Workplace Competencies Research Articles

Design of an Innovative Double Degree Graduate Program in Health Informatics and Nursing: Bridging Nursing and Health Informatics Competencies

This article describes a novel double-degree Master’s program in Nursing and Health Informatics. The program was designed to prepare nurses with graduate level competencies in both nursing and health informatics. Such competencies are essential for professionals working in the rapidly expanding fields of nursing and health informatics. There is an immediate and longer-term need for clinical professionals with such expertise in Canada. Furthermore, a program was needed to provide graduate level credentialing in nursing and health informatics so graduate students could develop needed workplace competencies at the intersection of nursing and health informatics in the international move towards electronic health records. The double-degree program described in this paper is the first of its kind. The design, underlying rationale, and initial experiences with the program are described in detail in this paper.

Curriculum Planning: Trends in Communication Studies, Workplace Competencies, and Current Programs at 4-Year Colleges and Universities

Many communication scholars recognize the need to regularly explore current communication curriculum and to evaluate its contribution to meeting the needs of students and the demands of the workplace. However, within the communication discipline, current curricular decisions are based on studies conducted nearly a decade ago. This study (a) analyzes current course offerings in communication department curricula in a random sample of 148 four-year colleges and universities, (b) contrasts these data with results from earlier studies to identify current curriculum trends within the communication discipline, and (c) contrasts these findings with employer demands for communication skills to meet workplace competencies. Ultimately, this paper identifies specific curriculum shifts and offers suggestions about specific course offerings to provide some guidance in curriculum development.

Rethinking assessment of marketing research skills and knowledge: a new approach

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present an approach to identify the knowledge, skills, and abilities required by a job market by systematically analyzing classified advertisements of position openings. It suggests appropriate methodological techniques to conduct such a study and compares these to traditional methods.Design/methodology/approachWhile this paper discusses several methods used to assess the skill, knowledge, and ability (SKA) needs in the marketing research industry, it focuses on a new approach: content analysis. Content analysis is a systematic and an objective qualitative research technique used to identify the needs of hiring firms through the analysis of classified advertisements of position openings in marketing research. These openings (listings available online and through print classified advertisements) can be examined for the general and specific marketing research skills and knowledge areas identified as critical workplace competencies for employers.FindingsContent analysis is an alternative, or supplemental method, not meant to replace, but rather to enhance other methods of assessing the industry's SKA needs.Practical implicationsHuman resource managers and personnel responsible for developing professional training and development programs will also benefit from these findings. Assessment results can also be useful in designing marketing research programs, adjusting existing marketing research curricula, and enhancing marketing research career service development efforts.Originality/valueWhile content analysis has previously been used to assess advertisements, this is a unique application of the method which adds objectivity to marketplace assessment.

Allied Health Care Employees' Workplace Skills and Competencies: Are They Prepared?

The purpose this study was to determine the extent to which allied health care providers considered the Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS, 1991) and competencies as those that are necessary for entry level employment in the allied health care industry. The extent that allied health care supervisors and manages perceived their entry level employees as sufficiently possessing SCANS skills and competencies was also determined. Existing differences between the two data sets sere then examined. This study suggested that the workplace basic skills and competencies identified in the SCANS report were perceived to be valid and necessary for the allied health care industry. Furthermore, the study indicated that “skill gaps” exist between perceived allied health care industry requirements and perceived entry level skills and competencies of entry level employees.

Technical Education Curriculum Assessment

The purpose of this paper is to describe and determine the efficacy of a Technical Education Curriculum Assessment (TECA). The TECA was designed to guide the judgment of the quality of technical education curricular materials. Three research strands were combined into a theoretical framework which underlies the education of effective technicians. The TECA consists of sets of rubrics which focus on workplace competencies, technical accuracy, and pedagogical soundness. The rubrics were constructed using a deductive-inductive approach. This was an iterative process that ensured validity by moving back and forth from the theoretical framework uncovered in the literature review (deductive) to the application of the rubrics to actual curricular materials (inductive). We describe the process of rubrics development and provide data which support their validity and reliability. This psychometrically sound instrument should assist industry and education professionals to make more informed decisions when designing, implementing, and evaluating technical education curriculum.

Fostering Creativity in Business Education: Developing Creative Classroom Environments to Provide Students With Critical Workplace Competencies

This article explores the value of exposing students to creative classroom environments in business education to prepare them for creative workplaces. A study of student perceptions in four undergraduate business classrooms indicates that dimensions of creativity training, such as providing time and rewards for creativity, stimulating risk taking, diversity of thinking, cooperation, and questioning of assumptions, can be effctively integrated into business education.

Relevance and Quality in Australian Tourism Higher Education

Partnerships between educators and industry professionals can facilitate students' tourism career opportunities. Considering this, a mail-out questionnaire was undertaken to assess the attitudes and perceptions of tourism educators (n = 56) and tourism professionals (n = 100) on tourism education issues. Results indicated that one-quarter of professionals believe university tourism majors provide graduates with a competitive advantage and both groups consider tourism/hospitality, marketing and management as important business majors. Competencies in logical thinking, social interaction, tourism knowledge and concepts, and generic skills are also considered important by both groups with specific workplace competencies and professional experience considered relatively less important by educators (p < .05). In conclusion, communication networks jointly facilitatedby academicsand industry are recommended.

Teacher preparation: A collaborative model

Criticism of education and teacher preparation persists. The “Teachers Educating and Motivating Students,” or TEAMS, model was developed to address this criticism. The TEAMS model has been structured using a Professional Development School (PDS) concept as the core component. The model is a competency‐based, structured block program featuring concurrent enrollment in groups of courses and a corresponding field component. Evaluation of the TEAMS program is a continuing process. Completion of a “perceptions” survey and a workplace competencies instrument by students and mentors/administrators revealed that the TEAMS program is accomplishing intended goals. Furthermore, t tests revealed only one significant difference in perceived adequacy between students and mentors/administrators on the workplace competencies. The data also revealed an overall positive attitude toward the project and satisfaction regarding the achievement of workplace competencies.

‘Reporting Trainee Competence: what, and how much do employers need to know?

ABSTRACT Three major elements in the Australian national workplace reform agenda are the introduction of key/generic workplace competencies, national occupational employment standards and a competency‐based education‐training system that recognises prior learning and assures development of identified competencies, both generic and occupationally specific. Attempts to develop effective and efficient assessment schemes to determine participant competence are underway. A continuing major concern, however, is how best to report information to potential employers. While employers need sufficient relevant information to make informed hiring decisions there is the distinct danger of providing too much detailed information in a competency‐based education system that it is not able to be used in a timely and efficient fashion. This paper reviews the merits of selected reporting schemes being considered, and then presents questions for further research about employers' reactions to reporting of competency information.