Development of Future Teachers’ Competencies for the Use of Technology in Teaching Through a Study Program

Abstract

Croatian and European strategic documents emphasize the importance of professional competences of teachers and the digital transformation of the education system. In this context, the theoretical framework TPACK (technological, pedagogical and content knowledge) is used to understand the integration of digital technologies into teaching. The aim of this research is to examine differences in the level of TPACK among teacher education students in the Republic of Croatia with regard to the study program, year of study, and number of courses with content in the field of digital technologies and/or their applications in education. The level of TPACK was measured with the SPTKTT questionnaire, for which a factor structure was proposed in the context of the Croatian education system, and it was confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis on a total sample of 388 students. The analysis of the impact of the study program and the year of study was conducted on the same sample, while the impact of the number of courses was analyzed on a subsample of 154 students for whom data on attendance at computer science modules was available, i.e. on the number of courses with content from the field of digital technologies and/or their applications in education that they attended during their studies. The representation of such courses was determined by analyzing the study programs. The results showed statistically significant differences in the level of TPACK with respect to all observed variables, but the effect sizes were small, indicating a limited contribution of structural features of the study program to the development of TPACK. The findings suggest that the development of TPACK cannot be explained solely by the structure of study programs, but rather depends on other factors, which has important implications for the development of curricula and educational strategies in the education of future teachers.