A review of research on teacher competencies in higher education

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to thoroughly assemble, analyze and synthesize previous research to investigate and identify teaching staff competencies derived from the roles and tasks attributed to university professors. Design/methodology/approach In this literature review, the authors looked at both the conceptual framework exploring the educational concepts and the learning theories focusing on teaching staff roles and competencies in higher education. Thirty-nine scientific papers were studied in detail from a total of 102 results, which were eligible based on the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses statement. Findings A multi-dimensional approach to teacher competencies in higher education was proposed, which consists of six main dimensions with their respective characteristics. Thirty-two discrete teaching staff competencies were identified and distributed in the aforementioned dimensions. The research revealed that specific competencies, such as the digital competence of teachers, which have lately become of high importance worldwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic implications, surprisingly, until recently, they were considered secondary in the educational process. Research limitations/implications The study was based on the existing literature without using data drawn from an appropriate questionnaire addressed to students and/or interviews with academics. In addition, in an effort to maintain a homogeneous base of teacher competencies, inclusion of domains of expertise was avoided. Further research should focus on designing and developing a holistic model using analytical learning approaches that will contribute to the assessment of teachers’ competencies and explore the relationship of these competencies to students’ academic achievement, contributing quality to higher education. Practical implications A specific framework of teacher competencies in higher education, in practice, can be a useful reference point not only for ensuring quality in the selection of teachers and their career-long professional development but also for national education policy strategies. The definition of teacher competencies framework contributes to facilitating effective dialogue for the evaluation and quality assurance in education between agencies, authorities, researchers, teachers, policymakers, education managers and different communities at large. Social implications These competencies are at the heart not only of the teaching and learning process but also in the workplace and in society in general and are increasingly recognized as essential. An adequately prepared community and management equipped with the required employee competencies is able to react immediately and in a positive way to any obstacle, yielding optimal results. Originality/value This is the first review, to the authors’ knowledge, to comprehensively explore the literature to identify, classify and rank the teaching staff competencies in higher education, revealing the gap between perceived and actual importance of various competencies.

Distance Learning as a Means of Digital Skills Development in High School and University Students

The present research featured the readiness of university and high school students for distance learning as a means of improving their digital skills. The survey was conducted in October 2020 and involved 807 students from schools and universities of Nizhny Novgorod aged 14–24 (M=18, SD=2.22; 62.6 % female, 37.4 % male). Six focus groups included 63 students aged 17–24 (M=18, SD=1.83; 65 % female, 35 % male). The study showed that the readiness of young people for distance learning depended on their awareness of how digital technologies changed human life during the pandemic. The research revealed four types of young people with different attitudes to distance learning. Awareness of the impact of digitalization appeared to be a powerful motivator for the use of distance learning to develop digital competencies. The constraining factors included emotional and volitional immaturity, orientation to hedonistic values, confidence in one’s own digital competence, and skepticism regarding the ability of distance education to promote professional development.

Digital Skills in Times of the COVID-19 Pandemic

This chapter describes the digital competencies that have become essential in the workforce and how higher education institutions (HEIs) are trying to keep up in a moment in which faculty members have been acquiring digital skills alongside students. A field study was conducted with faculty from HEIs in Mexico to identify the differences between the digital skills that faculty possessed previous to the pandemic and those acquired as a result of remote work. It also analyzes the digital tools they have been provided with to perform their jobs, the training they have received, and the digital skills that they still lack to help students acquire the digital competencies demanded in the workforce. The objective is to identify areas of opportunity and create general guidelines that will help develop critical digital skills. A literature review of the most relevant aspects of digital dexterity and digital competence in higher education (HE) is presented. An analysis of the current context and how it is producing changes faster than before is also included.

How Reliable and Valid are the Evaluations of Digital Competence in Higher Education: A Systematic Mapping Study

Evaluating digital competencies has become a topic of growing interest in recent years. Although several reviews and studies have summarized the main elements of progress and shortcomings in this area, some issues are yet to be explored. Very little information is available about the ways of ensuring the validity and reliability of the instrument used. This study addresses this issue through systematic mapping covering the period from January 2015 to July 2020. Based on 88 primary studies, we conclude that a growing number of studies have emerged over the years; most of them are based on European university students in social science programs; the quality of the journals where they were published is low; and the instruments used are mostly questionnaires and ad-hoc surveys that measure the various dimensions of digital competence based on participants’ perceptions. Out of the eight possible types of quality assessment, studies commonly report only four (one in the case of reliability and three in the case of validity). More than 50% of the studies do not provide evidence of having assessed the reliability and validity at the same time. Although participant discipline resulted in a significantly association with the practice of reporting reliability and validity assessments, no specific dimension explained such association. A non-parametric multivariate analysis reveals, among other interesting patterns, that the practice of not reporting quality assessments is more present in studies where participants belong to the fields of Engineering and Technology, Health Sciences, and Humanities.

Influencia de variables sociofamiliares en la competencia digital en comunicación y colaboración: [Influence of socio-familial variables on digital competence in communication and collaboration]

Las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (TIC) se utilizan en todos los sectores, incluido el educativo y una competencia básica como es la digital, debe ser desarrollada desde la escuela. Para desarrollar políticas educativas eficaces que integren las TIC en los sistemas educativos y fomenten el desarrollo de esta competencia, es muy importante conocer la influencia que pueden tener diferentes variables sociales en su adquisición y desarrollo. En este artículo se presenta un estudio que tiene por objeto evaluar la competencia digital de los estudiantes de enseñanza obligatoria e identificar el impacto, que en ella tienen, diferentes variables sociofamiliares. Se diseñó una investigación descriptiva transversal utilizando una metodología cuantitativa. Se trabajó con una muestra de 807 estudiantes, y se utilizó una prueba de resolución de problemas para la recogida de datos. Los resultados muestran un nivel medio en conocimiento y capacidades digitales influenciado por los antecedentes económicos y culturales de la familia, así como por el acceso de los estudiantes a los dispositivos digitales desde sus casas. Esta situación debe de ser motivo de reflexión en los centros educativos, para implementar programas curriculares que fortalezcan este tipo de competencias.

Digital competence of future teachers in a Higher Education Institution in Paraguay]

La globalización de la tecnología ha provocado que gran parte del comportamiento social cambie, así como también en la forma de aprender y a enseñar. El objetivo fue analizar la percepción de los futuros docentes sobre su competencia digital en cuatro dimensiones (TIC, pedagógica, aspecto, ético y legal y formación profesional docente) que cursan los últimos años de en una Institución de Educación Superior en el Paraguay. Se utilizó una metodología cuantitativa de tipo no experimental correlacional, con un total de 330 participantes. Los resultados evidenciaron una formación muy básica a básica de competencia digital y se encontró que, a mayor formación en las TIC, mayor es el desarrollo de la competencia digital; así también, existe una relación significativa entre el género y las dimensiones (pedagógica, TIC y aspecto, ético y legal) y, no se encontró correlación entre la edad y las dimensiones de la compencia digital. Se concluye que existe una necesidad de formación continua en competencia digital de los futuros docentes