This article by Reyes-Vásquez presents the design and psychometric validation of the ECODEV, a self-assessment scale created to measure university teachers’ competencies in online teaching within the Honduran context, where there was a lack of appropriate instruments to monitor and ensure the quality of higher education in online modalities.
Using a mixed-methods approach with a stronger quantitative emphasis and a convenience sample of 650 university teachers from UNAH, UPNFM, and EAP Zamorano, the study bases the construction of the instrument on a systematic literature review and on three key dimensions: pedagogical competencies, technological competencies, and course management and administration competencies.
Methodologically, the work is solid and transparent: it applies content validation through an expert panel (CVI) and validates the construct through Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) using techniques consistent with ordinal data (polychoric correlations and DWLS estimation). It also reports model fit criteria and internal consistency using McDonald’s Omega.
The results support a final 49-item scale with a hierarchical structure (a general factor and three subscales), excellent fit indices (CFI and TLI close to 1; RMSEA and SRMR within acceptable ranges), and outstanding reliability (very high overall Ω), suggesting that ECODEV measures the proposed construct in a stable and consistent way.
As a contribution, ECODEV stands out as a useful tool both for teachers’ self-reflection and for institutional processes of diagnosis and improvement of online teaching, especially in a post-pandemic scenario where virtual education has become a consolidated educational reality. At the same time, the article acknowledges relevant limitations: non-probabilistic sampling, low representation of the private sector, a cross-sectional design, and potential self-report biases. These aspects encourage future validation studies (by institution type, using alternative response scales, and including triangulation through students and academic authorities).
Overall, this is a valuable study due to its technical rigor and contextual relevance, with clear potential for applied research and quality assurance in online higher education in Honduras.
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How to Cite: Reyes-Vásquez, M. N. (2025). Scale for self-evaluation of competencies in online teaching: A systematic study of design and validation. RIED-Revista Iberoamericana de Educación a Distancia, 28(1), 217–237. https://doi.org/10.5944/ried.28.1.41320
