Development Of Generic Skills Research Articles

Accountancy students’ perceptions of the quality of teaching and learning experiences in two UK business schools: implications for generic skills development

PurposeFocusing on the quality of teaching and learning, this study aims to explore the perceptions of accountancy students in two emerging UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) of the quality of their learning experiences and the impact of these experiences on generic skills development.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire survey was used to collect the data. OLS regression was used to test the hypothesis regarding the impact of student learning experiences (lecturer ability, assessment and curriculum) on generic skills development.FindingsStudents value the lecturer as the most important determinant of the quality of their experience. They rated their assessment programme very positively, and the curriculum suggests that students tend to experience a deep blended approach to learning. They also felt that they acquired a wide range of soft competency skills such as those associated with research, critical thinking and time management. Multivariate findings indicate that lecturer ability and curriculum contribute significantly and positively to generic skills development.Practical implicationsThe study provides a benchmark for international accounting and business educators in any efforts to assess the efficacy of HE delivery since the pandemic. By implication, it enables the identification of enhancements to the previous character of delivery and hence offers the means to direct improvements to the student experience. Such improvements can then be seen in the National Student Survey (NSS) scores, thereby positively contributing to the next Teaching Excellence Framework. Additionally, such tangible enhancements in NSS scores may be advantageous to HEIs, in the UK and other Western countries, in their efforts to recruit international students on whom they place great reliance for increased revenue, to their international business education programmes.Originality/valueThis study addresses the research gap surrounding the link between teaching and learning approaches in accounting and the development of generic skills. Furthermore, acknowledging that the COVID-19 pandemic with its imposed structural change in the HE teaching and learning environment ushered in a new model of curriculum delivery, this study reflects on the pre-COVID-19 scenario and gathers student perceptions of their teaching and learning experiences before the changes necessitated by lockdowns. It therefore brings the opportunity to anchor future research exploring the post-COVID-19 environment and secure comparative analyses.

Enhancing Generic Skills Development in Higher Education in the Era of Large Language Model Artificial Intelligence

The recently developed large language model artificial intelligence (AI) systems, such as ChatGPT, are likely to become widely used over the next few years as core tools in many areas of business. Higher education graduates will need to be adequately prepared with the necessary generic skills to exploit this technology and a detailed understanding of the risks of using it and related ethical aspects to maximize their employability. Higher education institutions will need to develop training to support this and a conceptual multi-layer framework is proposed for generic skills development in higher education relevant to the emerging new era of large language model AI. This model encapsulates traditional generic skills training for employability, the extended skill sets needed for operating as independent knowledge-workers in increasingly fragmented working contexts, and the new sets of skills in areas such as prompt engineering, output verification and bias detection, which are needed specifically for operating as effective users of advanced AI systems in business.

Relevance and adaptation of the theoretical bases and methodological foundations for dualvocational trainning in order to improve academic offerings of Costa Rica’s higher education: Study Case of Escuela de Secretariado Profesional

Since 2000, the Escuela de Secretariado Profesional (ESP) has ventured into the Dual Vocational Training Project as a teaching and learning modality. Its purpose is to promote the comprehensive development of the university community members and provide them with a humanistic education based on the study of the national reality. This Project involves a practical experience in which students assume responsibilities according to their academic level. It offers students suitable training for their professional profile and ensures a supply of competent human capital for the corporate area. This Project was born with the purpose of “promoting the comprehensive development of the members of the university community and providing them with humanistic training, based on the study of the national reality and in light of the themes and achievements of universal culture”, as stated in the Organic Statute of the National University. Dual training promotes the linking of theory and practice and integrates the student into the company for the development of new professional skills; it seeks to articulate the training and development of generic and specific skills effectively and efficiently, aimed to achieve comprehensive training in the student, in addition to work experience. Currently, dual training is not part of the academic curriculum, and students voluntarily choose to participate. Tutor professors collaborate on an honorary basis, and companies receive competent and qualified human resources without payment for the services provided by the student. Therefore, the article aims to validate the relevance and adaptation of the theoretical foundations and methodological principles to enhance higher education offerings in Costa Rica.

Nursing student perspectives on clinical instructor performance

The rapid development of higher education in nursing and science and technology in Indonesia is still having problems related to the quality of learning, student graduates, and variations in academic quality that affect the quality of higher education. The perspective of nursing students is deemed a crucial factor for assessment and plays a significant role in enhancing learning activities and clinical practices. This study aimed to assess the perspectives of nursing students regarding the performance of their clinical instructors. This study employed a quantitative descriptive research design with an explanatory survey approach, utilizing a cross-sectional methodology. The criteria for selecting respondents consisted of 3rd and 5th-semester students who had completed clinical nursing practice in hospitals. The primary variable examined in this research was the performance of clinical instructors. Data collection was conducted using an instrument in the form of a Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) that employed a Likert scale to measure student perspectives on clinical instructor performance. To analyze the correlation between student satisfaction and the five aspects of the CEQ, Spearman's Rho correlation was employed. Nursing student perspectives on clinical instructor performance using CEQ-23 have an overall effect on student satisfaction with a p-value of 0.000. The aspect that has the most influence on student satisfaction was the scale of Generic Skills with 67,7%. Technical proficiency and effective communication skills, clinical instructors must also possess a comprehensive understanding of their roles and functions in guiding students. To enhance the quality of teaching and institutions, it is essential to establish teaching objectives that prioritize the development of general skills and ensure that students comprehend these objectives. Moreover, it is crucial to maintain manageable workloads for instructors. Clinical instructors should consistently offer valuable feedback and guidance to students.

TRANSLATION AND CROSS-CULTURAL ADAPTATION OF GENERIC SKILL SELF-ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT FOR INDONESIAN UNDERGRADUATE MEDICAL STUDENTS

Background: There are various educational strategies that promote generic skills development in medical education; hence, there is a need for a valid and reliable instrument to assess them. This study aims to translate and adapt a generic skills self-assessment instrument developed by Groen et al.1 to assess Indonesian medical student’s generic skills in a classroom context.Methods: WHO's guidelines were used for the translation process, which consisted of: 1) forward translation, 2) expert panel review (using the Delphi method), 3) back translation, 4) pre-testing and cognitive interviews, and 5) the final version. Additional measures were employed to improve the translation accuracy, including proofreading (prior to step 2), expert panel review after step 3 and 4, and pilot testing along with psychometric testing after step 5. Backward translation was done by a professional translation service. Ten fourth-year students from Atma Jaya School of Medicine and Health Sciences were involved in step 4; meanwhile, we piloted the translated instrument to 35 other fourth-year students from the same sample pool. We also conducted an internal reliability test using Cronbach's alpha and construct validity test, including corrected total-item correlation and principal component analysis.Results: Steps 1-3 produced an Indonesian version of the generic skills assessment instrument with good face and content validity. Quantitative data analysis showed high internal reliability (Cronbach’s Alpha = .955) and acceptable item-total correlation (ranging from .345 to .757).Conclusion: Factor analysis showed 6 domains labelled as analytical skills, teamwork, communication skills, perseverance, social judgment, and global abstraction skills.

Majority acculturation through globalization: The importance of life skills in navigating the cultural pluralism of globalization

In contemporary globalized societies, traditional sociocultural structure and guidance have been increasingly disrupted, challenging people’s self-understanding, global perspective, and well-being. These transformations have enhanced the need for competency in navigating diverse meaning systems and cultural pluralism. The development of generic life skills provides relevant abilities to deal effectively with everyday demands and challenges in multicultural complexity. As cultural globalization comprises both similarities and differences across various locations, it is valuable to disentangle what relates to universal processes and what concerns culture-specific consequences through cross-cultural research. In the present study, we examined the association between life skills and endorsement of peaceful dialogue, meaning in life, and perceived stress through dissimilar reactions to globalization (multicultural acquisition and ethnic protection) across the highly dissimilar contexts of the United States (n = 312) and Pakistan (n = 285). The results indicate that life skills were significantly associated with peaceful dialogue and meaning in life in both contexts, but the negative relationship with perceived stress only reached significance in the U.S. sample. Life skills were positively associated with peaceful dialogue and perceived stress through multicultural acquisition in the U.S. sample, and life skills were positively associated with meaning in life through ethnic protection in the Pakistani sample. The results are discussed vis-à-vis similarities and differences, suggesting life skills are relevant capabilities for addressing globalized challenges in everyday life.

The influences of online learning environments, self-efficacy, and interaction on learning achievement: the case of international students in China

ABSTRACT The research investigated the influences of international students’ perceived online learning environments, self-efficacy, and online interaction on their online learning achievement, as measured by these students’ self-reported development of generic skills, research capacities, and Chinese proficiency and global abilities. Data were generated by a nationwide survey involving 1,010 international students across disciplines at 41 universities in China. The SEM analysis showed that among all factors directly and positively supporting international students’ learning achievement, the two online environmental factors, i.e. accessibility to online learning resources and opportunities for knowledge acquisition, presented the strongest effects. The mediation analysis showed that through interaction, environmental interactivity had significant and positive indirect influences on learning achievement; and through self-efficacy, knowledge acquisition had significant and positive indirect influences on learning achievement. The SEM analysis also revealed a significant negative influence of environmental flexibility on international students’ generic skill development. Possible explanations for the results were proposed. Implications of the results were discussed to support the sustainable development of online international education.

Co-operative Learning in Undergraduate Mathematics and Science Education: A Scoping Review

To cope  with an unpredictable future, higher education in mathematics and science (MS) needs to educate a knowledgeable and skilled workforce. Co-operative learning (CL) is a teaching method associated with increased academic achievement and development of generic skills. Thus, the purposes of this scoping review are to assess the evidence base of CL in undergraduate MS education to inform teaching practices and to identify potential knowledge gaps to inform future research. The review covers 24 empirical studies conducted from 2010 to 2020 on the prevalence, uses, and outcomes of CL elements in undergraduate MS education. The results show that there are few such studies, and these are rarely conducted outside the US or in disciplines other than chemistry. The most frequently implemented CL elements in the included studies are heterogeneous group formation, the use of roles, and different CL structures. The most prevalent student outcome of implemented CL elements in the reviewed studies is enhanced academic success, followed by student attitudes, generic skills, and psychological health. The results have implications for future implementation of and research on CL in international MS higher education.

Authenticity ahead of interdisciplinarity – a scoping review of student experiences in interdisciplinary science projects

Interdisciplinary projects are reported to facilitate the development of both disciplinary and generic skills. They vary in their design and implementation, but the effectiveness of different project models has not been studied. The aim of this study was to determine student satisfaction, engagement with learning and development of employability skills across interdisciplinary projects with different delivery models. This scoping review appraises interdisciplinary projects implemented in science-based undergraduate degree programs. Projects with varying models of delivery, interdisciplinarity, authenticity and external partner involvement were examined, and the reported student learning and satisfaction ratings compared. Descriptive statistics and cross tabulation using Fisher’s Exact test were used to analyse the data. The interdisciplinary project model had little effect on engagement with learning, but student satisfaction improved if the project task was rated as authentic (p<0.05). Improved learning was reported in about half of the projects reviewed. Improved employability was reported in projects where students used discipline-based skills to provide a consultancy (p<0.05), and those where an external partner was involved (p<0.05). The interdisciplinary project model did not affect disciplinary or employability skill development, apart from interdisciplinary competence, which was significantly improved in a truly interdisciplinary project (p<0.01). Interpersonal skill development was significantly improved where projects had integrated rather than sequential tasks (p<0.05). Overall, interdisciplinary projects that were authentic and/or involved an external partner generated better student satisfaction and real-world experience. These results inform the future design of interdisciplinary project-based learning tasks and encourage involvement of external partners in project design and delivery.

Juxtaposing generic skills development in collaborative knowledge work competences and related pedagogical practices in higher education

This study employs the term knowledge work competence to address generic aspects of higher education graduates’ expected learning outcomes. Twenty-eight higher education courses were investigated: 1069 students responded to the Collaborative Knowledge Practices (CKP) questionnaire to rate their self-evaluated competence development. From the same courses, 56 teachers provided descriptions of the course pedagogical practices. First, students’ self-reported generic collaboration competence gains were analyzed statistically for differences between courses. Second, qualitative categorization of the pedagogical practices based on rich description of pedagogical designs and teachers’ reflective responses was carried out. This offered a categorization with elaborated descriptions and a clustering to three types of enacted pedagogical practices. Finally, the study juxtaposed these previous two results to investigate how the pedagogical features were related to students’ self-evaluations on collaboration competence gains. The findings highlighted one cluster of pedagogical practices, collaborative knowledge creation with systematic support for epistemic and group work, as most beneficial for student competence gains. In it, professional ways of working were explicitly modeled and practiced, teacher support for knowledge creation during contact teaching was available, and time was reserved for reflection with students. Such pedagogical practices are important to ensure graduates’ fluent transition to complex knowledge work.

What Factors of the Teaching and Learning Environment Support the Learning of Generic Skills? First-Year Students’ Perceptions in Medicine, Dentistry and Psychology

Future health professions need generic skills in their working lives, such as knowledge analysis, collaboration, communication and problem-solving skills. The teaching and learning environment is crucial in the development of generic skills when studying at university. The aim of this research was to examine students’ perceptions of learning generic skills during their first study year and how the teaching and learning environment related to their learning perceptions. The data were collected from first-year students (medicine n = 215, dentistry n = 70 and psychology n = 89) who completed a questionnaire at the end of their first study year. Two cohorts of first-year students from 2020 and 2021 were combined. The teaching and learning environments in medicine, dentistry and psychology differed from each other. The results showed that learning of problem-solving, communication and collaboration skills were emphasized more among medical and dental students, whereas analytical skills more among psychology students. There were no statistically significant differences in perceptions of the teaching and learning environment. Perceptions of generic skills and the teaching and learning environment were positively related to each other. In medicine, the strongest predictors of generic skills were peer support and feedback and in dentistry, peer support, interest and relevance. In psychology, the strongest predictors were interest and relevance. The results emphasize the relevance of the teaching and learning environment in learning generic skills.

Graduates’ Employability Index of Generic and Innovative Skills: A Survey of Employers in Ogun State, Nigeria

This paper assesses employers’ perception on generic and innovative skills as indicators of graduates’ employability.  A cross-sectional survey of employers, managers, human capital practitioners and consultants was conducted across different types of work organisations in Ogun State, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling involving stratification and random selection was used such that 60 participants were taken from each of private and public sectors and randomly selected to make a total of 120 participants reached in the study.  A 20-item questionnaire with a four-point likert rating scale was developed and administered to the subjects.   Data collected were analysed with multiple regression analysis.   The results reveal high employers’ demand for generic skills and remarkable innovative skill on the part of graduates as such skills represent core work-demand competence and attributes that could enhance employment opportunities of graduates in a work organisation and foster the fulfilment of employers’ needs from employed graduates.  Hence, graduates’ employability is regarded as a function of the ability to demonstrate mastery or competence in array of generic and innovative skills.   The study calls for  a redirection in higher education towards generic and innovative skills development and mastery, personal development efforts by graduates and collaboration among schools, government agencies and industries towards producing competent manpower for industrial need.  

Work ready graduates for Australian small and medium Accounting firms

Approximately 40% of graduate recruitment in Australia is by small and medium accounting (SMA) firms, firms which can face different constraints compared to their larger counterparts. Given the attributes of SMA firms it is important to appreciate what they consider makes a work ready graduate. This article reports the findings of a study that explores what makes a graduate work ready when commencing employment within an Australian SMA firm. The findings suggest that a work ready graduate for an SMA firm has a working knowledge and understanding of business accounting software programs, taxation knowledge and tax software skills. Additionally, there is a high emphasis on communication and interpersonal skills. This raises the question as to whether current university degrees are providing adequate technical and generic skill development for those graduates seeking employment with SMA firms.

Generic skills of future built environment practitioners in South Africa: unexplored mechanism via students’ perception

PurposeResearchers and policymakers have given attention to generic skills development in higher institutions. One of the intentions is to broaden graduate employability with generic skills. In South Africa, there is a paucity of research concerning future built environment practitioners’ (FBEP) generic skills development from the students’ perspective. Thus, this paper aims to investigate South Africa’s FBEP generic skills and suggest feasible solutions to improve FBEP generic skills from the students’ perception.Design/methodology/approachThe researchers collated the views of FBEP via a phenomenology type of qualitative research design. It covered selected South African public universities and investigated the discourses that underpin “perceived hindrance” in developing generic skills for FBEP. Selected 30 FBEP were engaged in the virtual interviews across three public universities. Data saturation was achieved. Three themes emerged and were analysed through a thematic analysis.FindingsFindings show that FBEP generic skills development will enhance integrated productivity and higher value for money in construction project delivery. But developing these skills demands a holistic approach. Findings have raised concern with the perceived hindrances facing FBEP in developing generic skills. Findings suggest the need to revisit and revamp the curricula to develop these skills and strengthen policies that will “nip” possible hindrances.Research limitations/implicationsThis study was limited to South Africa’s FBEP generic skills from students’ perception. In line with the limited resources, three public universities were covered from the selected provinces in South Africa. Future research with a more diverse sample is needed to ensure a better representative and generalisation of findings.Practical implicationsFindings show that apart from academic knowledge system thinking skills, civic responsibility skills and critical thinking skills are germane for intending construction industry professionals. Others are integrated teamwork skills, good attitude and communication skills, entrepreneurship skills and resources management skills. Findings from this paper may stir up the education sector’s stakeholders to revamp the curricula in enhancing these skills among students from the basic to higher institutions. The outcome will improve productivity in the construction industry.Originality/valueAlthough few scholars have discussed generic skills in the built environment, there are limited studies from the students’ context in developing countries, a South Africa case study, a gap this research aims to fill. Also, it proffers ways to mitigate perceived hindrances facing FBEP in developing generic skills.

Integrating Digital Technologies in Accounting Preservice Teacher Education

The importance of developing technological skills at the undergraduate level to form better professionals is no longer questionable, assuming a particular role in subjects as accounting education. However, it appears that technologies are still weakly used in education and training. This article intends to analyse i) how students' technological skills development can be promoted, ii) in what way the integration of digital technologies in the curriculum is managed, and iii) what influence teaching, assessment and learning methods have, in the development of generic skills, especially technological skills. Presents a case study in the master's degree in Economics and Accounting Teaching, that forms teachers to vocational secondary education in this area. A qualitative approach was used with the support of participant observation and a questionnaire to finalist students. The case study is based on the active teacher training model that promotes technological skills using teaching and assessment methods for active learning.

Impact of COVID-19 on Students' Generic Skills - A Case Study in a University from a Developing Country

The education sector was considerably affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, risking the learning process and forcing governments to pull out contingency actions to ensure the students' development of generic and specific skills and guarantee education quality. These actions include the shift to online and hybrid (i.e., online and in-person) classes. This work assesses the pandemic effect on the generic skills of undergraduate students in a Colombian university. The study aims to determine the effect of COVID- 19 on the development of generic skills quantitatively. Two datasets were retrieved: i) A dataset with the scores obtained by the students in an institutional Generic Skills test and in the midterm tests; ii) A dataset with the students' scores in the Colombian standardized test for undergraduate students, called the Saber Pro test. Three analysis stages were performed: i) Univariate exploratory analysis; ii) Differential analysis to compare the No COVID vs. COVID scenarios; iii) A correlation analysis. Results showed that the scores of the Generic Skills and the Midterm tests increased significantly when comparing the two scenarios, except for the Written Communication. As for the Saber Pro test, only the scores for Written Comprehension, Quantitative Reasoning, and the global scores increased significantly. On the other hand, the correlation analysis showed a strong correlation only between the scores obtained at the Generic Skills and the Saber Pro tests for the English Proficiency skill. In addition, the analysis elucidated a weak correlation between the Generic Skills test's average and the Saber Pro's global score. Finally, the results prove that online education is a feasible alternative that offers students more flexibility to ensure the development of generic and specific skills.

The Effectiveness of Vocational Teacher Training Program in Enhancing Communication Skills Among Prospective Vocational Teachers

Abstract: Malaysia moves forward to increase the number of high skilled laborers in 2025. This expectation, however, reflects the readiness of education institutions in offering good students preparation before getting into the real workplace environment. Teacher is one of the crucial models in an education system that may impart with the dynamic changes in student skills acquisition and thus the development of generic skills among future teachers are seems necessary, especially communication skills itself. As in Malaysia, the efforts in the development of teachers' skills in communication have been fully established and implemented in the curriculum of the Vocational Teacher’s Training Program. This study was done to distinguish the perceptions of students in mastering the Interpersonal Communication Skills among Technical and Vocational Education and Training (PLTV) students after attending the Vocational Teacher Training Program. The sample consists of 200 respondents with a total of 158 prospective teachers of undergraduate students from the Faculty of Technical and Vocational Education, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) as well as 42 people of prospective teachers of undergraduates from the Faculty of Technical and Vocational, UPSI. The methodology that has been used is descriptive and inferential statistics through a questionnaire with a five-point scale and Cronbach Alpha coefficient of 0.954. The analysis showed no significant difference between students who participated in the program and not participate program. This is, however, the overall mean value among students attending the program is slightly higher than students not attending the program indicating that this program is statistically able to improvise students’ skills in the future. Therefore, the empowerment in the implementation of the Vocational Teacher’s Training Program seems crucial so that it could continuously strengthen the communication skills among prospective teachers. Keywords: interpersonal communication skills, program bina insan guru vokasional (bigv), prospective vocational teacher program, teacher training program

A Review of the Literature on the Relationship of Music Education to the Development of Socio-Emotional Learning

Social-emotional learning (SEL) is a topic of increasing focus in the education sector. SEL is the process by which children acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to effectively recognize and manage emotions, to formulate positive goals, to feel empathy for others, to establish and maintain functioning social relationships. It develops to take responsible decisions, determine students’ successful academic performance, transformation into adulthood, useful work, a good quality of life, and well-being. By the end of the 20th century the educational role of music has come into the spotlight, and in addition to the impact of music on the development of general skills, its social and emotional effects are also the subject of research. This paper undertakes to explore the literature about the connections between music education and social-emotional skill development. For the collection and analysis of information, online sources of peer-reviewed scientific journals in addition to the university library were used. The study also examined the relationship between social-emotional learning and the world-wide well-known Kodály Concept and the effect of Kodály’s vision of music education as a forerunner of socio-emotional skills development. The relationship between social-emotional skills and music was explored by reviewing the international music-specific literature from music psychology, music education, music therapy, and music for health and wellbeing. In order to illuminate the problem and to develop a holistic approach, the 100 studies presented here summarize research findings made and presented in different countries around the world.

Students Engagement and Development of Generic Skills in Gamified Hybrid Service-Learning Course

Hybrid Service-Learning, an emerging trend of combining co-curriculum course embedded with service-learning instructional strategies in online settings, has increasingly gained popularity, as many service-learning educators are moving into online platforms. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has accentuated its needs, thus forcing education systems worldwide to find alternatives to face-to-face instructions, one of them being Hybrid Service-Learning. This has prompted many researchers to attempt utilising gamification in online courses to increase students’ engagement. The purpose of this research was to report a gamified Hybrid Service-Learning (GAMYSEL) through students’ level of engagement proposed by Schlechty, used as a data classification to compare students’ scorings in their earning of points, badges, level and leaderboards. The results of the study indicated that, the students’ levels of engagement were relatively high through Advocacy Hybrid-Service Learning approach, where majority of them achieved the Strategic Compliance and Optimal Engagement categories. The students’ generic skills were further analysed with one-way repeated measures ANOVA and it was discovered that, GAMYSEL had positive impacts in developing these skills in five stages of service-learning. Both of these findings suggest that student’s engagement and generic skills had a significant effect on students learning after the use of GAMYSEL.

Generic Skills, Academic Achievement, and Means of Improving the Former

In Canada, in general – and in the Province of Ontario in particular – academics, employers, and government agencies are concerned with the low generic skill levels of university students and graduates. The assumption is that such deficiencies detract from academic and job success. Despite this concern, in Canada, research has not focused on potential links between objectively measured generic skills and grades recorded in administrative records. In view of this lacuna, the current research has two objectives. First, to assess the net effect of objectively measured generic skills on academic achievement as recorded in administrative records. Second, to determine the efficacy of an online course dedicated to the development of generic skills. Overall, I found that generic skills were better predictors of students’ achievement than high school grades used in admission processes; the relationship between high school grades and generic skill levels was weak; students’ generic skill levels did not improve over time; and an online course devoted to increasing students’ generic skills was effective in boosting skills to an acceptable level. Accordingly, if they are concerned with academic achievement, universities in Ontario and in other jurisdictions in which students are admitted to university primarily based on their secondary school grades might make the development of generic skills a priority; however, unless such skills are demanded across the curriculum, they will atrophy.