As dramatic changes of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in higher education occur, the learning environment has gradually blended the traditional face-to-face environment with online learning, distributed learning, blended learning, and other situational elements. The change of learning environment in higher education has expanded the connotation of teaching competencies that teachers should not only integrate technology into instruction, but also integrate technology into complex and diverse learning environments. The new requirements of teaching competencies call for new standards framework and evaluation instruments.

This chapter first reviews recent research on the standards framework of teaching competencies (Sect. 3.1.1) and then proposes a new standards framework of teaching competencies in higher education (Sect. 3.1.2), as well as suggestions for using the proposed standards framework (Sect. 3.1.3). Evaluation instruments are also reviewed to conclude this chapter, including behavior observation scale (Sect. 3.2.1), digital teaching competency questionnaire (Sect. 3.2.2), single-item knowledge skills assessment (Sect. 3.2.3), and teaching competency self-assessment scales (Sect. 3.2.4).

3.1 Standard Framework

3.1.1 Recent Research on Standard Framework of Teaching Competencies

Objectives and Principles of the Teaching Competency Standard Framework. Objectives of Teaching Competency Standards Framework include improving the recognition of college teacher teaching competency standards. Teachers, as a critical factor in the development of the quality system of higher education, are confronted with a series of challenges because of the digital transformation of higher education. Building a standard of teacher teaching competencies compatible with education reform, as well as strengthening the recognition of college teachers’ teaching as a professional skill, has become critical. In November 2021, UNESCO released Reimagining Our Future Together: A New Social Contract for Education, which suggests “to shape peaceful, just, and sustainable futures, education itself must be transformed” (UNESCO, 2021, p. 1). The key to ensuring the professional recognition and reputation of college teachers’ teaching is to develop a recognized standard framework for teacher teaching competencies, guide college teachers to participate in effective professional training and teaching practice activities at different development stages of higher education and improve teaching literacy and key capabilities. Building a standard suitable for teachers’ professional development has also become a guarantee of high-quality college teacher development.

Identifying the typical characteristics of teacher teaching competencies at different developmental stages of higher education is important. The purpose of formatting a teaching competency standard framework applicable to the scope of higher education globally is to promote the professional development of college teachers teaching in the information age. It aims to urge every college teacher to continuously pursue “teaching excellence,” and identify various types of typical characteristics of teachers (novice, advanced, and expert teachers) based upon the competency standard framework. It also aims to help teacher development centers and other institutions at colleges enhance and improve teachers’ professional development. To identify the current level of college teacher teaching competence, three areas need to be developed: (1) teacher teaching qualification certification programs, (2) teacher education and training course resources, and (3) teacher teaching competence diagnostic tools based on the competence standard framework and the idea of international competence micro-accreditation.

Promoting the professional development of digital teaching competencies in higher education can help. With the innovative use of technologies such as the Internet, artificial intelligence, and big data in education, online and face-to-face teaching has shown a trend of blurred boundaries and mutual integration. After large-scale remote teaching became true during the COVID pandemics, the combination of online and face-to-face teaching gradually became a teaching direction. Facing the information era, college teachers must consciously explore and improve their teaching knowledge and skills in the new intelligent learning environment, as well as demonstrate professionalism and teaching leadership. The standard framework for digital teaching competencies aims to better: (1) guide teaching development institutions at the colleges and universities to further promote professionalization of teaching; (2) explore teaching methods and strategies for the new era, new environment, and new problems; (3) explore more intelligent, precise, and personalized teacher training and development system; and (4) guide college teachers in doing practice-based research on teaching development tailored to the information era.

Principles of Teaching Competency Standards Framework include practicality and guidance. The purpose of a standard framework for college teacher teaching competencies is to evaluate teachers and their teaching practice. Whether it fits teachers’ actual teaching demands is an essential basis to validate the effectiveness of the standard framework. In this sense, the competency standard framework should fulfill the actual needs of teachers’ teaching. The primary principle for developing the competency standard framework is to emphasize the practical knowledge and skills of teaching. The standard should not only address current teaching practice issues, but also investigate teachers’ actual expectations (McMahon, 2021). That is to say, the standard framework for teacher teaching competencies should place a strong emphasis on the ability level of their specialization and provide specific direction and demonstration for teachers’ teaching. The standard framework guides college teachers in the process of teaching practices and ensures that they continue lifelong learning as practicing individuals in practice communities.

Systematicity and sustainability is also part of the framework. The process of teachers’ teaching requires the coordinated operation of multiple subsystems such as school organization, curriculum resources, and the like. These subsystems are interdependent. From a systematic standpoint, the teachers’ teaching process is a collection of different teaching element subsystems (Miao et al., 2020). As a result, teacher teaching competency framework requires a logical and systematic structure. According to UNESCO’s (2018) “ICT Competency Framework for Teachers,” teacher teaching competencies are divided into six categories: understanding ICT (information and communications technology) in education, curriculum and assessment, pedagogy, application of digital skills, organization and administration, and teacher professional learning, which forms a systematic framework. At the same time, the framework must be sustainable and capable of providing continued guidance to novice teachers, advanced teachers, competent teachers, and expert teachers at various stages of their professional development. Taking the ICT Competency Framework as an example, it focuses on the three stages of knowledge acquisition, knowledge deepening, and knowledge creation. As a result, developing a competency standard framework based on systematic and sustainable principles can be consistent with the features of the development of the times, and continue to add value and play a role in educational reform and development.

Adaptability and accessibility are important. Adaptability is the ability or willingness to change in order to suit different conditions (Cambridge Dictionary, 2021). UNESCO (2009) is dedicated to ensuring accessibility and equal access for all people. As a result, when developing the framework of college teacher teaching competency standards, it should provide references for the standards and training programs in different countries (regions) and be adaptable. At the same time, the culture and context of different countries (regions) should be considered while developing the competency framework to ensure the easy application of the competency framework and provide greater convenience for the broad application of the competency framework.

Basics for Developing Competency Standards. To develop teaching competency standards, we must first consider two issues: (a) how to define the successful teaching behavior of teachers, or that is, what fundamental teaching competencies teachers should possess, and (b) what important changes have taken place in the connotation of teacher teaching competence structure under the process of technology change.

Most teaching competency standards include the enhancement and support of human performance behavior, and they are used to indicate a level of professional qualification. McLagan (1997) defined competency standards from six aspects: tasks, results, outputs, knowledge, skills, and commitments/affects (KSC’s), and bundles of attributes. Competency standards are defined more precisely by the International Board of Standards for Training, Performance, and Instruction (IBSTPI), as a set of relevant knowledge, skills, and attitudes that enable individuals to effectively perform specific occupations or job responsibilities by professional standards (Klein et al., 2004). As a result, competency standards are highly correlated with job performance and can be measured to a great extent. Developing competency standards for related occupations, it must start with a clearly defined occupational role and describe a set of performance indicators for ability growth on several dimensions or levels. Generally, the first-level dimension of occupational role competency must be determined initially and be focused upon. Determining the secondary core indicators, and finally, refining each secondary indicator’s tertiary performance indicator occurs.

Research and Analysis on the Structural Framework of College Teacher Teaching Competencies. Many scholars have presented different and applicable definitions of teacher teaching competencies based on both psychological and behavioral perspectives. In particular, the teaching competencies in higher education have different structural characteristics from that of primary and secondary school teachers. Streifer (1987) focused on the division of teaching competencies of college teachers and split them into five dimensions: academic skills, teaching skills, skills for evaluating students, professional knowledge, and professional responsibilities. Simpson and Smith (1993) divided the teaching competencies of college teachers into six areas: scholastic skills, planning skills, management skills, presentation and communication skills, evaluation and feedback skills, and interpersonal skills.

Fink (2003) further grouped teaching competencies in higher education into four categories: professional knowledge, instructional design, interpersonal communication skills, and teaching implementation and management. Tigelaar et al. (2004) believed that the teaching competencies of college teachers should include the following domains: (a) personal professional competencies of the teacher, including being communicative, tolerant and understanding of students, and respectful for all students; (2) teachers’ professional content knowledge, including subject professional knowledge and subject professional frontier knowledge; (3) ability to promote the learning process, including curriculum design and development, problem consultation and feedback, learning effect evaluation, and teaching management; and (4) lifelong learning/academic competencies, including the ability to reflect on teaching effectiveness, innovate, and reform instruction.

Guasch et al. (2010) pointed out that college teachers should possess the following functions and roles: (a) design/planning function that helps teachers organize and manage their courses, create and follow teaching objectives, motivate learning, manage teaching activities, and assess teaching; (b) social functions, which necessitate teachers’ ability to improve the relationship with students, achieve emotional expression, and use both verbal and non-verbal communication; (c) instructive function, which is strongly tied to teachers’ professional knowledge and skills; (d) technological domain, which includes the use of information technology and information-based teaching; and (e) management domain, which allows teachers to carry out and modify planned actions. Based on teachers’ values, behavior, communication, and teaching practices, Selvi (2010) proposed universal standards of teacher teaching competencies that included nine competencies, “field competencies, research competencies, curriculum competencies, lifelong learning competencies, social-cultural competencies, emotional competencies, communication competencies, information and communication technologies (ICT) competencies, and environmental competencies” (p. 168).

Xu (2012) categorized the teaching competencies in higher education into five categories: fundamental professional knowledge, teachers’ personality and characteristics, teaching attitude, construction ability, and teaching ability. Hu (2021) also proposed that teacher teaching practice ability includes instructional design ability, teaching implementation ability, teaching reflection ability, teaching evaluation ability, classroom teaching management ability, and information technology and teaching integration ability.

Many organizations and institutions have set standards for teaching competencies to encourage the growth of college teacher teaching competencies. The competencies reflect the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that competent teachers should have. The International Board of Standards for Training, Performance, and Instruction (IBSTPI) (2004) issued the Instructor Competencies, which construct professional standards of five core competency dimensions, 18 secondary competency indicators, and 97 performance indicators for face-to-face, online, and hybrid teaching environment. The Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) issued “The U.K. Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF)” as the world's first professional teaching competency standard in higher education. UKPSF uses the British National Information Accreditation Center (NARIC) information on the international education framework and qualifications. As a guiding standard for teaching staff to carry out teaching and training, it has been widely used in faculty professional development in the Commonwealth countries. The standard framework sets 15 secondary competency dimensions for teachers’ activity areas (A), core knowledge (K), and professional values (V). According to the typical characteristics of professional teaching and learning practice, it is divided into four levels of associate fellow, fellow, senior fellow, and principal fellow (UKPSF, 2009).

The following tables classified and analyzed the key components of the above theoretical research and associated standards to effectively examine the frame structure of teaching competencies in higher education. The findings reveal that:

  1. (1)

    From the professional attitude, professional responsibilities, emotional attitude, maintenance of professional reputation, and other related abilities, the first-level dimensional competencies can be summarized as teachers’ professional value cognitive dimensions (see Table 3.1). Many scholars have made a relatively broad definition in terms of professional responsibilities, emotional attitudes, and professional values. IBSTPI and UKPSF provide detailed description of behavioral ability from teachers’ professional ethics, professional emotional ability, professional attitude, and professional belief. The comparative analysis of Table 3.1 shows the cognitive dimension of teachers’ professional value. It can be classified into two ability indicators: (1) professional belief and spirit, and (2) professional ethics and legal knowledge.

    Table 3.1 A comparative analysis of cognitive dimensions of teachers’ professional value
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  2. (2)

    Based on the teacher’s professional teaching knowledge, professional basic knowledge, professional technical knowledge, teaching methodology and strategy knowledge, teaching expression, and communication skills, the second first-level dimensions of competencies can be summarized as the essential knowledge and skills of teaching (see Table 3.2). The comparative analysis of Table 3.2 shows that the essential knowledge and skills of teaching include teachers’ professional technical knowledge and skills, field knowledge, teaching methodology and strategies, and communication and presentation skills. It can be summarized into three ability indicators: effective communication skills, professional content knowledge and skills, and teaching methodologies and strategies.

    Table 3.2 A comparative analysis of the dimensions of teachers’ essential knowledge and skills
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  3. (3)

    Based on teachers’ academic skills, teaching skills, planning skills, management skills, curriculum design skills, teaching implementation skills, information technology application skills, curriculum management skills, and other related skills, the third first-level dimensional competencies can be summarized as the core competencies of teaching practices (see Table 3.3). The comparative analysis of Table 3.3 shows that the core competency dimensions of teaching practice include competencies such as curriculum design, teaching management, teaching implementation, development of learning environment, evaluation of teaching, reflection on learning, promoting the retention and transfer of knowledge and skills, application of information-based technology, teaching research, and life-long learning. Six competency indicators have emerged, including curriculum design competencies, teaching management competencies, teaching evaluation and reflection competencies, information, and communication technology (ICT) competencies, and teaching research competencies.

    Table 3.3 A comparative analysis of the core competency dimensions of teaching practice
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3.1.2 A Standards Framework of Teaching Competencies in Higher Education

The Structure of the Framework. Based upon the literature reviewed above, this section proposed a standards framework for teaching competencies in higher education, which includes three first-level dimensions and ten competency standards. It covered teachers’ professional value cognition, the essential knowledge and skills of teaching, and the core competencies of teaching practice (see Fig. 3.1).

Fig. 3.1
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The structure of college teacher teaching competency standard framework

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Teaching Competency Indicators

As shown in Table 3.4, the proposed standards framework has three first-level dimensions, 10 s-level standards, and 40 third-level indicators.

Table 3.4 Teaching competency standard framework with indicators
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Table 3.5 Indicators of teaching competencies in application stage
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Dimension 1: Teachers’ Professional Values Cognition. The dimension of teachers’ professional value cognition includes two second-level standards for teaching and taking teaching as a profession, which are the professional belief and spirit and the professional ethics and legal knowledge. There are eight third-level indicators in the teachers’ professional value cognition dimension.

Dimension 2: Essential Knowledge and Skills in Teaching. The essential knowledge and skills of the teaching dimensions include three second-level standards and 15 third-level indicators, which are effective communication skills, professional knowledge skills, and teaching methodologies and strategies.

Dimension 3: Core Competencies of Teaching Practices. The teaching ability of college teachers in the process of teaching practice prompts teachers to continuously pursue teaching excellence and teaching specialization. The core competencies include five second-level standards: curriculum design, teaching management, teaching evaluation and reflection, information-based teaching ability, and research.

Teaching Competency Indicators in Different Development Stages. Teaching competency development consists of three stages: application, advancement, and innovation. Each development stage has different indicators of teaching competencies, details of which are discussed below.

Application Stage. This application stage is for pre-service teachers and new teachers. It includes ten second-level standards and 28 third-level indicators, as shown in Table 3.5.

Advancement stage. The advancement stage focuses on in-service and advanced teachers’ teaching competency development. In addition to the 28 indicators required in the application stage, it also includes another eight indicators, as shown in Table 3.6.

Table 3.6 Indicators of teaching competencies in advancement stage
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Innovation Stage. The innovation stage aims to help teachers achieve teaching excellence by providing guidelines and methods for them to use in the classroom. In addition to the 28 indicators from the application stage and eight indicators in the advancement stage, teachers should also consider another four indicators as shown in Table 3.7.

Table 3.7 Indicators of teaching competencies in innovation stage
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3.1.3 Suggestions for Using the Standards Framework of Teaching Competencies in Higher Education

National Level

Constructing a local standards framework of teaching competencies. Different countries or regions might construct local teaching competency standards to guide instruction in different learning environments or locations. The local standards framework can facilitate the local education departments to conduct research and construct standards in conjunction with local needs, thereby speeding up the establishment of local competency standards. In general, establishing a standard certification system in a country or region takes a lengthy time.

Assessing teaching qualifications via the teaching competency standards framework. An authoritative and credible teaching professional competence certification system for college teachers is formed by examining knowledge and skill, oral and written communication of teaching language, and demonstration of teaching practice. Different countries or regions can create national or regional teacher qualification assessment and certification projects based on the college teacher teaching competency standards and improve the assessment indicators based on competency standards.

Institutional Level

Developing teacher professional development training programs. Based on the competency standard framework, colleges and universities can construct personalized teaching competency development training programs and develop the teachers’ professional development systems based on their own resources and needs. For instance, they can evaluate teacher teaching competencies before starting the program, address their competencies and characteristics, explore their needs, and provide personalized support and training services.

Conducting teaching research or policy advice. Colleges and universities can use the competency standards framework to conduct research to improve policies regarding teaching and consultation for adapting to the digital transformation in higher education.

Developing digital resources for teacher education. Colleges and universities can establish a curriculum resource system for the development of college teachers’ education. Resources can include, but not limited to, high-quality resource courses, video open courses, and open educational resources to support college teachers’ self-regulated study and online training. At the same time, colleges and universities can further expand curricular resources at the university level to encourage teachers to participate in their online community for training.

Individual Level. Individual teachers, trainers, administrators, and researchers, as the direct beneficiaries of the standards framework of teaching competencies in higher education, can help improve teaching practices from different roles.

Teachers in higher education. Teachers in higher education can utilize the standards framework as a starting point for thinking about their students, teaching context, and cultural backgrounds. Their thoughts on instructional design and teaching activities assist teachers in developing their own teaching professional ability, improving teaching performance, and growing into reflective and professional teaching practitioners.

Teaching and training providers. With the goal of improving the performance of teaching and training, the training and professional development units can provide targeted teachers with professional development solutions for teachers’ practical teaching problems. Teaching and training providers can use the standards to develop teachers’ professional development projects.

Administrator/human resources. Administrators and human resources can use the standard of teaching competencies to put together basic job requirements when hiring teachers in higher education, which aids in the selection and hiring process.

Education researchers. Education researchers can create assessment tools to help teachers improve their teaching skills in accordance with the requirements. They can undertake both quantitative and/or qualitative analyses to guide the development and construction of education-related curricula.

3.2 Evaluation Instruments

Evaluation is an essential part in the application of the standards framework of teaching competencies in higher education. This section introduces the relevant evaluation methods and tools including the behavior observation scale, digital teaching competency questionnaires, single-item knowledge skills assessment, and teaching competency self-assessment scales.

3.2.1 Behavior Observation Scale

According to the standards framework of teaching competencies in higher education, the “University Teachers’ Teaching Behavior Observation Scale” was compiled from two first-level dimensions: “teaching necessary knowledge and skills” and “teaching core practical ability.“ The scale was mainly designed from eight indicators: effective communication ability, professional content knowledge and skills, teaching method and strategy, curriculum design ability, teaching management ability, teaching evaluation and reflection, information teaching ability, and teaching research ability. It rated teachers’ teaching practices and classified them into three levels of excellent, good, and average (see Table 3.8).

Table 3.8 Teachers’ knowledge, skill, and teaching practices scale in higher education
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3.2.2 Digital Teaching Competency Questionnaires

Ge et al. (2018) created a competency measurement questionnaire for technology integration into the teaching process that used four competency dimensions: awareness, literacy, strategy, and research. Indicators of awareness include teachers’ perceptions and readiness to incorporate ICT into curriculum design, as well as their understanding of related policies and standards. Literacy refers to the extension of teaching technology tools such as simple subject technology, resource development, and network teaching platform to the application of various lightweight intelligent terminals to achieve ubiquitous lifelong learning of “every time, everything, everyone, and everywhere.” Literacy is embedded into the learning, workplace, and daily environments. Teachers are becoming role models for digital work and learning. Strategy refers to the integration and application ability of technology and course teaching to form the integration and application ability of technology and course teaching focusing on problem-solving. Research refers to teachers’ ability to conduct refined research and analysis on the entire process of the analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation of the integration of information technology into curriculum teaching. This area also includes testing the effectiveness of teachers’ teaching practical knowledge development, and scientifically and effectively innovating a variety of teaching modes, methods, and strategies. The questionnaire employs Likert’s five-point scale format with 1 being extremely poor and 5 being extremely good. Teachers can self-score the items in the questionnaire. A total score of the four dimensions reveals teachers’ competencies of technology integration into teaching, as shown in Table 3.9.

Table 3.9 Digital teaching competency questionnaire
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3.2.3 Single-Item Knowledge Skills Assessment

The single-item knowledge assessment is to evaluate the first two dimensions of the standards framework of teaching competencies in higher education. This evaluation instrument is usually organized around teacher qualifications by national or local educational government agencies. It generally has two parts: (1) pre-service theoretical knowledge training and professional knowledge and skills, including four sub-competencies; and (2) professional beliefs and professionalism, teaching ethics and legal knowledge, effective communication and expression, and knowledge of teaching pedagogies and strategies.

Here is an example of the teaching qualification examination for college teachers in S province in China. The teaching qualification examination for college teachers is organized by the provincial education departments that deliver the “Provincial College Teacher Qualification Examination Measures” and “Provincial Teacher Qualification Examination.” The examination content mainly involves the four courses: Educational Policies and Regulations, Teachers’ Professional Ethics, Education in Higher Education, and Educational Psychology. Exam questions include single choice, multiple choice, terminology, short answer, and essay questions. The exam uses a hundred-point system. Experts first reviewed examination, then tested for the difficulty and distinction levels, and finally delivered the examination to students. In addition to the four examined courses, the examinees are also required to take training and test their Mandarin language proficiency levels guided by the latest revision of the Chinese Ministry of Education's Putonghua Proficiency Test Management Regulations. The language proficiency level test is usually conducted in two formats: a test on the system machine evaluation and onsite evaluation by Putonghua testers.

3.2.4 Teaching Competency Self-Assessment Scales

Some higher education institutions have developed teaching competency self-assessment scales.

Teaching competency scale. Swank et al. (2021), from the University of Florida, developed the Teaching Competency Scale (TCS) from the teachers’ perspective. This study identified four factors through an exploratory factor analysis with 288 individuals and encompassed 67 items within four domains (knowledge, skills, behaviors, and dispositions). It first examined instruction and evaluation with 18 items, focusing on teachers’ competencies of course instruction and evaluation. It studied knowledge, ethics, and preparation with 15 items, focusing on teachers’ knowledge about theories, accreditation and best practices, ethical and research considerations, and preparation for course instruction. Teacher dispositions included nine items, focusing on teachers’ personal characteristics. Finally, behaviors and technology were examined with six items, focusing on “professional and ethical behavior and the use of technology” (Swank et al., 2021, p. 489).

The TCS uses a five-point Likert scale to measure overall and subscale scores for each domain/area, ranging from none/not competent to Strong/Very competent. As a subjective psychological measurement tool that evaluates teachers as teaching professionals, TCS gives a new evaluation notion or approach to teachers’ teaching performance (Swank et al., 2021).

Evaluation of teaching performance questionnaire. Moreno-Murcia (2015) from the University of Miguel Hernandez de Elche in Spain developed the Evaluation of Teaching Performance questionnaire (CEID) from the subjective perspective of students’ evaluation on teaching performance. It assessed and evaluated teacher teaching competencies dynamically. By performing exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, the data confirmed a suitable psychometric structure for the CEID scale, which comprises of three dimensions: planning, development, and result. CEID includes 28 items grouped into three factors: (1) planning, which consists of four items such as “He/she provides information about objectives, bibliography, tutorials, content and assessment methods in the subject’s curriculum” (p. 57); (2) development, which consists of 17 items such as “he/she promotes teamwork” (p. 57); and (3) result, which includes seven items such as “he/she applies the assessment criteria of the activities as established in the subject’s curriculum” (p. 58).

The CEID questionnaire uses a five-point Likert scale, with a scoring range from 1 (completely disagree) to 5 (completely agree). As an effective and reliable teaching evaluation tool for students, CEID can be adopted by universities’ teaching centers to assess and evaluate teachers’ teaching performance.