A framework for teaching competencies in technology and technical competencies: A confirmatory factor analysis

One important role of a university is the process of transferring knowledge to the students. Despite of the massive literature behind the issue of the quality of teaching in universities, much is still argued about what contributes to quality teaching. Nevertheless, literature has shown agreement that academics or the teaching faculty members play an important role in achieving the mission of delivering quality teaching and making learning a quality process. Additionally, with the advancement of technology, teaching staff must also be equipped with knowledge in technology and technical competencies. This study is part of a larger study on teaching and learning in a technical university. The objective of this study is to develop and validate a framework of teaching and learning competencies among the teaching staff of Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM). The constructed framework for teaching and learning which is an adaptation from literature on teaching and academic competencies, consists of the following components: pedagogical content knowledge, instructional quality, classroom management, climate, mindset and values, it competencies and technical competencies. This study however, reports only two components, i.e., classroom management and climate. A confirmatory factor analysis was utilised to assess the adequacy of the two components in the proposed framework. The findings of the study shows that the items for teaching competencies from the perspectives of pedagogy content knowledge and instructional quality should be broadly defined. Additionally, the non-technical factors such as the abilities to create innovation in teaching and learning, integrate technology, identify students' ability and utilise various measurement while evaluating students' performance, are deemed necessary for lecturers of higher education. This study benefits today's university's top management particularly the academic managers in search of intervention programmes to further enhance the quality of teaching and learning of the university.