Improving the Programmatic and Didactic Support for Developing Students' Digital Competence

The accelerated digitalisation of education has placed unprecedented demands on higher-education institutions to cultivate robust digital competence in their graduates. Yet the fragmentation of programmatic initiatives and the uneven quality of didactic practices frequently limit the systemic effectiveness of such efforts. This article investigates how an integrated approach—combining institution-level programme design with evidence-based didactic support—enhances students’ digital competence. Building on a two-year mixed-methods study conducted across three Uzbek universities, the research measures baseline skills with a DigComp-aligned diagnostic, pilots a scaffolded digital-skills curriculum, and analyses the impact of targeted pedagogical interventions on learning outcomes and learner self-efficacy. Findings demonstrate statistically significant gains in all five DigComp areas, sustained improvement in students’ ability to transfer digital problem-solving skills to disciplinary contexts, and a marked increase in lecturers’ readiness to embed digital tools in their teaching practices. The discussion positions these results within current international scholarship and outlines policy recommendations for curricular design, staff development, and technology governance.