Validation of the TPACK Instrument in the Croatian Primary School Context

Abstract

This study aimed to validate a generic TPACK questionnaire within the Croatian educational context, involving 609 in-service subject teachers from five regions. The survey-based research included exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The resulting structure diverged from the original seven-factor model, yielding five factors: pedagogical knowledge (PK), technological knowledge (TK), content knowledge (CK), technological content knowledge (TCK), and technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK). Some items were excluded to enhance validity. Pedagogical and pedagogical content knowledge merged, as did technological pedagogical and technological pedagogical content knowledge. The final five-factor model exhibited strong psychometric properties, characterized by high internal consistency and a good fit to the data. Evidence of convergent and discriminant validity supports the distinct yet interconnected nature of the identified knowledge domains. Significant positive correlations were found between all constructs, with the strongest correlations between TPACK and TCK, and also between TPACK and TK. The findings underscore the contextuality of the TPACK framework, and therefore, they were discussed in relation to recent national educational initiatives as well as international indicators on digital competencies. These results contribute to understanding the TPACK framework in the Croatian context, supporting future research on teacher competencies in integrating technology into education.