Development of a Curriculum to Strengthen Digital-Based Educational Competencies: Focusing on Pre-service Health Teachers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a curriculum to strengthen the digital-based educational competencies of pre-service health teachers. The study was conducted through the phases of analysis, design, development, and evaluation. In the analysis phase, a literature review and a needs assessment of 29 pre-service health teachers enrolled in the teaching certificate program of the Department of Nursing at J University were conducted, through which the required digital-based educational competencies were derived as four competency clusters with twelve sub-elements: (1) understanding and utilizing digital technologies, (2) designing and implementing learner-centered instruction, (3) creating and utilizing digital health education content, and (4) practicing digital ethics and citizenship with educational data utilization. On this basis, a 15-week, two-credit course titled 「Digital Education」 was designed, and a draft curriculum incorporating practice- and performance-oriented methods and process-oriented assessment was developed; its content validity was then examined through an expert Delphi survey, and the final version was confirmed. This study is significant in that it extends the discussion of digital competency education, previously concentrated on pre-service teachers of general subjects, to reflect the distinctive features of the health teacher preparation process, and in that it presents a concrete, operable curriculum model and validation procedure for teacher education institutions.