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Introduction: A project-based didactic strategy is a pedagogical approach that organizes the teaching-learning process around practical, collaborative activities, and focuses on solving real problems or achieving specific objectives. However, the effects it could have on various dimensions of learning in master’s students of Physical Activity and Health are not clear. Objective: To develop a project-based didactic strategy to improve research competencies in master’s students of Physical Activity and Health. Methods: 60 students from the Master's Degree in Physical Education and Sports and the Master's Degree in Nutrition and Dietetics (Specialization in Clinical Nutrition) are used as a sample in terms of their research competencies (cognitive, procedural, attitudinal), going through several phases of intervention. Results: The cognitive level increased from 17.5 % to 57.5 %, with a qualitative rating of Good. In procedural competencies, the percentage rose from 22.5 % to 52.5 %, and in attitudinal competencies the number of students with a good level increased from 17.5 % to 62.5 %, while students with low levels experienced a considerable reduction in each dimension. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate the beneficial effects of the intervention on the development of university students. The application of the project-based didactic strategy could be an effective and required tactic to improve the quality of education in postgraduate programs, while contributing, in a significant way, to the training of students to face the challenges of their future professions. © 2025, Editorial Ciencias Medicas. All rights reserved.

Vocational education aims to prepare students to enter the workforce. This study aims to develop guidelines for the development of soft skills among vocational students in courses related to the medical and comprehensive healthcare industry by qualitative research methods. Data were collected by interviewing eighteen key informants from six companies consisting of six executives, six human resources officers, and six workers to examine the essential soft skills of vocational graduates in courses related to the medical and comprehensive healthcare industry matched with professional standards and industry requirements, and interviewing thirty-one key informants from four vocational institutes consisting of three administrators, eight teachers, and twenty students to study the current state of students’ soft skills development. The results of both were synthesized as the soft skills development guideline among vocational students in courses related to medical and comprehensive healthcare industry. Findings showed that key essential soft skills among vocational students in courses related to medical and comprehensive healthcare industry are social skills (communication and teamwork), thinking skills (creativity, analytical thinking, and problem-solving), and emotional skills (stress management, anger management, and self-control), which are the foundation of other soft skills. Vocational institutes should encourage the value of soft skills for teachers and students through official meetings, activities, and events, incorporating soft skills into classroom activity through participatory learning, organizing relationship-building activities between students, developing professional teachers with proficiency in teaching soft skills, and assessing students’ soft skills by assessing their portfolio and designating soft skills as part of the student’s learning achievement. © 2025 Kasetsart University.

Understanding concepts and solving problems is one of the essential abilities that students must master. To empower this ability, teaching materials that meet the characteristics of 21st-century learning are needed, including the electronic LI-PRO-GP learning model module. The LI-PRO-GP learning model is one of the learning models that elaborates project learning with literacy and character. Involving literacy and character components in project learning is what distinguishes this learning model from project learning models in general. This study aimed to develop a feasible, practical, and effective LI-PRO-GP learning model e-module to improve students’ conceptual understanding and problem-solving skills. The research employed a Development Research method using ADDIE design framework. The research was conducted from July 2023 to September 2024 in junior high school in Malang City. The subjects of this study included four experts for the feasibility test, two teachers and 34 Grade students for the practicality test, and 27 Grade VIII students for the effectiveness test. Non-test data to assess the e-module’s feasibility and practicality were collected using expert and practitioner assessment instruments. Test data for evaluating conceptual understanding and problem-solving skills were obtained through valid and reliable multiple-choice and essay questions. Descriptive analysis was used to interpret feasibility and practicality data, while paired sample t-tests were conducted to determine the e-module’s effectiveness. The findings indicated that the developed LI-PRO-GP learning mdel e-module is both feasible and practical as a teaching material for vibration and wave topics. Moreover, the paired sample t-test results demonstrated that learning with the LI-PRO-GP e-module significantly improved students’ conceptual understanding and problem-solving skills. © 2025 by the authors.

This study uses longitudinal analysis of the Taiwan Education Panel Survey to explore background factors of educational tracking experiences among Taiwanese youth and their dynamic associations with job-education match, job satisfaction, and happiness. The sustainable careers concept (De Vos et al., 2020) views individuals as core actors, emphasizing personal, situational, and temporal dimensions’ influence on career sustainability, expanding school-to-work transition research (Blokker et al., 2023). However, existing studies often focus on adults and are cross-sectional, missing key youth changes and early educational experiences’ impact on careers. While educational tracking’s role in occupational choice has been explored, understanding of how job-education match affects job satisfaction and happiness, especially under different educational backgrounds, remains limited. This study’s longitudinal analysis aims to provide a comprehensive perspective for sustainable career theory and practice. Research shows job-education match, job satisfaction, and happiness are interrelated. Job-education match includes educational level, field of study, and skills/abilities matching, positively correlating with job satisfaction (Badillo-Amador & Vila, 2013; Santis et al., 2021). From strengths-use perspective, knowledge and abilities need an environment for application, with full utilization increasing work engagement, satisfaction, and happiness (Miglianico et al., 2020). Job satisfaction and happiness’s positive association is often explained by the spillover hypothesis, including top-down and bottom-up effects. Longitudinal meta-analyses show life satisfaction and happiness have cross-sectional associations and cross-lagged effects (Bowling et al., 2010; Karabati et al., 2019; Steel et al., 2019). This study analyzes these relationships using data from Taiwan. The impact of early educational experiences on later career development is worth investigating. Existing research on Taiwanese youth indicates that high school students’ post-graduation development is influenced by learning experiences and employment considerations. Key moments for youth to consider career development are during the educational tracking at high school levels and when facing graduation from university (Kuo et al., 2021; Wu et al., 2018). In Taiwan’s education system, the educational tracking at the high school level is a crucial stage in youth career development. Vocational high school students mostly choose their major subjects upon graduating from junior high school, while students in academic high school choose their stream (liberal arts or science) after completing their first year, and decide on their specific university major when applying for higher education. This study employs longitudinal tracking to investigate how regret over high school track/major choices in the third year influences subsequent career development, addressing limitations of retrospective methods in existing research. It also focuses on youth with different educational tracking experiences, exploring how their subsequent career development trajectories differ. While previous studies have explored how educational tracking affects various work outcomes over time (Birkelund et al., 2022; Delaruelle et al., 2020; Verhaest et al., 2018), there remains a gap in research specific to Taiwan's unique educational and sociocultural context. Career exploration during university, especially actions to change or expand learning specialties (changing majors, minors, double majors, taking programs), is a crucial experience for future career development. Educational level is also an important factor. Although literature shows mixed results regarding the match between educational level and work, studies focusing on Taiwanese workers mostly indicate that higher education levels help improve job satisfaction and happiness (Chen et al., 2020). Therefore, this study uses longitudinal analysis to enhance understanding. The statistical analysis adopts the random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) (Mulder & Hamaker, 2021), using data from the Taiwan Education Panel Survey (TEPS) and its follow-up database (TEPS-B) SH sample, with 1,637 participants. It examines the associations between job-education match, job satisfaction, and happiness at three time points: ages 25 (T1), 30 (T2), and 33 (T3), incorporating relevant factors from the educational period into the model. In the model, job-education match, job satisfaction, and happiness are time-varying factors, divided into random intercepts at the between-person level to explore correlations, and within-person level to explore autoregression and cross-lagged effects. Educational tracking type, regret over chosen major in the third year of high school (data from high school period), educational level, and career exploration are time-invariant predictors of random intercepts, with gender included as a control variable. Additionally, the study examines whether different educational tracks in high schools (vocational vs. academic) show different effects on various paths and further observes by inputting two group samples into the model. The main findings are as follows: First, the random intercepts of job-education match, job satisfaction, and happiness are positively correlated among Taiwanese youth, similar to previous research findings. Those with higher job-education match have higher job satisfaction and happiness due to work content meeting expectations and knowledge and skills matching job requirements (Ilies et al., 2019; Kristof-Brown et al., 2005; Unanue et al., 2017). Second, job-education match and happiness show autoregressive effects across the three waves, while job satisfaction only shows autoregressive effects in the latter two waves. The autoregressive effect of job-education match reflects the profound impact of the educational stage on career paths. The autoregressive effect of happiness may indicate that increasing age and stable living environments can increase the stability of happiness. Job satisfaction shows no autoregressive effect from 25-30 but does from 30-33, reflecting more career transitions and exploration before 30, with less obvious job satisfaction stability. After 30, higher chances of finding ideal jobs and clearer career positioning lead to more significant job satisfaction stability (Wille et al., 2012). Third, except for happiness at age 30 positively predicting job satisfaction at age 33, other cross-lagged effects are not significant. This positive effect aligns with the top-down effect of the spillover hypothesis, i.e., overall life satisfaction extends to the work domain (Steel et al., 2019). However, the cross-lagged effects between job-education match and job satisfaction are not obvious, possibly because after entering the workforce, job content and responsibilities may increase, and expectations for working conditions become more complex. Fourth, overall, the moderating effect of educational tracking is not obvious, with only a few paths differing between ages 25 and 30. The autoregression of happiness T1 to happiness T2 is higher for those in vocational tracks than those in academic track; the influence of job satisfaction T1 on happiness T2 and job satisfaction T1 on job-education match T2 is higher for those in academic track than those in vocational track. This suggests that in the early career stage, the two educational track have their own characteristics. However, the overall total path effect difference is not significant, indicating that regardless of the educational track, the within-person career process experiences similar changes. Fifth, regarding predictor variables, factors such as educational level, third-year high school major regret, and career exploration during university have different effects depending on the type of educational track. Educational level has a significant positive predictive effect on job-education match in both tracks; however, while educational level positively predicts happiness in the academic track, it has no significant effect in the vocational track. Career exploration has a positive effect on job-education match for those in the academic track, but no effect for those in the vocational track. This study particularly notes that regretting the chosen track/major in the third year of high school negatively predicts job satisfaction and happiness, but only for vocational track participants. These students may lack occupational knowledge or career exploration when transitioning from junior high, yet must make choices determining their professional field at age 15. If they regret their choice, changing fields or retraining may be difficult, affecting job choices and satisfaction. Academic track participants who regret their chosen track (liberal arts or science) in high school can still select their desired major when entering university at age 18, impacting career satisfaction differently. This paper suggests these findings may reflect issues related to early tracking, warranting further investigation. Regarding research limitations, this study spans many years, and youth may experience job changes, socioeconomic conditions, and family status changes that affect their careers. However, for model simplicity, this study did not include these time-varying factors in the analysis, which future research could further incorporate. Although this is a longitudinal study, inferring causal relationships still requires more exploration, such as mediating effects of other variables or qualitative data support. The three waves in this study have unequal time intervals, limiting effect comparisons and making it inappropriate to constrain the model, leading to insufficiencies in inference and model simplification, so it is recommended that future studies use longitudinal data with equal intervals. The three main variables in this study all use single-item measures as observation sources, which cannot reflect complex constructs; future research should consider multi-item studies. This study treats educational level, career exploration, and educational tracking as time-invariant factors, unable to rule out potential changes for a small number of people between different waves. Understanding of the types of changes in different variables at different time points for participants is limited; future research could explore this through latent heterogeneity analysis to benefit practical work. © 2025, National Taiwan Normal University. All rights reserved.

In response to the lack of field experience perceived by employers and recent STEM graduates, Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) arrangements have become more common. However, not all WIL experiences are valuable. Indeed, having students in companies without establishing protocols to protect their participation, meaningful interaction, and psychological safety could be counterproductive to non-traditional students. Furthermore, WIL experiences must be designed purposefully to ensure equitable learning experiences for all students. This paper applies an inductive thematic analysis of interviews with 19 current and 4 former students, interviews with current and former workers at host worksites, 76 course surveys, and a total of 15 memos collected from class and workplace observations from graduate engineering classes designed under WIL arrangements between 2017 and 2022. Using Communities of Practice (CoP), we conceptualize WIL experiences as a connection between two communities, generating a theory-based understanding of different possible types of connection, how to establish those connections, and how they contribute to student learning. Building from student experiences, vital elements to integrate workplace learning into the curriculum effectively were identified. Leveraging CoP theory concepts, we describe various modes of integrating workplace experiences into the curriculum, supporting students’ increased participation in both settings and allowing them to become brokers who can transfer ideas and knowledge and acquire new skills. From this, we propose a scaffolding model to implement WIL, which enables teachers to select from among several effective strategies that adapt to students' unique contexts, prior experiences, and learning objectives. For all strategies, guidance is provided about designing WIL experiences that progressively immerse students as engaged, active participants in companies. © The Author(s) 2025.

This study explores the development of a Project-Based Learning (PBL) model incorporating multiliteracy pedagogy to enhance students' critical thinking, problem-solving, decision-making skills, and environmental literacy. The research is motivated by the increasing environmental issues caused by human behavior, particularly excessive consumption patterns and unsustainable habits among students. Addressing these challenges requires an education system that fosters environmental awareness and essential 21st-century skills. The study employs a Research and Development (R&D) approach using the Dick, Carey, and Carey instructional design model. The research is conducted in junior high schools through three phases: pre-development, development, and post-development. Data collection involves both qualitative and quantitative methods, including expert evaluations, student feedback, and statistical analyses of learning outcomes. A control-experiment design is employed to assess the suggested model's efficacy. The results show that using the PBL paradigm with multiliteracy pedagogy significantly improved students' critical thinking, problem-solving, decision-making, and environmental literacy. The model's ability to promote greater environmental responsibility and cognitive engagement was demonstrated by the experimental group's higher N-Gain score when compared to the control group. The data's validity and reliability were validated by statistical analysis, which revealed a significant difference (p < 0.05) between the pretest and posttest results. This study emphasizes how crucial it is to combine PBL with multiliteracy teaching in order to improve students' overall development. The implications suggest that educators should adopt innovative learning strategies to cultivate students’ environmental literacy and higher-order thinking skills, preparing them for future challenges in sustainable living and decision-making. © 2025 by the authors;.

This article investigates six pathways through which students possessing initial vocational qualifications can enter higher education in Norway. In Norway, vocational education and training (VET) tracks in upper secondary education are popular nationwide with the youth population, catering to almost half of every youth cohort. However, despite explicit goals to promote social mobility through education, there is evident reproduction of social inequalities in attraction to and completion of higher education programmes. This issue is of paramount importance for the welfare state context, given that students in VET tracks typically come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds compared to their peers in general education pathways. Therefore, prohibited permeability between VET and higher education undermines universal access to higher education. This study is designed in a threefold manner: First, the connection between VET and socioeconomic background is investigated, leading to the conclusion that underprivileged youth are overly represented in VET pathways. Secondly, we explore alternative routes to higher education available to vocationally qualified students in Norway; and thirdly, we present available data on to what extend these pathways facilitate access to higher education. We conclude that limited permeability is a social problem and discuss possible means to address the issue. © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Entrustable professional activities (EPAs) are increasingly being adopted as an assessment tool by medicine and other health professions in a bid to enhance competency-based health professional education. EPAs are well-defined professional activities that can be entrusted to students to perform with varying levels of supervision. They were introduced to overcome some of the limitations of traditional assessment methods of competency such as individual skills assessment or Direct Observation of Procedures and Objective Structured Clinical Examinations. Could EPAs be beneficial in Australian and New Zealand optometric clinical education for advanced skills training and accreditation including the credentialing assessment of overseas educated practitioners? This paper discusses the historical context of how competencies were introduced and assessed in Australian optometry, the evolution of the concept of EPAs in medicine and other health professions, their design and implementation worldwide and whether EPAs could be adopted into optometric training and assessment in Australia and New Zealand. © 2025 Optometry Australia.

This article summarizes the main results of a research on teachers working in secondary school VET in Chile by reviewing the principal features of teacher professional identity, including their beliefs and perceptions about teaching for job and their experiences in the context of the school settings in which they work. Empirical findings were collected from a survey of 490 teachers and 31 in-depth interviews. Analysis of these findings shows the emergence of a distinctive teacher professional identity. The identity emphasizes a practical teaching model that is associated with the application of a pedagogy of accompaniment, but which also demonstrates tensions and difficulties of interaction regarding the traditional academic school model. Teachers pointed out as common the weakness of institutional support, the weak link with employers and productive agents and the recurrent need to show their own individual initiative in order to face the challenges of training students. © 2024 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

This bibliometric analysis elucidates the evolution and impacts of Project-Based Learning (PBL) within vocational education, emphasizing its relevance in translating career goals and addressing educational gaps, particularly from 1993 to 2023. Analyzing 555 Scopus-indexed documents, this study utilized advanced bibliometric tools to uncover PBL's growing appeal and its innovative pedagogical integration into design thinking, challenge-based education, and multidisciplinary approaches. Our findings highlight PBL's significant outcomes, including its role in bolstering STEM curricula and fostering critical skill development, thus bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application essential for the workforce. Despite the documented benefits, our analysis also identifies substantial gaps in research, particularly the scarcity of longitudinal studies on PBL's long-term effectiveness and its comparative efficacy against traditional pedagogies within diverse educational contexts. The study underscores PBL's utility in vocational education as a transformative approach, aligning with dynamic career expectations and the requirements of the knowledge economy. By offering a detailed thematic evolution and pinpointing influential contributions, this research serves as a strategic guide for educators and policymakers, advocating for informed, future-ready educational strategies that embrace experiential learning to meet the evolving needs of students and the labor market. © Author (s)2025.