Evaluation of the Empowering Role and Effect of Digital Tools on Teachers’ Teaching Research and Innovation Capabilities

This study explores how digital tools enhance teachers’ teaching research and innovation capabilities, particularly in technical contexts involving machinery control data, digital simulation, and electromagnetic-field modeling. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods design was adopted. First, a quantitative questionnaire survey was used to examine the path of “tool use →behavioral change →innovation capability,” and a structural equation model was constructed. Second, based on the quantitative results, in-depth interviews were conducted with typical cases, and the relevant mechanisms were analyzed through thematic coding. The results show that digital tools are positively correlated with high school teachers’ teaching research capabilities, and the correlation mechanism is mainly reflected in three mediating paths: improvement of knowledge management capabilities, enhancement of collaborative models, and formation of data-driven thinking. Specifically, the standardized total effect coefficient of tool use on innovation capability is β = 0.70, with significant contributions from mediating paths and an indirect effect of 0.48. Among different tools, document management tools are highly correlated with knowledge integration capabilities, while data analysis and simulation tools have the most significant influence on methodological innovation. The study provides evidence for using digital tools to support teaching research in engineering-related domains, including electromagnetic-field simulation and intelligent machinery analysis.