The Importance-Performance Analysis and Educational Needs of Elementary Pre-service Teachers' Competencies in Intelligent Information Society

This study aims to provide implications for improving teacher education programs for elementary pre-service teachers by analyzing the importance and performance differences, as well as educational needs of their competencies in the intelligent information society. To achieve this, an online survey was conducted with 299 elementary pre-service teachers, and various analyses were performed, including paired sample t-tests, Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA), Borich needs analysis, and The Locus of Focus model analysis. These analyses identified competencies requiring enhancement and derived educational priorities for each competency. The results revealed, firstly, that all aspects of competencies for elementary pre-service teachers in the intelligent information society were statistically significantly higher in importance than in performance. Secondly, the analysis of the differences in importance and performance of competencies in the intelligent information society identified competencies falling under the ‘Concentrate Here' category, including development of teacher expertise (F), adptation to social paradigm shifts (F), and curriculum reorganization (D). Thirdly, according to Borich's need analysis and The Locus of Focus model analysis, the top educational needs among competencies for elementary pre-service teachers in the intelligent information society were adapting to changes in social paradigms (F) and development of teacher expertise (F) as the first priority, establishing and managing learning ecosystems (D) and interpreting and utilizing big data (E) as the second priority, and curriculum reorganization (D) and customized learning design (D) competencies as the third priority. Based on these results, the study discusses implications for improving teacher education programs for future teachers by understanding the competencies required for elementary pre-service teachers in the intelligent information society.