Teaching competencies in physics for engineering education: A qualitative analysis from teaching practice
Vanessa Cruz Molina, Daniel Sanchez Guzman, Teodoro Rivera Montalvo, Ricardo Garcia-Salcedo
TL;DR
This study investigates nine physics-teaching competencies tailored to engineering education, using a qualitative–interpretive approach and grounded theory to analyze responses from 19 instructors at a Mexican technological university. It reveals an intermediate level of competence overall, with strong technical mastery, methodological/digital integration, communication, and ICT-led innovation, but weaker information literacy and digital ethics/safety, and a notable gap between understanding and classroom enactment. The work provides empirically grounded profiles and a set of actionable implications for disciplinary professional development, emphasizing constructive alignment of modelling, laboratory work, and computation with ethical digital practices. Practically, the findings advocate for institutionally supported communities of practice and targeted training to move physics teaching for engineers from adoption/adaptation toward sustained appropriation and innovation in multimodal learning environments.
Abstract
Physics teaching in engineering programmes poses discipline-specific demands that intertwine conceptual modelling, experimental inquiry, and computational analysis. This study examines nine teaching competences for physics instruction derived from international and regional frameworks and interpreted within engineering contexts. Nineteen university instructors from the Technological Institute of Toluca completed an open-ended questionnaire; responses were analysed using a grounded theory approach (open and axial coding) complemented by descriptive frequencies. Results indicate stronger development in technical mastery, methodological/digital integration, technology-mediated communication, and innovation (C1, C2, C6, C9), while information literacy for digital content creation/adaptation and digital ethics/safety (C7, C8) remain underdeveloped. A recurrent understanding-application gap was identified, revealing uneven transfer from conceptual awareness to enacted classroom practice. We conclude that advancing physics education for engineers requires institutionally supported, discipline-specific professional development that aligns modelling, laboratory work, and computation with ethical and reproducible digital practices; such alignment can move instructors from adoption/adaptation toward sustained appropriation and innovation in multimodal settings.