There are a variety of skills needed by young adults to succeed in college, career, and independent living. This study examined three specific life skills of interpersonal communication, decision-making and critical thinking as a predictor of college and career success for incoming college students. The problem addressed in the study was the lack…

Over the past two decades, the skills needed to be successful in the workplace have expanded beyond technical skills to include 21st-century soft skills such as critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. A structural equation model of the ATC21S[superscript TM] was used to investigate the relationship between 21st-century…

Using a state-wide college student dataset, this study examined how the type of student-faculty interaction uniquely conditions the predictors of student-faculty interaction (student characteristics affecting the level of student-faculty interaction, in this case) as well as the effects of such interaction on select college outcomes. The results…

Academic researchers have often touted the growing importance of "soft skills" for modern day business leaders, especially leadership and communication skills. Despite this growing interest and attention, relatively little work has been done to develop and validate tools to assess soft skills. Forty graduate students from nine MBA…

As cities and regions seek to increase the stock of college educated citizens in order to compete in the twenty-first century knowledge-economy, colleges and universities are realizing increased enrollment. At the same time, much is being written about the skills needed by graduates for the new economy. These studies articulate skills in critical…

This study examined whether participation in collaborative learning activities during class meetings played a role in the students' academic learning and in their satisfaction with the course in general and with these activities in particular. The research demonstrated that group activities and class discussions are effective in fostering student…

There is growing interest in understanding the usefulness of mentorship programs for children's rehabilitation service providers. This evaluation study examined the effects of an occupational therapy mentorship program on the skills and behaviors of 8 new and 17 experienced occupational therapists practicing at a regional children's rehabilitation…

This study focuses on the contribution of overall epistemological understanding to argumentation skills, after controlling for topic knowledge and interest, in eighth graders. Students were introduced to two controversial topics, global warming and genetically modified food, through the reading of a two-sided text on each topic. After reading,…

Influences of disciplinary differences on college students' self-perceived gains in critical thinking and communication skills were examined in relation to student background, experiences in the major, and college experience variables. The proposed theoretical model accounted for some variance in self-perceived gains. The variable associated most…

The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference intention was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There had been advances in both cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a…