Teaching competencies in physics for engineering education: A qualitative analysis from teaching practice

TL;DR

This study identifies key physics teaching competencies for engineering education, highlighting strengths in technical and digital skills while emphasizing the need for professional development to bridge theory and practice.

Contribution

It introduces a framework of nine physics teaching competencies tailored for engineering contexts and analyzes instructors' development levels and gaps.

Findings

Strong development in technical mastery and digital integration.

Underdeveloped areas include digital content creation and ethics.

Identified gap between conceptual understanding and classroom application.

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.