Proposing an online pedagogical competency framework for university lecturers: evidence from Vietnam

Abstract

This study proposes an online pedagogical competency framework for university lecturers that covers teaching, research, and community service. The study was conducted in two phases. First, a two-round Delphi online survey was conducted with 20 Vietnamese experts, who reached consensus on an online pedagogical competency framework. Second, an online survey was distributed and collected 235 valid Vietnamese university lecturers about their perceptions of the importance and performance of each competence. Confirmatory factor analysis was employed to evaluate the suitability of the online pedagogical competence. Additionally, importance-performance analysis was used to identify the strengths and weaknesses of their competencies. The proposed framework consists of 39 online pedagogical competencies, which were consensually categorized into three groups: teaching, research, and community service. Vietnamese university lecturers demonstrated strengths in online teaching but faced limitations in research and community service. The results also reveal that they perceive the performance levels of these competencies as falling short of the required level of importance. The proposed framework could be used to assess university lecturers’ online pedagogical competencies, providing valuable insights for developing plans and policies to enhance them.