we introduce a novel approach that amalgamates contrastive learning with auto-encoders for OOD detection using unlabeled data. Contrastive learning diligently tightens the grouping of in-distribution data while meticulously segregating OOD data, and the auto-encoder augments the feature space with increased refinement. Within this framework, data undergo implicit classification into in-distribution and OOD categories with a notable degree of precision. Our experimental findings manifest that this method surpasses most of the existing detectors reliant on unlabeled data or even labeled data. By incorporating an auto-encoder into an unsupervised learning framework and training it on the CIFAR-100 dataset, our model enhances the detection rate of unsupervised learning methods by an average of 5.8%. Moreover, it outperforms the supervised-based OOD detector by an average margin of 11%.

Toward standardizing family caregiving competencies based on the stage of dementia

AbstractBackground & PurposeDespite of the introduction of the formal care system such as long term care insurance system, informal family caregiving still takes an important part in caring for people with dementia. In an environment where family caregiving is not performed properly, the quality of life of both the dementia patient and the family caregiver deteriorates, leading to early admission to a facility and an increase in social costs. This study aimed to identify the importance of family caregiving competencies in different dementia stages from the perspective of the family caregiver.MethodsThis study recruited 210 family caregivers of people with dementia. Data collection was conducted by using a self‐report questionnaire. The participant scored the extent of the importance of dementia caregiving competency according to stages of dementia: early, middle, and advanced stage. The data were illustrated as frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation.ResultsThe importance of family caregiving competency was statistically different according to age, gender, education level, and relationship between people with dementia and family caregivers. The family caregivers refer to the following items as critical competencies: using cognitive programs for people with dementia in the early stage; creating a safe living environment in the middle stage; and managing the physical symptoms such as bedsores, incontinence, and diseases of the people with dementia, and properly utilizing necessary long‐term care services in the advanced stage.ConclusionThis study indicated the differences of the importance of family caregiving competencies between each stage of dementia from the perspective of family caregivers. The results of this study are valuable data to standardize effective programs for family caregivers during the different stage of dementia.

La necesidad de una educación 4.0 en México para adentrarse en la industria 4.0

The concept of the fourth industrial revolution or industry 4.0 was born in Germany more than 10 years ago and began to be implemented in companies in European countries seeking to improve manufacturing competitiveness, which observed the need to have human capital with different capabilities and qualities that those that were counted, which is why it is suggested that Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) begin to modify and adapt their study plans to respond to the needs of companies. The objective of this article is to expose the importance of beginning to implement technological, social and critical competencies in Mexican institutions so the students can be prepared for the needs of Industry 4.0 and become competent in 21st century jobs. A qualitative study was carried out, an analysis the data from the period 2017 to 2022 since it was found that during these years organizations worldwide published reports on the skills necessary for the jobs of the future, in turn databases of national and international organizations were studied to know the educational level of Mexico and analyze how close the population is to being competent for this industrial stage, the results showed that this is low compared to other countries, which can compromise the entry of the Mexican population to the fourth industrial revolution, the literature studied suggests that universities needs to modify their study plans, adapting teaching techniques, the role of the teacher and the student, as well as the forms of teaching and learning in order to create a workforce competent for industry 4.0.

Effect of neonatal nurse mentorship in improving neonatal care competencies among neonatal nurses in Rwandan hospitals

AbstractBackgroundDespite healthcare improvements in Rwanda, newborn mortality remains high. This study assesses the impact of neonatal mentorship on enhancing nurses’ competencies within neonatal units, aiming to address this mortality concern and strengthen healthcare providers’ abilities.MethodsThe prospective cohort study included 25 health facilities supported by Ingobyi Activity in Rwanda, which were beneficiaries of a monthly mentorship program focusing on five critical neonatal competencies. These included adopt manipulation of neonatal equipment, effective management of small and sick newborns, stringent infection prevention and control (IPC), kangaroo mother care (KMC) implementation, and family‐centered care provision. We employed an observation checklist to measure neonatal practice competencies, comparing practices at the time point of the baseline, at the 6th mentorship session, and finally at the 12th mentorship session.ResultsThe program engaged 188 neonatal nurse mentees. Data analysis highlighted a substantial increase in overall neonatal practice competencies from a baseline of 42.7%–75.4% after 12 mentorship sessions. Specific competency enhancements included family‐centered care (40.3%–70.3%), IPC (43.2%–84.2%), KMC (56.9%–73.3%), management of small and sick newborns (38.5%–77.6%), and manipulation of neonatal equipment (42.7%–75.4%).ConclusionsThis neonatal mentorship program was effective in enhancing nursing competencies, leading to significant improvements in neonatal care practices. Future work should evaluate the program's cost‐effectiveness and explore its potential to positively impact neonatal health outcomes, thus ensuring sustainable healthcare advancements.

The impacts of nurses' attitudes towards dementia, critical reflection competency, and nursing work environment on person-centered nursing in acute care hospitals: A descriptive study

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to examine the attitudes of acute care nurses towards dementia, their critical reflection competency, and the level of nursing work environment and to identify the factors relating to person-centered nursing. Methods: The study was conducted for 149 nurses with at least 1 year of experience working in acute care hospitals and providing nursing care to hospitalized elderly patients. The measurements used were the Dementia Attitude Scale Korean version, the Critical Reflection Competency Scale, the Nursing Work Environment Scale, and the Person-Centered Nursing Assessment Tool. The collected data were analyzed with frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, independent t-test, ANOVA test, Pearson's correlation, and multiple regression using IBM SPSS 29.0 software. Results: The factors influencing person-centered nursing performance were critical reflection competency (β=.49, p<.001), attitudes towards dementia (β=.29, p<.001), and clinical career (β=-.26, p=.024), having the explanation power of 59.6%. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that critical reflection competency, attitudes towards dementia, and clinical career have an impact on person-centered nursing performance. Specifically, higher levels of critical reflection competency and positive attitudes towards dementia were predictors with higher levels of person-centered nursing performance. Therefore, to enhance person-centered nursing performance among acute care nurses, it is important to prioritize critical reflection training programs for experienced nurses to enhance their critical reflection competency.

예비유아교사의 디지털 역량과 테크놀로지 자아효능감이 미디어 비판적 이해 역량에 미치는 영향

Objectives The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of digital competencies and technological self-efficacy of pre-service early childhood teachers on media critical understanding competency.
 Methods The purpose of this study, the responses of 201 pre-child teachers in the metropolitan area were used as research data. The SPSS 23.0 program was used for the survey response data. Anova analysis was performed on the capacity to understand media critically according to individual and educational experience. In addition, Pearson correlation analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were conducted to find out the impact of digital competency and technology self-efficacy on media critical understanding.
 Results The results of the study are as follows. First, it was found that the media critical understanding competency of pre-child teachers differs depending on the type of school, but there is no difference depending on whether or not media education is completedl. Second, there was a correlation between media critical understanding of pre-child teachers, digital competency, and technology self-efficacy. In Model 1, digital competencies and digital pedagogy among digital competencies, and in Model 2, technology self-efficacy were found to influence media critical understanding.
 Conclusions This is meaningful in that basic data on the direction of education to enhance the critical understanding of media of pre-service early childhood teachers were presented.

The effects of self-directed learning ability, critical thinking, and learning commitment from utilizing the Havruta method in women’s health nursing classes

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to construct the education applying the Havruta method for nursing students and to investigate the effects on self-directed learning ability, critical thinking, and learning commitment.Methods: A nonequivalent control group pre-posttest design was used. The participants were 63 nursing students (experimental group, n=31; control group, n=32) at two universities. The experimental group received education applying the Havruta method for five weeks. The study was conducted from September 1 to November 30, 2022. The data were analyzed using IBM SPSS 27.0 for an <i>χ</i><sup>2</sup> test, Fisher’s exact test, independent t-test, and Mann–Whitney U-test.Results: The experimental group had a significant increase in self-directed learning ability (z=-2.13, <i>p</i>=.033). However, there was no significant difference in critical thinking competency (t=0.64, <i>p</i>=.524) and learning commitment (t=0.04, <i>p</i>=.969) between the two groups.Conclusion: The Havruta method is an effective nursing education tool for self-directed learning ability. The result of this study could be a guide for nursing professors in designing and implementing educational programs that apply the Havruta method. In the future, research that applies the Havruta method and evaluates its effectiveness in nursing education programs should be continued.

Critical Care Ultrasound Competency of Fellows and Faculty in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine: A Nationwide Survey

Purpose: Competency assessment standards for Critical Care Ultrasonography (CCUS) for Graduate Medical Education (GME) trainees in pulmonary/critical care medicine (PCCM) fellowship programs are lacking. We sought to answer the following research questions: How are PCCM fellows and teaching faculty assessed for CCUS competency? Which CCUS teaching methods are perceived as most effective by program directors (PDs) and fellows. Methods: Cross-sectional, nationwide, electronic survey of PCCM PDs and fellows in accredited GME training programs. Results: PDs and fellows both reported the highest rates of fellow competence to use CCUS for invasive procedural guidance, but lower rates for assessment of deep vein thrombosis and abdominal organs. 54% and 90% of PDs reported never assessing fellows or teaching faculty for CCUS competency, respectively. PDs and fellows perceived hands-on workshops and directly supervised CCUS exams as more effective learning methods than unsupervised CCUS archival with subsequent review and self-directed learning. Conclusions: There is substantial variation in CCUS competency assessment among PCCM fellows and teaching faculty nationwide. The majority of training programs do not formally assess fellows or teaching faculty for CCUS competence. Guidelines are needed to formulate standardized competency assessment tools for PCCM fellowship programs.

Development of Wetland Environment Based Textbooks to Improve Critical Literacy Competencies

Based on rankings carried out by a number of international institutions, the literacy level of Indonesian students is still below the literacy level of other countries. Based on the research results, there are a number of factors that cause this. One of these factors is the need to provide quality textbooks for critical literacy learning. However, until now there have been no good textbooks designed to improve critical literacy competencies. Therefore, research into the development of this textbook was carried out. The development of this book is based on the land environment and critical literacy. In the development process the ASSURE model was used(analyze learners; state objectives; select (methods, media, and materials); utilize materials; require learners' participation; evaluate and revise). The results of the development obtained the following findings: the validation results from material and language experts obtained an average score of 89%, which means it is very feasible; the results of media expert validation obtained an average score92% which also means very feasible; and students' literacy competence before using this book was 59.64 and after using this textbook their competence became 79.47, which means there was an increase in literacy competence by 24.95%. The implication is that the textbooks resulting from this development need to be used in language learning in schools to improve students' critical literacy competencies.

Electronic work-based learning (eWBL): a framework for trainers in companies and higher education

ABSTRACT Driven by COVID-19, remote work is popularising. Companies and employees are increasingly embracing its benefits of flexibility and convenience, showing reluctance to return to full-time office schedules. Similarly, companies and HEIs started offering remote forms of work-based learning (WBL) – or eWBL. However, remote work presents social and psychological barriers associated with physical isolation that need addressing. In the context of WBL, which aims to provide a real-work environment for students, it is essential to explore these barriers as they might undermine the development of critical competencies associated with WBL, particularly creativity, teamwork, collaboration, networking and situational awareness. While research has started producing alternatives to overcome some of these limitations, we still miss a robust framework for designing and implementing these and other potential new strategies that could further enhance eWBL. To address this gap, a comprehensive framework is developed by integrating literature recommendations with results from 27 case studies derived from the Erasmus + Project eWBL. The framework comprises five primary phases: design, preparation, onboarding, delivery, and assessment. Each phase contains several sub-phases that offer practical implementation steps to WBL trainers in higher education and industry on how to deliver high-quality eWBL.

The Learning Collaboratory: developing and evaluating public health students' skills while promoting community health.

Complex and continuous developments in health and healthcare require innovative changes in programs that educate public health scientists and professionals. Public health change agents need critical competencies to confront today and tomorrow's leading problems including leadership, communication, interprofessional practice, and systems thinking. Public Health training programs teach competencies through their applied field experience and culminating project, typically late in the program, and often implemented in isolation from peers and faculty. Objectives and skills do not always align closely with community-based program needs. Students pursuing a degree in science in public health need to deeply comprehend multi-dimensional and interconnected systemic problems and communicate with diverse stakeholders across disciplines to produce relevant community-engaged research. The University of Miami Public Health Learning Collaboratory (LC) was established to transform the learning experience of public health master's students by providing opportunities to develop necessary core skills for effective public health practice early in their training, while applying these skills to address real-world public health needs in the community. Spanning an average of 3 semesters, the LC promotes student involvement in collaborative and impactful capstone and thesis projects. Practice-based teaching and service learning are central approaches to teaching cross-cutting competencies of leadership, communication, problem solving, collaboration, and systems thinking in public health. Significant to the approach is the engagement of previous cohorts of senior students to teach back to junior students, further integrating concepts learned. Long term alumni feedback recognized strengths of the program, including its structure, teamwork & collaboration, critical thinking & problem solving, guidance, nurture & support, teaching back, and content & curriculum. Community partners agreed the LC prepared students to practice in the field of public health. The LC is a promising model for master's level public health education and community application, given the opportunities it provides to strengthen and integrate students' public health skills in a supportive environment, and enhance the transferability and sustainability of student and faculty's community public health work.