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Data-driven decision making has become increasingly important in education. Policymakers require educators to use data to inform practice. Although the policy emphasis is growing, what has not increased is attention to building human capacity around data use. Educators need to gain data literacy skills to inform practice. Although some professional development opportunities exist for current educators, fewer formal courses and opportunities for data literacy development in schools of education have been developed and implemented. This article explores issues around the growing need for data-driven decision making in programs in schools of education. The issues are complex and the actors needed to bring about change are multiple. A systems perspective to explore course and programmatic implementation is presented.

For students to learn 21st-century skills, we will have to teach them differently than we have in the past. The outdated, transmission model, through which teachers transmit factual knowledge to students via lectures and textbooks, remains the dominant approach to compulsory education in much of the world, yet it is not the most effective way to teach 21st-century skills. Students are not developing 21st-century skills because they are not explicitly taught and because they are more difficult to assess than factual retention. The authors summarize nine lessons from the science of learning telling how students learn 21st-century skills and how pedagogy can address their needs.

Soft skills are a collection of people management skills, important to many professions and job positions, including academic librarianship. Yet the concept of soft skills lacks definition, scope, instrumentation, and systematic education and training. This literature review explores the definition of soft skills ; contrasts skills with related concepts, such as personality traits, attitudes, beliefs, and values; and compares a set of soft skill typologies. We discuss a number of conceptual issues associated with soft skills and suggest several lines of research to help clarify and strengthen librarians’ understanding of and development of soft skills.

The aim of the study was to validate the Portuguese version of the Ottawa Mental Skills Assessment Tool (OMSAT 3p) through confirmatory factor analyses of the measurement model, and gender invariance. A total of 524 Portuguese athletes (male and female) aged between 12 and 42 years old, participated in this study (M = 19.21; SD = 5.46). The main results show that the psychometric qualities of the 48-item OMSAT 3 are adequate and that it has acceptable validity, allowing it to assess Foundation Skills (SRMR = 0.042, CFI = 0.999, TLI = 0.998, RMSEA = 0.008 and χ2 /df = 1.46), Psychosomatic Skills (SRMR = 0.056, CFI = 0.979, TLI = 0.975, RMSEA = 0.042 and χ2 /df = 1.93) and Cognitive Skills (SRMR = 0.058, CFI = 0.973, TLI = 0.968, RMSEA = 0.044 and χ2 /df =1.99). This version also showed adequate values for configural, metric and scalar invariance by gender (ΔCFI < 0.01) (ΔRMSEA <0,01). The Portuguese version of the OMSAT 3 can be used with reasonable confidence to assess psychological skills in a sports context.

Strengthening social and emotional skills can be particularly relevant concerning the emerging skills need as it yields benefits for individuals’ successful development. A growing body of research suggests that social and emotional competences are associated with well-being and positive life and academic outcomes. Despite the notable benefits of social and emotional skills, assessment tools are still scarce or target specific risk and problematic behaviours. This systematic review seeks to address this gap and identify instruments measuring social and emotional skills for students in elementary through secondary education. This review also aims to describe the study characteristics and key features of the identified instruments and to assess the extent to which the instruments comprehensively evaluate the five Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) areas of competence. A systematic search of the literature was carried out in Scopus, Web of Science and ERIC databases. This review resulted in the identification of 25 unique assessments over a 20-year period, reported on the basis of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Our results suggest a rapid growth and notable advancements of social and emotional skills assessment systems and demonstrate the direct influence of the CASEL framework. Our results also show that a combination of multi-method and multi-informant assessment should be employed to effectively assess social and emotional skills. Thus, this paper contributes to support school-based practitioners and psychologists in their efforts to lead social and emotional skills instruction and assessment in routine educational practice.

Background Traditional training in obstetric ultrasound is constrained by patient availability and ethical concerns. In contrast, simulation-based medical education offers a safe, repeatable, and realistic alternative by replicating clinical environments for hands-on practice. This study aims to evaluate the clinical transferability of skills acquired through simulation and compare its effectiveness with traditional training in improving residents’ ultrasound competencies. Methods This prospective randomized controlled study included 22 PGY-2 or PGY-3 residents recruited between 2020 and 2021. Participants were randomly assigned to either the simulator ( n  = 11) or traditional ( n  = 11) group. All participants underwent short-term mid-trimester fetal ultrasound training program consisting of 2 h of theoretical instruction and 5 h of hands-on skills training, using either a simulator or pregnant volunteers. Participants were required to complete mid-trimester ultrasound assessments on both the simulator and pregnant volunteers before and after training. Assessment scores were evaluated by ultrasound consultants using the validated Objective Ultrasound Competency Assessment Tool. Results After training, both groups showed significant improvement in post-test scores ( p  < 0.05). Trainees in the simulator group not only demonstrated enhanced assessment scores in the simulated environment (57.7 ± 11.0vs81.0 ± 5.6, p  < 0.01) but also exhibited notable improvements in their skills in the real clinical setting (53.5 ± 8.8vs74.1 ± 12.0, p  < 0.01). A comparison of the assessment scores between the two groups revealed that the type of training had a significant impact on the residents’ performance improvement, with simulator-based training proving to be more effective than traditional training ( p  < 0.05) and showing a large effect size (Partial η²>0.14). Pearson correlation analysis indicated a strong positive correlation between the scores of assessment on simulator and the scores of assessment on pregnant volunteers ( r  > 0.7). Conclusions Simulation-Based Medical Education enhances residents’ performance in both simulated environments and real clinical settings and is more effective than traditional clinical training methods. Additionally, simulation can serve as a powerful complement to traditional training and a safe alternative to patient-based assessment methods involving pregnant women. Trial registration This trial was registered at the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry with registration number ChiCTR2500107408 on August 11, 2025 (Retrospectively registered).

In this two-year longitudinal study, we sought to examine the developmental relationships among early narrative listening comprehension and language skills (i.e., vocabulary knowledge, sentence memory, and phonological awareness) and the roles of these factors in predicting narrative listening comprehension at the age of 6 years. We also sought to examine the role of inference-making skills as longitudinal and concurrent predictors of other language skills and listening comprehension from the age of 4 to 6 years. One hundred thirty Finnish-speaking children participated in the study. A theoretical model of the developmental relationships among the variables was proposed and the associations were analyzed by means of path analysis. Results showed that inference skills, assessed through picture-book viewing, made a significant and unique contribution to variation in later narrative listening comprehension. Inference skills also played an indirect role in narrative listening comprehension by making a significant contribution to vocabulary knowledge even after controlling for earlier vocabulary knowledge and sentence memory. Although vocabulary knowledge and sentence memory were related to concurrent narrative listening comprehension, they did not predict later listening comprehension over and above the autoregressor. The results are discussed in terms of the predictive validity and diagnostic sensitivity of inference skills assessments in listening comprehension. Implications for research and theory are also discussed.

IntroductionDuring laparoscopic surgery, surgeons may experience prolonged periods without fluid intake, which might impact surgical performance, yet there are no objective data investigating this issue. Therefore, the aim of this study was to elucidate the effect of prolonged dehydration on laparoscopic surgical performance and tissue handling.MethodsA total of 51 laparoscopic novices participated in a single-center, open-label, prospective randomized cross-over trial. All participants were trained to proficiency using a standardized laparoscopic training curriculum. Afterward, all participants performed four different laparoscopic tasks twice, once after 6 h without liquid intake (dehydrated group) and once without any restrictions (control group). Primary endpoints were tissue handling defined by force exertion, task time, and error rate. The real hydration status was assessed by biological parameters, like heart rate, blood pressure, and blood gas analysis.Results51 laparoscopic novices finished the curriculum and completed the tasks under both hydrated and dehydrated conditions. There were no significant differences in mean non-zero and peak force between the groups. However, dehydrated participants showed significantly slower task times in the Peg transfer task (hydrated: 139.2 s vs. dehydrated: 147.9 s, p = 0.034) and more errors regarding the precision in the laparoscopic suture and knot task (hydrated: 15.7% accuracy rate vs. dehydrated: 41.2% accuracy rate, p < 0.001).ConclusionProlonged periods of dehydration do not appear to have a substantial effect on the fundamental tissue handling skills in terms of force exertion among surgical novices. Nevertheless, the observed impact on speed and precision warrants attention.

Background Soft skill development is of growing importance in higher education. However, the definitions of soft skills are unclear and soft skill development and assessment in higher education are underexplored. Therefore, the research question of this study is as follows: What are the experiences of teaching staff and students of the bachelor’s internship in health sciences regarding soft skills development and assessment? Methods For this qualitative study, using a phenomenological approach, sixteen participants (ten university teachers and six bachelor students) were interviewed via semi structured interviews, based on the theoretical framework of Nicol & Macfarlane’s model of self-regulation. The results were analysed through thematic analysis. Results The experiences of soft skills were divided into eight themes related to development and assessment. In terms of development, it is [ 1 ] important to show a growth in soft skills. This development depends on [ 2 ] the perceived guidance provided by teachers [ 3 ], the type of internships, and [ 4 ] the perceived supervision in soft skills. Regarding assessment [ 5 ], teachers often struggle to evaluate soft skills, highlighting [ 6 ] the need for durable assessment of soft skills. Additionally [ 7 ], both students and teachers feel a need for more focus on soft skills in education. Furthermore [ 8 ], several prior factors, such as acknowledgement of soft skills and self-reflection skills, are mentioned to optimise student development. Conclusion This study highlights the importance of soft skills development and assessment in higher education. A clear definition of soft skills is recommended. Our findings demonstrate how teachers struggle with their role in soft skills supervision and assessment, with the consequence that students experience a lack of supervision and assessment in soft skills development.

Background This study investigates OSCE performance among Chinese undergraduate medical students to identify differences and analyze the interconnections among OSCE modules. Employing network analysis, we map the relationships between modules to determine their predictive strength and centrality to overall clinical competence, offering a novel perspective on skill integration and curriculum design. Methods Analyzing data from 3,710 students across three medical specialities (clinical medicine, anesthesiology, medical imaging) from a leading medical institution in Guangzhou, China (Grade 2011–2016), and the independent samples t-tests, analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearson’s correlation, and network analysis were employed to dissect performance trends, compare demographic group differences, and unearth the correlations among the examination modules. Results Significant differences were identified between genders, with female students consistently outperforming male students across modules and overall scores except for auxiliary examination analysis. Besides, specialities differed significantly in physical examination, basic operational skills, auxiliary examination analysis, and case analysis. Network analysis revealed that the nodes “Pediatric Skills” and “Nursing Skill” exhibit the strongest linkage, closely followed by “Cardiac Auscultation” and “Pulmonary Auscultation”. “General Physical Examination” is the most influential, with “Pediatric Skills” and “Gynecological Obstetrical Skills” also prominent. Conclusion From the perspective of medical education reform, reinforcing core skills like “General Physical Examination” and integrating modules to enhance skill synergy is pivotal. Implementing targeted educational interventions, including advanced training and clinical practice courses, will not only address performance disparities but also bolster students’ clinical acumen and communication skills, laying a robust foundation for superior patient care. The network analysis approach reveals how module performances interrelate, highlighting central modules whose improvement can boost related competencies. It complements traditional statistics, visualizing these relationships to inform OSCE reforms and enrich medical education.