Open Badges have gained significant traction within Japanese academic and corporate sectors, resulting in a proliferation of innovative initiatives, especially in the domains of educational quality assurance and workforce development. The advent of Open Badges 3.0 has markedly enhanced the system’s flexibility, paving the way for its expanded utilization across a myriad of disciplines as a robust mechanism for validating learning achievements and proficiencies. This paper delves into the underpinnings of Open Badges, elucidates the advantages conferred by the latest standard, and presents concrete case studies of micro-credential implementation in Japan.

In this study, we investigated and analyzed the e-health literacy of university students to examine the relationship between eHEALS (Japanese version), a measure of e-health literacy, and their actual information-seeking behavior and site evaluation methods. Additionally, we analyzed the correlation between eHEALS and the critical thinking attitude scale, as critical thinking skills are essential not only for proficient information search but also for discerning the accuracy of encountered information. The results revealed that students in the higher group with eHEALS scores tended to evaluate health and medical information websites by giving importance to criteria such as “the content is balanced and fair”, “additional information sources like support organizations and references are listed”, and “the identity of the website creator is disclosed”. Furthermore, it was observed that students with higher eHEALS scores exhibited elevated critical thinking skills in objectivity and inquisitiveness.

Deductive and hypothetical reasoning share common components, however, their reasoning processes and the outcomes they yield differ significantly. Understanding and distinguishing between these forms of reasoning are crucial. Nonetheless, learners often struggle with this discrimination, primarily due to the lack of instructional guidance on how to effectively differentiate between these forms of reasoning. The objective of this study is to provide a learning environment that facilitates the discrimination of reasoning forms. For this purpose, we have proposed a discrimination process utilizing Linguistic Triangular Logic and Formal Triangular Logic. Furthermore, we have designed and developed an exercise environment in line with this discrimination process. The results of an experimental evaluation with university students suggested an enhancement in their ability to discriminate between deductive and hypothetical reasoning.

It has been reported that negative images of people with mental disorders often slow down students’ spontaneous efforts and expose interpersonal problems during practical training in the field of mental disorders. Therefore, in this study, a task to experience the clinical thinking process and a task to experience clinical skills necessary for practice were included in a class for occupational therapy students. Furthermore, in the following year, the class was improved by adding an opportunity to reflect on a case study, aiming to develop a therapeutic attitude that is difficult to change. The results suggested that the improved class was more effective than the class before the improvement, and was effective in helping students acquire a therapeutic attitude toward mentally disabled persons.