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The Knowledge Society, along with the non‐stop growing technological evolution, entails university students acquiring new competences for them to be successful in society. These are called 21st‐century competences that come as high‐skill competences – higher‐order thinking capacities and teamwork competences – and information and communication technologies (ICT) competences – technological, pedagogical and ethical. This study aims to determine the link between ICT competences and high‐skill competences. A correlational study was conducted whose sample was formed by 983 students studying degrees at the Universidad de Valencia (Spain), selected by non‐probabilistic incidental sampling and collecting information with two questionnaires. The results indicate a positive and statistically significant relation between ICT competences with the other two considered sets: higher‐order thinking capacities and teamwork competences. Moreover, pedagogical competences are more related with the two high‐skill competence sets. This suggests the need for training plans that favour learning 21st‐century competences and for stressing pedagogical competences in ICT. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: University students require new competences to face a changing society.21st‐century competences are made up of ICT competences, higher‐order thinking capacities and teamwork competences.The empirical relation between ICT competences with higher‐order thinking capacities and teamwork competences has been little addressed.Few empirical studies have determined the contribution of each of the competence dimensions in that relation. What this paper adds: There is a positive relation between ICT competences and higher‐order thinking capacities and teamwork competences.Pedagogical competences –ICT competences‐ are more closely related to the two sets of high‐skill competences.Problem solving and the two teamwork competences contribute more to the relation with ICT competences. Implications for practice and/or policy: University system have to development training plans in the 21st century competences for the university student.University system have to promote specific training in pedagogical competences ‐ICT competences‐ for university student. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the application of the multicriteria decision-making methods ELECTRE-I and AHP to a layout alternatives decision for a new high-speed train for the Madrid-Valencia high-speed line. The official choice is presented as a first introduction with the planning decision of the corresponding new high-speed lines for the south-east of Spain as part of the 2002-2007 high-speed network plan for Spain. This official selection of layout alternatives was decided in January 2002. The data used by the authors were obtained from public reports and official surveys, including two cost-effectiveness studies in net present value format for that part of the network that includes the important link between Madrid and Valencia. A short analysis of these net present value studies follows, and these studies show the feasibility of that part of the network, but were not decisive for the decision of the layout choice. The selection of alternatives for the Madrid-Valencia corridor is academically considered first with an ELECTRE-I method, and then with an analytic hierarchic process method. This is followed by an analysis of the problems using compromise programming. With both multicriteria decision-making methods the results showed that the North option was preferable, or `outranked' the others, in agreement with the official selection. Thus it demonstrates that such methods are appropriate as aids for such decision-making procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]