Abstract

Teacher digital competence development has become a key concern for instructional transformation in application-oriented universities, yet many professional development initiatives still rely on short-term workshops and tool demonstrations. This study examines a semester-scale Training–Practice–Community–Assessment (TPCA) program implemented in a Chinese application-oriented university and conceptualizes TPCA as a mechanism-oriented model that connects competence formation with classroom enactment through structured training, task-based practice, peer-calibrated community participation, and evidence-mediated assessment. Based on matched pretest–posttest survey data from 268 teachers, together with process records, platform traces, and representative course cases, the study analyzes changes in five dimensions of teacher digital competence and perceived professional growth. The results show significant post-program increases across all competence dimensions and in professional growth. The largest improvement appears in AI-enabled and intelligent applications, while digital ethics and security show a smaller but significant gain. A baseline-adjusted regression further indicates that post-program digital competence and participation intensity are positively associated with perceived professional growth. Course-level evidence suggests that TPCA supported professional development by translating training into redesign deliverables, stabilizing peer feedback routines, documenting improvement through traceable evidence, and embedding responsible AI use into instructional practice. Positioned as an implementation evaluation rather than a causal impact study, this research contributes a practice-embedded and mechanism-oriented account of how teacher digital competence development can be organized, enacted, and documented in application-oriented higher education.

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