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Industry 4.0 is a result of technological evolution and is intended to promote technological transformations in industry at different levels. The impact in human employment has been perceived as a major threat and is a matter of concern. Some authors argue that automation will bring unimaginable changes as soon as computers get more intelligence and as machines become able to perform complex tasks more efficiently than humans. However, technological progress is also pointed out as a stimulus for human-beings to develop the competencies that differentiate them from the machines. In this context, this study aims to explore the impacts of adopting Industry 4.0 technologies on work. The results of a comprehensive literature review provide an integrated perspective to identify and understand such impacts, analysing them in four categories: evolution of employment and creation of new jobs, human-machine interaction, new competencies creation/ development, and, organizational and professional changes. © 2020 IEEE.

Background: Educational disparities in daily smoking begin during adolescence and can lead to educational disparities in health among adults. In particular, vocational students including apprentices have higher daily smoking rates compared to non-vocational students. This study aimed to identify the determinants of the gap in daily smoking between French apprentices and high school students aged 17 in 2008 and in 2017. Methods: We used data from a cross-sectional repeated survey representative of all French adolescents aged 17 in 2008 and 2017. We conducted a non-linear extension of the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition technique and included the following variables: sociodemographic and familial characteristics, parental smoking, cannabis and alcohol use, suicidal attempt, grade repetition and money received. Results: Daily smoking was about two times higher among French apprentices compared to high school students in 2008. This gap did not decrease between 2008 and 2017. Differences in measured characteristics between the two groups explained this gap partly, from 28.6 to 51.2%. Cannabis and alcohol use, money received and parental smoking contributed the most to the daily smoking gap. Conclusions: Prevention programs could target cannabis and alcohol use as well as parental smoking to help decrease educational disparities in smoking status among French adolescents. © 2020 The Author(s).

Background: Although the health benefits of physical activity (PA) are well known, young people’s level of PA is often insufficient and tends to decline in adolescence. Numerous studies have investigated the effectiveness of PA-promoting interventions among young people, but none have reviewed the effectiveness of PA interventions in the vocational education and training (VET) setting. This systematic review aims to (1) synthesize and review the available literature on PA-promoting interventions in VET and (2) examine the effects of these interventions on PA-related outcomes such as PA level, physical fitness, physiological parameters, or psychological factors. Methods: Five electronic databases were searched for studies involving adolescents aged 15 to 20 years that took place in VET settings and evaluated the effects of interventions with a PA component on PA-related outcomes such as PA level, physical fitness, physiological parameters, or psychological factors. The screening process and the quality assessment were conducted by two independent reviewers; data extraction was conducted by one reviewer and verified by another. Results: The literature search identified 18,959 articles and 11,282 unique records. After the screening process, nine studies, all coming from European or Asian countries, met the pre-defined eligibility criteria and were included in qualitative analyses. All but two studies reported significant improvements for at least one PA-related outcome. The interventions substantially differed in their development approaches (top-down vs. bottom-up approaches), complexity (multi- vs. single-component), and addressed behavior (multi-behavioral vs. single-behavioral). The most conspicuous finding was that bottom-up approaches tend to improve outcomes at the psychological level and top-down approaches at the physical level. Regarding the interventions’ complexity and addressed behavior, we did not reveal any conclusive results. Conclusion: This systematic review highlights the varying effects of PA-promoting interventions in VET. Nevertheless, heterogeneous effects, overall weak study quality and availability of studies only from two continents limited our ability to draw clear conclusions about the potentially most effective intervention strategies. Therefore, future research should focus on high-quality studies with long-term follow-ups to make recommendations for practical use. © The Author(s). 2020 Open Access

Background: It is assumed that portfolios contribute to self-regulated learning (SRL). Presence of these SRL processes within the documentation kept in portfolios is presupposed in common educational practices, such as the assessment of reflective entries. However, questions can be asked considering the presence of SRL within portfolios. The aim of this study was to gain insight into the documentation of SRL processes within the electronic (e)-portfolio content of medical trainees. SRL consists of numerous processes, for this study the focus was on self-assessment via reflection and feedback, goal-setting and planning, and monitoring, as these are the processes that health professions education research mentions to be supported by portfolios. Methods: A database containing 1022 anonymous e-portfolios from General Practitioner trainees was used to provide descriptive statistics of the various available e-portfolio forms. This was followed by a quantitative content analysis of 90 e-portfolios, for which, a codebook was constructed to rate the documentation of the included SRL processes. Results: The numbers of forms in the e-portfolios varied to a great extent. Content analysis showed a limited documentation of reflective entries, and available entries mainly described events and experiences without explanations and context. Feedback was generally limited to comments on what went well and lacked specificity, context and suggestions for future action. Learning goals and plans were short of specificity, but did contain challenging topics and different goals were compatible with each other. 75% of the e-portfolios showed (limited) signs of monitoring. Conclusions: The e-portfolio content showed limited documentation of SRL processes. As documentation of SRL requires time and asks for a high level of introspection and writing skills, one cannot expect documentation of SRL processes to appear in e-portfolio content without efforts. © 2020 The Author(s).

Educational informatization has become the inevitable trend of modern education development. This study puts forward a virtual simulation system teaching method for a numerically controlled machining course which is based on constructivism leaning theory and the system teaching method. This is to promote the students' theoretical knowledge and practical skills in the course of engineering training. The findings of a study designed to measure the benefits and effectiveness of the virtual simulation system teaching method for the development of numerically controlled machining course, compared with traditional teaching methods. And the subsequent questionnaire survey indicates that the proposed teaching method enables to provide the concrete experience of interaction between the students and the simulation environment. The study revealed that the students who engaged in the use of the virtual simulation system teaching method in their teaching and learning methods, obtained significantly greater achievement in the study than the students who solely received traditional instruction. © © 2020, IGI Global.

Objectives:Career technical education (CTE) programs prepare new generations of technicians in a variety of trades. Even though occupational safety and health (OSH) ought to be included as an essential part of CTE curricula it is frequently absent or inadequately taught.Methods:OSH knowledge and beliefs were assessed in a national sample of 125 secondary and post-secondary faculty in autobody collision repair technology.Results:Over 50% of faculty thought at least 75% of OSH knowledge was learned at school, and 9% felt that safety was primarily learned on the job. Knowledge scores ranged from 22% to 78%. Overall knowledge scores were significantly lower high school than post-secondary instructors (42% vs 50%, P ≤ 0.001) and in two categories: hazard recognition (44% vs 54%, P ≤ 0.05) and hazard control and shop equipment (30% vs 37%, P ≤ 0.05).Conclusions:There are substantial gaps in OSH knowledge among secondary and post-secondary CTE instructors. CTE programs should address these gaps by providing trade-specific safety and health education to their instructors upon hiring. © 2020 Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Introduction: The number of occupational therapy degree programs in Australia has increased substantially over the last decade. During this time, Australian academics have produced a significant amount of scholarship focussed on entry-level education; however, the landscape of this scholarship has not been examined. The aim of this study was to review the literature on the scholarship of entry-level Australian occupational therapy education programs, specifically the topics explored and methods employed. Methods: An extensive search of nine databases produced 1,002 papers related to occupational therapy education. Two researchers screened each paper using inclusion and exclusion criteria. Seventy-six articles, published between 2000 and September 2019, were included. Data were extracted using a coding tool, and entered into NVivo, where data were analysed using queries and tallies of the characteristics of the articles. Results: Sixty-eight articles were research and eight were other peer reviewed literature. Articles primarily focussed on student characteristics and perceptions. Quantitative research designs were predominant with surveys the most frequently used method. There were few articles that addressed the topic of teaching methods and approaches, and of these none addressed occupation-centred teaching. No articles addressed the learning environment. Four articles reported on an educational intervention that targeted participation, and attitudes/perceptions or knowledge/skills of students and/or academics. These findings inform understanding about what has been completed so far in the scholarship; and what topic focus and research designs could address gaps in existing knowledge. Conclusions: This review elucidated topics that have been well researched (student focus), as well as gaps in the scholarship (teaching methods and approaches including occupation-centred teaching, and the learning environment). It showed that quantitative designs were predominant, with qualitative approaches less frequently adopted. The results of this review could assist academics and researchers to focus their scholarship on topics that require further investigation and diversify research methods. © 2020 Occupational Therapy Australia

Financial consideration, internal and external influence, personal goal, and educational achievement always influence the decision-making process and behavior of individuals. Using nursing students as the population, the researcher employed the Social Cognitive Career Theory as the theoretical framework to examine the nursing human resources shortages and how would the COVID-19 pandemic influence the experiences, sense of belonging, and career decision-making process of 58 nursing students in South Korea. The researcher categorized the sharing into two groups, which were before the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results indicated that financial consideration was the significant reason why South Korean nursing students decided to study nursing regardless of the COVID-19 pandemic. More importantly, almost all participants decided to leave the nursing profession due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the consideration between financial factor and personal sacrifice. The outcomes of this study provided a blueprint for human resources professionals, government leaders, policymakers, school leaders, and hospital managers to reform their current curriculum and human resources planning to overcome the potential human resources gaps in the soon future due to the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2020 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

This study used nationally representative data to describe the prevalence and correlates of work experiences among high school students with autism who received special education. Four in tenstudents with autism experienced any type of work (community-based, school-sponsored, paid or unpaid) within a given year—significantly fewer than peers with and without disabilities. Rates of paid work among students with autism were comparable to students with intellectual disability (ID)but half the rate of non-special education peers. Among youth with autism, significant correlates of having work experiences included being white, parent participation in transition planning, and functional skills including navigation. Fostering a variety of early work experiences should be a key goal of disability employment policy at federal and state levels. © 2020 American Association on Mental Retardation. All rights reserved.

Background Switzerland lacks future general practitioners (GPs). Residents who wished to specialize as general practitioners were formerly trained solely in hospital settings. To better prepare and also attract more young doctors to become GPs, the canton of Bern (equivalent to a state) has implemented a partly state-funded vocational training program in GP practices. Our study examines the efficacy of this 10-year program, identifies factors that positively influence residents in their decision to become a GP and the distribution of new GPs in the canton of Bern, who had taken part in the traineeship. Methods This cross-sectional survey among all residents, who participated in a traineeship in general practice from 2008 to 2017 in the canton of Bern asked if residents had taken a subsequent career choice as a GP and if so in which region. Residents scored the importance of their traineeship and their mentor's influence on becoming a GP. By using zip codes of work area of respondents already working as GPs and matching it with population census data, we could obtain the distribution of GPs on a per capita basis. Results Out of 165 residents who participated in a traineeship, 151 (92%) completed our survey. 81% had chosen a career as a GP or were on track to become a GP. Almost half of the participants became GPs in the offices of their mentors or in the area. Our respondents emphasized the importance of their mentors' influence as well as the training program in their decision-making to become a GP. Most mentioned benefits of being a GP were broad field of medical care (37%) and a fulfilling doctor-patient relationship (34%). We could show an increase in GP practices in the canton of Bern, not only in urban but also accordingly in rural areas. Conclusions Most residents continued subsequent careers as general practitioners after having completed a GP traineeship, with almost half of them in the region of their training. A vocational training program helped motivating young doctors to become GPs and underserved regions of the canton of Bern to gain new GPs. ©: © 2020 Baumann et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.