Digital Competence and University Teachers’ Conceptions about Teaching. A Structural Causal Model

Abstract

Introduction: University teachers, in their ongoing scientific and pedagogical updating, must master the new methodologies and trends in their professional field. ICT’s importance for any person requires ethical responsibility, and it is incumbent on the educational professionals to preserve, improve and update their level of digital competence, and so improve learning and teaching. Method: This study uses a representative sample of 186 university teachers and follows the quantitative descriptive survey method. Two questionnaires were applied (CEE-ACUTIC). The first identified the approach for the transmission of information or the construction of knowledge, and the second measured attitude, knowledge and use of ICT. Results: A causal model of structural equations of maximum likelihood was run. We highlight the positive and significant relationship between the teaching approach oriented to the construction of knowledge and the use of ICTs (β = 0.17, p < 0.01) and, in another sense, a statistically significant but negative relationship between the use of ICTs and the teaching approach focused on the transmission of information (β = −0.16, p < 0.05). Discussion: It is empirically confirmed that the teaching approach conditions the use of technologies for teaching. There is no research in other contexts showing a causal relationship between teaching approaches and digital teaching competence.