Insights and Development of Non-cognitive Skills
A substantial body of research indicates that non-cognitive skills predict a wide range of life outcomes, including academic and educational achievement, labor market outcomes, health, and criminality (Kautz et al., Fostering and measuring skills: Improvi
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Introduction A substantial body of research indicates that non-cognitive skills predict a wide range of life outcomes, including academic and educational achievement, labor market outcomes, health, and criminality (Kautz, Heckman, Diris, Ter Weel, & Borghans, 2014). For several outcomes, the predictive significance of non-cognitive skills on the quality of peoples’ lives rivals that of the measures of their cognitive ability. The intent of this chapter is to establish a foundation and purpose for consideration in investigating and applying non-cognitive skills in all aspects of learning, teaching, and instructional design.
Non-cognitive Skills Defining non-cognitive skills is complicated and is often disputed. Gutman and Schoon (2013) suggest there is little agreement even on whether non-cognitive skills is the appropriate term to describe the behaviors such as character skills, personality traits, twenty-first-century skills, and social skills. Within any given concept of a particular non-cognitive skill, such as work ethic, there is a historical recount of theory and measurement and competing definitions of what is being discussed and measured. As a means to define non-cognitive skills, the terms cognitive, non-cognitive, and skills will be distinguished.
J. Pedersen (*) C.L.A.S.S. Education, Carmel, IN, USA e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 M. J. Bishop et al. (eds.), Handbook of Research in Educational Communications and Technology, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36119-8_13
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Distinguishing the Terms Cognitive, Non-cognitive, and Skills Although a distinction between cognitive skills and non-cognitive skills is being made in this chapter, it is not implied that these skills work in isolation from each other. All non-cognitive skills involve cognition, and some portion of performance on cognitive tasks is attributed to the use of non-cognitive skills (Schanzenbach, Nunn, Bauer, Mumford, & Breitwieser, 2016). In economics literature, non-cognitive skills are often described as soft skills and elsewhere as social and emotional learning, social skills, or behavioral skills, including specific qualities associated with leadership ability (Duckworth & Yeager, 2015; Jones et al., 2017). In attempt to account for all educational and industry sectors, the term “non-cognitive” will be defined in this chapter as patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors (Borghans, Duckworth, Heckman, & Ter Weel, 2008) such as personality traits, attitudes, and motivations. In contrast, the term “cognitive” will be defined as the ability to understand complex ideas, adapt effectively to the environment, and overcome obstacles by taking thought (Pierre, Sanchez, Maria, Valerio, & Rajadel, 2014). The term “skill” is often considered a key variable that contributes toward the sustainable development of nations and an individual’s well-being (Zhou, 2016). From an economic perspective, “skill” is a form of human capital that produces value and has a significant impact on income dis
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