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Background: Nurses play a significant role in the health system. The outbreak of emerging infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, highlights the need for nursing staff to be aware of the various aspects of these diseases. Therefore, considering the critical importance of infectious diseases, the present study aims to identify the educational needs of the infectious diseases course in nursing in Iran. Method: This mixed-method study was conducted in two phases. First, a qualitative study using a conventional content analysis approach was performed to identify educational needs. Subsequently, in the quantitative phase, a panel of 10 nursing faculty members was asked to prioritize these needs using the Delphi technique. Results: The qualitative phase identified three main categories of educational needs: (1) enhancing the theoretical content of infectious diseases, (2) strengthening the practical and clinical components of the course, and (3) optimizing educational strategies. The needs assessment questionnaire, developed in the qualitative phase, was analyzed over two rounds using the modified Delphi method with descriptive statistics. Conclusion: The use of a mixed-method (quantitative and qualitative) approach to assess the curriculum needs for infectious diseases, conducted for the first time in Iran, revealed the necessity of revising both theoretical and clinical curricula. © The Author(s) 2025.

Background: From the students’ perspective, the research evaluates their views on core competencies and their own developmental needs within pharmaceutical education, attempting to explore potential pathways for optimizing students’ core competencies. This study seeks to enhance students’ core competencies, enrich learning and development theories, and establish a basis and reference for cultivating high-caliber pharmaceutical talents. Methods: Establishing a core competency index system for pharmacy major, a survey questionnaire comprising 41 items across four dimensions (knowledge, skills, abilities, and values) was designed. Using stratified cluster sampling, 919 valid responses were collected. Descriptive statistics, variance analysis, and chi-square test were used to analyze the perceptions of pharmaceutical students on core competencies’ importance for professional growth and their satisfaction with teaching, and to examine disparities in the development of core competencies among different groups of students. Results: The study revealed deficiencies in pharmaceutical students’ core competencies regarding artificial intelligence, pharmaceutical application, medical care, etc. Differential analysis indicated that significant differences across education levels: undergraduates prioritized foundational knowledge and ethical norms, while postgraduates emphasized project-based learning and ability improvement. Students with work or project experience placed higher value on knowledge application, systematic thinking, strategic capabilities, and innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence. Conclusion: This study evaluates pharmaceutical core competency education from the student perspective, revealing their perceptions of developmental requirements. The research proposes an optimization pathway: the curriculum reform of pharmaceutical higher education should be scientific, general, innovative, practical and humanistic, thereby providing a reference for reforming pharmaceutical higher education. © The Author(s) 2025.

Simulations are a common tool in training aircrews, medical personnel and educators, providing experience in scenarios from the relevant content area and expanding the range of responses that simulation participants can acquire before they enter the field. Simulations have also been used in dietetic internships to improve clinical counseling skills. However, the use of structured simulations that involve progressive, multisession patient interactions has not been extensively studied in the context of dietetic internships. This study employed consecutive scenario models where interns developed ongoing interactions with the same simulated patient over multiple sessions, representing a significant methodological innovation in the field. A mixed method methodology was used to analyze closed and open-ended questionnaires which were administered to twenty-one interns, simulation actors and professional dietitians. This pilot study demonstrates the effectiveness of group and individual simulation training in enhancing dietetic interns’ counseling skills during their training and describes how simulation can contribute to both the professional skills and self-efficacy required to lead a counseling session. These findings will enable additional academic departments to examine the integration of simulation into the training programs of interns in tracks that include a practicum. © The Author(s) 2025.

Background: Academic motivation of nursing students is a broad and multidimensional concept that is a factor in achieving academic success, better quality of learning, creativity, academic satisfaction, reducing anxiety, continuing education and training competent nurses. The most important barrier to learning in nursing education environments is the lack of interest and motivation among students. This study aimed to explore ways to improve academic motivation in nursing students. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted in Ramsar City in 2023. A conventional qualitative content analysis was followed to collect data using 14 in-depth individual interviews over a period of 12 months with participants selected through purposive sampling. For data analysis, Lundman and Granheim’s method was adopted. Results: Data analysis led to the extraction of 143 codes, 14 subcategories, 3 categories, and one theme. Strategies to improve academic motivation in nursing students were found to be a subjective, dynamic and multi-dimensional concept divided into two categories: “Improving educational conditions and performance” and “Improving students’ welfare and recreational conditions”. Conclusion: Academic motivation is considered one of the essentials of learning and a tool to achieve educational and training goals. By using the strategies to increase academic motivation resulting from this study, an effective step can be taken in this field. Also Understanding these influential strategies can play a significant role in educational and career planning and decision-making, selecting appropriate educational and clinical measures and facilities in the university and students’ future work environment, developing educational and career regulations, effective interaction with learners, ultimately increasing the effectiveness of professors’ teaching and better teaching and learning activities. © The Author(s) 2025.

Several studies have examined whether students transferring from junior colleges have a sufficient educational foundation to succeed at the university level. However, a controversy has arisen because prior studies offer conflicting results. Moreover, these studies have not looked at medical transfer students. This study examined the differences in learning outcomes and career intentions (CI) between transfer students and those who began at medical universities in China (native students), focusing on student engagement. The sample data, from the 2020 China Medical Student Survey, included fifth-year (graduate year) medical students from 39 universities (6,712 native and 1,582 transfer students). A conceptual framework was constructed using the input-environment-output model and student engagement theory. Engagement was categorized into behavioral, emotional, and cognitive dimensions. The analysis encompassed t-tests, chi-square tests, multivariable linear and logistic regressions, Shapley value modeling, and path analysis. The results showed that a significantly higher proportion of transfer students came from disadvantaged backgrounds and had lower pre-entry abilities, although their self-reported engagement was higher. Thus, engagement contributed to their ability to catch up in terms of learning outcomes, with emotional engagement having significant direct and indirect positive associations with learning outcomes and CIs. Ultimately, there were no significant differences in learning outcomes and CIs between transfer and native students. The findings suggest that transfer students are more engaged despite their disadvantages and show no significant weakness in their learning outcomes or CI. This underscores the importance of preserving and enhancing access to undergraduate studies for Chinese medical students in junior colleges, thereby promoting educational equity. © The Author(s) 2025.

Background: Internship programs are essential for bridging the gap between theoretical education and practical application. They equip students with the practical skills, relevant knowledge, and professional networks necessary for career success. This study explores the experiences of Health Information Management (HIM) stakeholders, including faculty, interns, and hospital supervisors in Ghana. Methods: The study was conducted across ten hospitals in six of Ghana's sixteen administrative regions between 18th July and 30th August 2024. A concurrent mixed methods design incorporating qualitative (In-depth interviews) and quantitative (survey) was used. Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory provided the conceptual framework to interpret how interns learn through real-world engagement. Results: Seventy-nine HIM students participated in the quantitative survey. Of the interns surveyed, 96.2 % (n = 76) reported that site supervisors could readily address their questions and provide guidance. A similar percentage reported gaining new knowledge, with most interns noting significant improvement in teamwork skills. Unadjusted regression analysis identified key factors influencing overall satisfaction, highlighting opportunities to demonstrate initiatives beyond basic requirements, perceptions of enhanced employment prospects, and contributing to meaningful outcomes. Qualitative data from in-depth interviews revealed challenges like non-adherence to logbook modules and inadequate supervision. Despite these issues, the presence of interns was perceived as a benefit to the facilities, as they were seen to enhance staff capacity. Conclusion: This study highlights the critical role internships play in professional development, while also drawing attention to key challenges such as non-adherence to logbook requirements, limited financial support, and program durations. Recommendations for improving the internship experience include ensuring consistent and effective supervision, extending the program durations, adhering to logbook modules, and providing financial assistance to support interns. © 2025 The Authors

Introduction: While it is well-established that structural obstacles such as low local employment opportunities negatively affect adolescents’ school-to-work transitions, the impact of individual agency in relation to these obstacles is understudied. Hence, we focus on the key research question of how adolescents’ goal-striving resources—tenacious goal pursuit (TGP) and flexible goal adjustment (FGA)—affect successful transitions from secondary school to vocational education and training (VET) against the backdrop of structural obstacles in the local context. Methods: We measured transition success in terms of a) the start of a VET position, b) concordance between attained and aspired VET position, c) deviance from the aspired position and d) satisfaction with the attained VET position. We examined our research questions in a longitudinal design, using data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). Our sample consisted of adolescents who graduated in 2012/2016 with the aspiration to start VET (N = 3382; MAge = 16.77; nFemales = 1524). We conducted multiple regression analyses to answer our research questions. Results: We found interaction effects of TGP × FGA on three out of four indicators of transition success. Their direction did not only depend on the outcome variable under examination but also on the structure of the local context: High levels of both TGP and FGA are helpful in favorable contexts—that means when local unemployment is low—but maladaptive when structural obstacles are high. Conclusion: We recommend that support programs for adolescents that aim to enhance goal-striving resources should consider these complex interrelations. © 2025 The Author(s). Journal of Adolescence published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Foundation for Professionals in Services to Adolescents.

The rapid integration of artificial intelligence across industries necessitates systematic AI literacy development in higher vocational education to prepare students for AI-driven professional environments. This study develops and validates a comprehensive competency-based ladder development pathway specifically designed to enhance AI literacy among vocational students. The research employs a mixed-methods approach combining theoretical framework construction, empirical investigation, and practical implementation validation. The three-tier pathway model integrates foundational cognitive, skills application, and comprehensive innovation layers to address diverse learning needs while maintaining progression standards. Through empirical investigation involving 2850 students across 15 institutions, the study identifies distinct learner profiles and competency deficits, informing personalized development strategies. The validation experiment with 420 participants demonstrates significant improvements across all competency dimensions, with overall AI literacy gains of 56.0% and sustained retention rates exceeding 85% at six-month follow-up. The innovative pedagogical approaches incorporate project-driven learning, experiential methodologies, and hybrid delivery models to optimize competency development. The comprehensive evaluation framework provides robust assessment tools that balance formative and summative approaches while maintaining alignment with industry standards. Results indicate that students in the ladder pathway intervention achieved 34.7% higher cognitive assessment scores, 42.3% superior performance on skills application tasks, and 28.9% better innovation competency outcomes compared to traditional instruction. This research contributes to the theoretical understanding of competency-based AI education while providing practical implementation guidance for enhancing workforce readiness in the artificial intelligence era. © The Author(s) 2025.

The promise of knowledge society is clean, creative, and expressive work. Technological advancements would relieve humans from the tedium and hardship of labor, and access to knowledge and expansion of higher education would diminish the existing social inequalities of industrial society. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Switzerland's mechanical and electrical engineering industry, this article illustrates how the work experiences of apprentices challenge the image of labor in a knowledge society ostensibly freed from all forms of material, technological, and social constraint. I demonstrate that the persistence of the tedium and potential danger of industrial work, of organizational hierarchies, the decreasing social validation of mechanical and manual labor, and expectations and aspirations to singularity make youth increasingly interested in other kinds of employment and training. The article takes the work and learning relations in the Swiss mechanical and electrical engineering sector as a symptom of emerging tensions around the division of labor and valorization of different forms of skills, and the meaning and motivations of work in late capitalism. I argue that future anthropological studies of work and education in de-industrialized settings might do well to examine the social critique of industrial work in concert with its aesthetic critique. © 2025 American Anthropological Association.

Background: Historically, physical therapy focused on physical capabilities. The “Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation” course within the Rehabilitation Therapy (RT) program is a highly practical course that requires students to master complex clinical skills. Traditional teaching methods have struggled to engage students effectively, and the lack of interaction has reduced learning outcomes. This study aims to examine the effects of combining the flipped classroom model (FCM) with a multi-functional camera system (MFCS) on enhancing student performance, course satisfaction, and practical skills. Methods: This quasi-experimental study included 106 Guangzhou Medical University RT candidates from 2020 to 2021. We divided the students into four groups: the Combined Group (FCM combined with MFCS), the MFCS Group, the FCM Group, and the Traditional Approach Group (TA Group). After completing the course, students filled out questionnaires that assessed course satisfaction, MFCS effectiveness, and their mastery of SOAP (subjective, objective, assessment, plan) practical skills. We also evaluated teaching effectiveness using the final exam scores. We statistically analysed the data using SPSS 25.0. Results: The results showed that students in the Combined Group had significantly higher scores in practical assessments, theoretical exams, and overall scores compared to the FCM and the TA groups (P < 0.05). In terms of course satisfaction, the Combined Group also scored significantly higher than the FCM and the TA groups (P < 0.05). Further analysis revealed a strong positive correlation between overall course satisfaction and SOAP scores in the Combined and MFCS groups. Conclusion: The teaching model that combines the FCM with the MFCS significantly enhances students’ classroom experience, practical skills, and learning achievements. The results suggest that this integrated teaching approach effectively bridges the gap between classroom learning and clinical practice skills, making it worthy of broader application in highly practical professional courses. © The Author(s) 2025.