Using the 2012 PIAAC data, our analysis confirms that there are significantly higher earnings and employment returns to "both" increasing levels of formally recognised education, and to increasing levels of numeracy, literacy and information and communication technologies (ICT) skills proficiencies controlling for the level of education.…

In the context of higher education, a competence may be understood as the combination of skills, knowledge, attitudes, values, and abilities that underpin effective and/or superior performance in a professional area. The aim of the work reported here was to design a set of procedures to assess a transferable competence, i.e., problem solving, that…

The concepts of hybridity and governance have been an important line of research in the context of social companies and public institutions. The purpose of this paper is to explore these notions in the framework of hybrid communities of social innovation by showing the importance of intangible capital in the improvement of functional skills,…

Recent research on achievement in science asserts that motivation, emotion, and metacognition are important driving forces for learning. This study sought to examine the relationships between two physics class emotions (hope and anxiety), their motivational predictors (instrumentality and self-efficacy), and their effects on metacognitive problem…

The aim of this investigation is to assess the correlation among different competencies-assessment systems available on the market to measure social skills in the university environment. In order to carry out the research, three self-perception competency tests were used, and 30 competencies were evaluated in a Likert scale with several response…

In this study, we investigated how empirical indicators of test-taking engagement can be defined, empirically validated, and used to describe group differences in the context of the Programme of International Assessment of Adult Competences (PIAAC). The approach was to distinguish between disengaged and engaged response behavior by means of…

Internet has become one of the most important information sources for students' personal and academic life. In addition, the World Wide Web is receiving increased attention in education because of its potential to support new forms of learning. However, using the information from the net for learning requires the development of a set of abilities…

Recent research reveals an apparent paradox for U.S. millennials (born after 1980, ages 16-34): while they may be on track to be our most educated generation ever, they consistently score below many of their international peers in literacy, numeracy and problem solving in technology-rich environments. Equally troubling is that these findings…

Inquiry-based learning (IBL) is a more student-centered approach to mathematics teaching that is recommended by many policy and curriculum documents across Europe. However, it is not easy for teachers to change from a more teacher-centered way of teaching to inquiry-based teaching as this involves a change of their role in class. Professional…

Adults' simple arithmetic performance is more efficient when operands are presented in Arabic digit (3 + 5) than in number word (three + five) formats. An explanation provided is that visual familiarity with digits is higher respect to number words. However, most studies have been limited to single-digit addition and multiplication problems. In…

Although Critical Thinking (CT) has been a desirable aim expressed both by higher education institutions and labour market professionals, studies on what CT means and what it looks like in the workplace are scarce. The current study intends to tackle this gap by sharing findings about the importance of CT and its practical manifestation in…

The old myth about the ability and variability of potential in children is a comforting myth, for those who are uneasy with the degree of inequality they see and would rather seek to justify it than confront it. The myth of inherent potential helps some explain to themselves why they are privileged. Extend the myth to believe in inherited ability…

Students' difficulty in learning and suitably understanding the concept of the algebraic variable has been studied with a number of tools and documented for several populations. Little research has been conducted, however, using the same tool to explore understanding of the notion among populations from different countries in an attempt to…

In this paper different type of mathematical explanations are presented in relation to the mathematical problem of probabilities Monty Hall (card version) and the computational tool Latent Semantic Analyses (LSA) is used. At the moment the results in the literature about this computational tool to study texts show that this technique is…

This paper presents an intelligent tutoring system (ITS) for the learning of arithmetical problem solving. This is based on an analysis of (a) the cognitive processes that take place during problem solving; and (b) the usual tasks performed by a human when supervising a student in a one-to-one tutoring situation. The ITS is able to identify the…