Education 4.0 Framework reveals the need for the curricula of Higher Education Institutions to incorporate new learning approaches, along with new Competency Assessment Models. In the case of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) programs, the inclusion of new technological tools is relevant to effectively assess the level reached by students in the development of transversal skills. NLP (Natural language processing) is a practical approach to understanding the effectiveness of learning processes because it provides solutions in various fields associated with the social and cultural context of Competency-Based Learning. In this study, we evaluate the usefulness of integrating NLP tools in evaluation procedures in advanced STEM subjects to aid the educator in developing competencies outside its core subject expertise. Different instruments were considered: surveys, questionnaires, interviews, observation lists, rubrics, and other tools to handle parametric data statistically. The study’s findings confirmed that the NLP tools are handy to evaluate higher-order functions and determine levels of cognitive understanding of concepts. Additionally, results showed that NLP tools could support instructors in carrying out better review and feedback sessions and providing personalized reports on oral and written communication skills.

Endorsed by the Fourth Industrial Revolution and pushed abruptly by the irruption of the Corona crisis, a large number of technological resources, digital platforms, and virtual and augmented reality applications were massively incorporated in all educational areas, including the field of higher education. This phenomenon has been not only ideal but essential in STEM programs (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics), with the aim of developing the aspect of digital transformation, although technological enablers have ended up being used also as Teaching Tools. But what about the Learning Tools? The present work shows that it is possible that, without the adequate design of a framework for the Teaching and Learning Process, these innovative technological resources are not capable of guaranteeing per se the effective intellectual engagement of students in their own learning. The cognitive and metacognitive tools used in this work were designed for the development of four skills declared as fundamental in the Education 4.0 Framework: Innovation and creativity, global citizenship, digital transformation and interpersonal skills. This paper offers findings, results and discussions of a study conducted over 3 years, with more than 200 engineering students, by implementing an approach designed especially for Generation Z students.

This Research-to-Practice Full Paper discusses the use of the active learning approach to enhance the 21st century skills that are critical to developing new job opportunities for young engineers. The soft skills required in the Fourth Industrial Revolution make the traditional mode of logical-scientific thinking insufficient for the degree of innovation and disruption required in future jobs. In the field of higher engineering education, the situation was doubly challenging: Generation Z students' cognitive skills had to be improved in terms of digital literacy and cutting-edge technological tools had to be quickly incorporated. This work is a study on the effectiveness of the didactic approach of Active Learning in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) and the innovative ways of empowering students to develop digital literacy skills, among them: photo-visual ability, reproduction ability, branching ability, real-time critical thinking ability and, the most important of this study, socio-emotional ability. The opportunities and challenges that the study addressed were related to accessibility, inclusion, and self-paced learning. The research was carried out with a mixed experimental methodology in a sample of 352 engineering students, who were evaluated with different types of instruments to know the level of acquisition of soft skills related to digital literacy. To evaluate these skills, different assessing instruments were used for pre-tests and post-tests, including: vocabulary level, lateral thinking ability, fluency and originality; as well as story-articulation skill tests and modified VALUE rubrics from the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). The results obtained showed that the active learning approach promoted a better understanding of scientific concepts in engineering subjects, a greater ability to develop digital communication skills, and a greater awareness of creative thinking skill.

International groups of stakeholders are currently involved in the redefinition of the objectives of engineering education. They are releasing different reports where clearly raise the need that the acquisition of cognitive skills and metacognitive awareness must be carried out complying with the knowledge, attitudes and values of the complex demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution framework. Inherited from the past, the stiffness of the academic structures in some higher education institutions, may prove today an insurmountable barrier to the new adaptable learning approaches required by Generation Z students. During this study, engineering students received creative thinking instruction to comply with the enhancement of: (i) their ability of shifting between different modes of thought; (ii) their capacity to cope with uncertainty, ambiguity and volatility; and (iii) their handling of non-routine interpersonal and analytical skills. The obtained results indicate that the supervised practice of associative and analytical thinking modes are highly effective for the development of the mode shifting competence, not only as a domain-specific but also as a domain-general thinking skill.

This Research-to-Practice Full Paper discusses the use of the Serious-Storytelling approach for enhancing soft skills that are decisive for the development of new job opportunities for young engineers. Multifarious international organizations, in their recent reports, emphasize the need to include new cognitive tools for developing the soft skills that Gen Z engineers need due, on the one hand, to the strong consolidation of social media, which shows an unexpected difference in the way recent graduates view the world and define themselves; and on the other hand, to the exponential development of the technology that was made accessible to them. Serious-Storytelling cognitive tools were adapted for the design of critical reading and critical writing co-curricular activities and were included as active learning experiences in different engineering programs. The research was conducted based upon a 4-group Solomon methodology with a quantitative design. To assess creative thinking competencies, different evaluation instruments were used for PreTests and PostTest, including several fluency and originality tests, as well as storytelling articulateness ability tests and modified VALUE rubrics of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U).The obtained results showed that the designed Serious-Storytelling approach promoted a better understanding of scientific concepts in engineering subjects, a higher capability to develop rising demand skill sets and a stronger creative thinking competence awareness.

Recent international reports highlight the need for developing engineering students' soft skills to a greater degree for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In particular, critical thinking and creativity are the main focus as their enhancement were found to be difficult when using traditional logical-scientific approaches in engineering. In this study, we investigate different methods of fostering specific dispositions of critical thinking in engineering students that could enhance student intellectual engagement. These attributes are namely: (i) self-awareness; (ii) open-mindedness; (iii) attentiveness towards different situations, and (iv) broad perspective view. To achieve these objectives, two different activities -dialogue seminars and online discussion boards- were incorporated into the classroom. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the approach, rubrics designed with critical thinking frameworks were used. The results obtained show the chosen cognitive tools can be highly effective for the development of higher ordered thinking skills.