L’évaluation de la compétence professionnelle des futurs maitres du Québec à intégrer les technologies de l'information et des communications (TIC) : maitrise et usages

In Quebec, the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) tools in the classroom is a professional competency that must be acquired by prospective teachers. However, their acquisition and mastery poses a challenge. In order to better understand and evaluate this competency in prospective teachers, this thesis presents three research objectives: 1) To describe the degree of mastery of ICT tools and their usage in the classroom, 2) To identify the factors that influence the integration of ICTs and, 3) To examine the level of achievement of the 8th professional competency. Using a mixed-method research paradigm, 2065 prospective teachers attending nine francophone universities within the province of Quebec completed both quantitative and qualitative-type questionnaires. In addition, discussion groups (n = 5) were held so that participants (n = 34) could clarify or elaborate on their answers. This thesis is comprised of three separate articles, each assessing elements of the aforementioned research themes. In order to better understand the actual usage of ICTs, the first article provides an overview of prospective teachers’ technical competence with regards to tools likely to be used during their internships. The goal of the second article, is to identify with the aid of logistical regression, external variables such as sex, program of study, etc. and the different components of the 8th competency that influence the integration of ICTs in the classroom during internships. Lastly, in order to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of prospective teachers with regards to the integration of ICTs, the third article examines the degree of global mastery of the 8th competency. When considering the degree of mastery of ICT tools, questionnaire results show that for half of the respondents, only five of 12 tools were integrated during internships. Furthermore, the five ICT tools that were integrated were the least complex. The most frequently used tool was reported to be the presentation software Power Point. The data considered in this first article points to further areas of technical training that need to be addressed. For factors influencing the integration of ICTs during internships, it was found that planning to use ICTs in advance was the most predictive of integration. The results discussed in this second article suggest the need to reflexively include ICTs in lesson plans. Moreover, mastery of the 6th component plays a significant role in the likelihood of integrating ICTs during internships. Results in the third article suggest that the competency is only partially mastered for the 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 6th components. The component that was the most mastered concerned exercising critical judgment regarding the real benefits and limitations of ICT as teaching and learning resources, and regarding the social issues they raise. This thesis points to the necessity of making considerable efforts to aid in the mastery of the 8th competency. These efforts must be deployed both at an individual level by prospective teachers and by the universities through the teacher training curricula presented in ICT courses.

Keyphrases: TIC, Information and communication technologies, ICT, professional competency, ICT mastery, ICT integration, Competency 8