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Public engagement practices continue to grow in prominence within higher education institutions in the United Kingdom, with increasing cultural and institutional pressure for academics to undertake such activities within their roles. However, it is unclear how well ‘traditional’ academic skills developed in research and teaching domains might support academics to engage in public engagement. The following qualitative study explores the topics of ‘public engagement skills’ and ‘skill transfer’ to reflect on the readiness of UK academics to undertake public engagement. A total of 15 STEM academics from UK institutions participated in semi-structured interviews to identify skills and perceptions of skill transfer between ‘traditional’ academic and public engagement activities. A series of skills were identified and classified in ‘communication’, ‘expressive engagement’ or ‘organisation and management’ categories, highlighting a range of skills commonly drawn upon in public engagement practice. Further questioning revealed two groups within the cohort – ‘transfer proponents’ and ‘skill separatists’ – who held differing perspectives on the transfer of academic skills to public engagement contexts. We reflect on the nature of skills and dispositions, practices of public engagement, and the need to support academics, with future research avenues highlighted.

To overview a framework that provides a theoretically-grounded approach to predicting the types of modified perceptual training tasks that will stimulate transfer of improved perceptual skills to sport performance environments. Modified perceptual training (MPT) collectively describes on- or off-field sports training tasks that are specifically designed to develop visual and perceptual-cognitive skill. Traditional training approaches in sport include sports vision training and perceptual-cognitive training, while recently, new technologies have enabled a broad range of additional MPT tools to become available to coaches and athletes. Short literature review and opinion article. Literature in the fields of sports vision training and perceptual-cognitive training are summarised and contrasted. A selection of emerging MPT technologies are then overviewed. This leads to the identification of three interacting factors of MPT task design that may influence the task’s capacity to transfer improved training performance to actual competition: (i) the targeted perceptual function, (ii) stimulus correspondence, and (iii) response correspondence, which are assimilated with key tenets of representative learning design. These three theoretically-grounded differences are adopted to support and justify the structure of the Modified Perceptual Training Framework which sets out predictions for future research to test in order to clarify the transfer effect of MPT tools. The application of the Modified Perceptual Training Framework may assist in future testing, design and selection of beneficial training tools in sport and as such, is predicted to have significant impact in empirical and practical settings.

Traditional swimming training methodologies face inherent limitations in providing personalized, adaptive, and scalable training solutions that accommodate diverse learning patterns and individual athlete characteristics. This research introduces a novel framework integrating multi-agent reinforcement learning with digital twin technology to create an intelligent swimming training environment capable of delivering personalized skill transfer optimization through meta-learning strategies. The proposed system addresses conventional training limitations by providing adaptive, data-driven training recommendations that evolve based on individual swimmer characteristics and performance dynamics. The multi-agent architecture enables simulation of complex training scenarios while incorporating real-time feedback mechanisms that continuously refine training strategies. Key contributions include: (1) development of a comprehensive digital twin swimming environment modeling biomechanical and hydrodynamic processes, (2) implementation of multi-agent reinforcement learning algorithms for personalized sports training, (3) integration of meta-learning based skill transfer optimization enabling efficient knowledge transfer across swimmers and contexts, and (4) experimental validation demonstrating improved training efficiency and performance outcomes. Experimental results show 34% faster convergence rates and 22% higher final performance scores compared to baseline methods, with 2.7× faster skill acquisition rates and 89% retention rates over extended periods. The framework demonstrates robust adaptation capabilities across diverse swimmer populations while maintaining computational efficiency and system stability.

Esports or competitive video gaming has been increasingly utilized to enhance essential twenty-first century skills. However, there is limited evidence on the extent to which the skills acquired from a gaming environment can be transferred to other settings. This study employed an experimental design to investigate the effectiveness of a competitive sandbox game environment in enabling the transfer of the 4Cs skills to both near and far tasks, in contrast with a non-game environment. A cohort of 110 students from a university were randomly allocated to both conditions for the 4Cs skills training. The skills transferability was measured through self-reports, observations, and interviews. The findings indicated no significant differences in the transfer of creativity, critical thinking, and communication skills in near and far settings following both training environments. Interestingly, a competitive gaming environment significantly facilitated the transfer of collaboration skills to near tasks evidenced by performance-based assessments. Moreover, although the hypotheses 1c and 3c were not statistically supported, the small to medium effect size suggests that there were practical differences between the groups in self-reported collaboration skills in near and far tasks. Additionally, analysis of individual interviews with 41 participants indicated that the successful transference was attributed to an array of scaffolds (i.e., mentorship, collaborative problem-solving environment, autonomy, and guided checklists) while the failure to detect positive effects was explained by various constraints (i.e., unfamiliarity with game rules, limited time, lack of practice, and established cognitive patterns). These findings add new insights into the literature on game-based learning and transfer of learning and inform researchers to further investigate the longitudinal effect of skills transfer and retention in both academic and professional spheres.

BackgroundThere is limited evidence on the transferability of conventional laparoscopic and open surgical skills to robotic-assisted surgery. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the transferability of expertise in conventional laparoscopy and open surgery to robotic-assisted surgery using the da Vinci Skills Simulator (dVSS). Secondary aims included evaluating the influence of individual participants’ characteristics.MethodsParticipants performed four tasks on the dVSS: Peg Board 1 (PB), Pick and Place (PP), Thread the Rings (TR), and Suture Sponge 1 (SS). Participants were classified into three groups (Novice, Intermediate, Experts) according to experience in laparoscopic and open surgery. All tasks were performed twice except for SS. Performance was assessed using the built-in scoring system.Results37 medical students and 25 surgeons participated. Experts did not perform significantly better than less experienced participants on the dVSS. Specifically, with regard to laparoscopic experience, total simulator scores were: Novices 68.2 ± 28.8; Intermediates 65.1 ± 31.2; Experts 65.1 ± 30.0; p = 0.611. Regarding open surgical experience, scores were: Novices 68.6 ± 28.7; Intermediates 68.2 ± 30.8; Experts 63.2 ± 30.3; p = 0.305. Although there were some significant differences among groups for single parameters in specific tasks, there was no constant superiority of one group. Laparoscopic and open surgical Novices improved significantly in overall score and time for all three tasks (p < 0.05). Laparoscopic intermediates improved only in PP time (4.64 ± 3.42; p = 0.006), open Intermediates in PB score (11.98 ± 13.01; p = 0.025), and open Experts in PP score (6.69 ± 11.48; p = 0.048). Laparoscopic experts showed no improvement. Participants with gaming experience had better overall scores than non-gamers when comparing all second attempts (Gamer 83.62 ± 7.57; Non-Gamer 76.31 ± 12.78; p = 0.008) as well as first and second attempts together (Gamer 72.08 ± 8.86; Non-Gamer 65.45 ± 11.68; p = 0.039). Musical and sports experience showed no correlation with robotic performance.ConclusionsRobotic-assisted surgery requires skills distinct from conventional laparoscopy or open surgery. Basic robotic skills training prior to patient contact should be required.

This paper proposed a skill transmission technique for the mobile robot via learning by demonstration. When the material is transported to the designated location, the robot can show the human-like capabilities: autonomous tracking target. In this case, a skill transmission framework is designed, which the Kinect sensor is utilized to distinguish human activity recognition to create a planned path. Moreover, the dynamic movement primitive method is implemented to represent the teaching data, and the Gaussian mixture regression is utilized to encode the learning trajectory. Furthermore, in order to realize the accurate position control of trajectory tracking, a model predictive tracking control is investigated, where the recurrent neural network is used to eliminate the uncertain interaction. Finally, some experimental tasks using the mobile robot (BIT-6NAZA) are carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed techniques in real-world scenarios.

Robot grasping constitutes an essential capability in fulfilling the complexities of advanced industrial operations. This field has been extensively investigated to address a range of practical applications. However, the generation of a stable grasp remains challenging, principally due to the constraints imposed by object geometries and the diverse objectives of the tasks. In this work, we propose a novel learning from demonstration-based grasp-planning framework. This framework is designed to extract crucial human grasp skills, namely the contact region and approach direction, from a single demonstration. Then, it formulates an optimization problem that integrates the extracted skills to generate a stable grasp. Distinct from conventional methods that rely on learning implicit synergies through human demonstration or on mapping the dissimilar kinematics between human hands and robot grippers, our approach focuses on learning the intuitive human intent that involves the potential contact regions and the grasping approach direction. Furthermore, our optimization formulation is capable of identifying the optimal grasp by minimizing the surface fitting error between the demonstrated contact regions on the object and the gripper finger surface and imposing a penalty for any misalignment between the demonstrated and the gripper’s approach directions. A series of experiments is conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm through both simulations and real-world scenarios.

Exercise modes can be categorized based on the skills required (open vs. closed skills), which implicates various demands on cognitive skills, especially executive functions (EFs). Thus, their practice may have varying effects on EFs. There is a lack of detailed analysis of cognitive requirements and suitable classification of sports. It is hypothesized that the amount and type of cognitive requirements of sports lead to small effect sizes when comparing open-skill exercising (OSE) and closed-skill exercising (CSE) athletes. The current meta-analysis evaluates the variances in EFs skills caused by particular sport modes. Four research databases (Web of Science, PubMed, ScienceDirect, PsychINFO) were searched for cross-sectional studies in which the authors compare the performance in EF tasks of OSE and CSE athletes. Risk of bias assessment was conducted using funnel plots and two reviewer selection process (overall and subgroup analysis; low risk of publication and selection bias). A total of 19 studies were included, revealing an overall effect size of Hedge’s g = 0.174 (p = 0.157), favoring OSE for the development of EFs. The subgroup analysis revealed the effects for the subdomains of EFs (cognitive flexibility: Hedge’s g = 0.210 > inhibitory control: Hedge’s g = 0.191 > working memory: Hedge’s g = 0.138; p > 0.05), which could be characterized as low to moderate. The hypothesis that studies with the smallest effect sizes compare sport modes with similar cognitive demands was rejected. The paper discusses the differentiation of sports into OSE and CSE and presents new approaches for their categorization.

We examine the impact of modifying the difficulty level of venipuncture at different training stages on the enhancement of skill transfer. Medical students were recruited and assigned into either a control or an experimental group, both underwent 4 days of training. The control group practices venipuncture tasks under quiet and consistent environment. The experimental group were given pressures by the standardized patients or exposure to noise environment in the late training stages. The performance was videotaped. All trainees were assessed one day (Test 1) and one week (Test 2) post-training for skill transfer. At Test 1, the experimental group showed significantly shorter puncture time (P = 0.042) and a near-significant trend for skin disinfection time (P = 0.055), while total task time did not differ significantly. At Test 2, the experimental group demonstrated significantly shorter total task time (P = 0.039), skin disinfection time (P = 0.023), puncture time (P = 0.035), and tourniquet banding time (P < 0.001). No significant differences were observed in overall performance scores, but doctor‑patient communications showed significant differences between groups at Test 1 (P = 0.000) and within‑group changes in the control group (P = 0.004). Evidence from video analysis suggests that adjusting the difficulty of training can enhance the skill transfer in the venipuncture task, primarily by improving procedural efficiency, which inspires us to explore more effective way to improve the training outcomes.

Home economics education equips students with essential life skills that support sustainable living and family well-being. Despite extensive curriculum development, limited research has examined whether students apply home economics competencies in real-life contexts. The present study evaluated the frequency of application and self-reported competency of home economics skills among 200 junior high school students. The findings revealed a high frequency of application and self-reported competency in areas such as home management, meal preparation and clothing care, while skills like sewing, handicrafts and food preservation showed a low frequency of application and self-reported competency. Mismatches between frequency of application and self-reported competency were also observed, with some skills being frequently applied despite low confidence, or vice versa, highlighting variability in student experience. These results suggest overestimated abilities, limited practice or contextual barriers affecting skill transfer. Curriculum implications include emphasising hands-on, experiential learning, contextualised practice and targeted reinforcement to ensure effective skill application at home. Strengthening these strategies can enhance practical competency, promote sustainable living and support lifelong well-being. Izobraževanje na področju gospodinjstva opremi učence z osnovnimi življenjskimi veščinami, ki podpirajo trajnostno življenje in blaginjo družine. Kljub obsežnemu razvoju na področju učnih načrtov je le malo raziskav do zdaj preučevalo, ali učenci uporabljajo kompetence iz gospodinjstva v realnem življenju. V tej študiji smo ocenjevali pogostost uporabe in samoporočano kompetentnost, kar zadeva veščine iz gospodinjstva, med 200 učenci zadnjega triletja osnovne šole. Ugotovitve so pokazale visoko pogostost uporabe in samoporočane kompetentnosti na področjih, kot so: gospodinjstvo, priprava hrane in skrb za oblačila, medtem ko so veščine, kot so: šivanje, ročna dela in konzerviranje hrane, pokazale nizko pogostost uporabe in samoporočane kompetentnosti. Opazili smo tudi neskladje med pogostostjo uporabe in samoporočano kompetentnostjo, pri čemer so bile nekatere veščine pogosto uporabljene kljub nizki samozavesti ali nasprotno, kar poudarja raznolikost izkušenj učencev. Ti izsledki kažejo na precenjene zmožnosti, omejeno prakso ali kontekstualne ovire, ki vplivajo na prenos veščin. Implikacije za učni načrt vključujejo poudarjanje praktičnega, izkustvenega učenja, kontekstualizirane prakse in ciljno okrepitev, da se zagotovi učinkovita uporaba veščin doma. Krepitev teh strategij lahko izboljša praktično kompetentnost, spodbuja trajnostno življenje in podpira vseživljenjsko dobro počutje. Izobraževanje na področju gospodinjstva opremi učence z osnovnimi življenjskimi veščinami, ki podpirajo trajnostno življenje in blaginjo družine. Kljub obsežnemu razvoju na področju učnih načrtov je le malo raziskav do zdaj preučevalo, ali učenci uporabljajo kompetence iz gospodinjstva v realnem življenju. V tej študiji smo ocenjevali pogostost uporabe in samoporočano kompetentnost, kar zadeva veščine iz gospodinjstva, med 200 učenci zadnjega triletja osnovne šole. Ugotovitve so pokazale visoko pogostost uporabe in samoporočane kompetentnosti na področjih, kot so: gospodinjstvo, priprava hrane in skrb za oblačila, medtem ko so veščine, kot so: šivanje, ročna dela in konzerviranje hrane, pokazale nizko pogostost uporabe in samoporočane kompetentnosti. Opazili smo tudi neskladje med pogostostjo uporabe in samoporočano kompetentnostjo, pri čemer so bile nekatere veščine pogosto uporabljene kljub nizki samozavesti ali nasprotno, kar poudarja raznolikost izkušenj učencev. Ti izsledki kažejo na precenjene zmožnosti, omejeno prakso ali kontekstualne ovire, ki vplivajo na prenos veščin. Implikacije za učni načrt vključujejo poudarjanje praktičnega, izkustvenega učenja, kontekstualizirane prakse in ciljno okrepitev, da se zagotovi učinkovita uporaba veščin doma. Krepitev teh strategij lahko izboljša praktično kompetentnost, spodbuja trajnostno življenje in podpira vseživljenjsko dobro počutje.