A review of literature on challenges and obstacles to implementation of generic skills

As a result of continuous curriculum transformation (Chan & Luk, 2013) in today’s knowledge-based society, government and employers have expressed raising demand for graduates’ quality, not only in terms of discipline knowledge but also generic skills (Chan, 2012a). This global movement of generic skills involves many unresolved issues that need to be thoroughly investigated. Thus, in this paper, we provide a critical review of literature on challenges in generic-skills development as identified over the past 20 years. Firstly, there is disagreement on the definition of generic skills. A variety of terms have been used interchangeably to express the notion of generic skills (Barrie, 2005), yet there has not been an open discussion of how such notion can be more ...link_to_OA_fulltex

Engineering undergraduates' perception of transferable skills in Hong Kong

Transferable skills are skills, knowledge and attributes, beyond disciplinary knowledge, which are applicable in a range of contexts (Chan, 2012a). The skills agenda in higher education is not new, but there is growing attention on students’ development of transferable skills as students, teachers, employers, universities, government and accreditation bodies recognize the importance of transferable skills for both education and employment. Despite the attractiveness of integrating the teaching of transferable skills into the university curriculum, there is a need to understand students’ perception of transferable skills (Chan, 2012b; Chan & Murphy, 2010) before we can come up effective ...link_to_OA_fulltex

Comparison of the retentive characteristics of cobalt-chromium and commercially pure titanium clasps using a novel method

This study aimed to compare the retentive forces of cast cobalt-chromium (Co-Cr) and commercially pure titanium (cpTi) clasps. A clasp assembly comprising a pair of symmetrical clasps was made to fit the opposite halves of a hardened stainless-steel sphere. This twin clasp was designed to counterbalance the tipping forces when the clasp assembly was drawn from the sphere. A total of 120 clasp assemblies were fabricated in cast Co-Cr and cpTi and placed at undercut depths of 0.25 mm, 0.50 mm, and 0.75 mm (n = 20 for each). For Co-Cr clasps, the retentive forces at these undercuts depths were 2.34 ± 0.23 N, 4.65 ± 0.35 N, and 7.56 ± 0.50 N, respectively. The corresponding retentive forces for cpTi clasps were 1.24 ± 0.13 N, 2.34 ± 0.23 N, and 3.70 ± 0.27 N. The retentive force of cpTi clasps was approximately half that of Co-Cr clasps for the same undercut depth.link_to_subscribed_fulltex