A multidimensional measure of pre-service teachers' perceived technological competence for teaching: integrating TPACK, DigCompEdu, and self-efficacy

A multidimensional measure of pre-service teachers' perceived technological competence for teaching: integrating TPACK, DigCompEdu, and self-efficacy. BACKGROUND: Technological competence for teaching is multidimensional, encompassing digital tool use, professional digital practice, assessment, pedagogical integration, adaptability, and technology-related self-efficacy. Existing measures often assess these components separately rather than within a unified instrument. OBJECTIVE: This study developed and validated a multidimensional self-report scale of pre-service teachers' technological competence for teaching by integrating complementary elements of the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework, the European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators (DigCompEdu), and technology-related self-efficacy. METHODS: A multi-phase scale-development and validation design involved two independent cohorts of pre-service teachers at a public university in Türkiye. The pilot sample (n = 513) was used for item reduction and exploratory factor analysis (EFA), while the main sample (n = 974) was used for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), reliability and construct-validity analyses, gender measurement-invariance testing, and concurrent associations with a scenario-based technological-pedagogical judgment measure. An initial 90-item pool was reduced to 48 after content review and to 33 following iterative EFA. Principal axis factoring with Promax rotation and diagonally weighted least squares CFA were used. RESULTS: EFA supported a six-factor, 33-item structure: Foundational Digital Tool Use; Professional Digital Communication and Collaboration; Assessment, Feedback, and Learning Analytics; Pedagogically Aligned Technology Integration; Instructional Technology Troubleshooting and Adaptability; and Teaching-Related Technology Self-Efficacy. The factors explained 62.8% of the variance. CFA showed excellent fit, χ 2(480) = 807.32, CFI = 0.980, TLI = 0.978…