Abstract
This study investigates the self-reported confidence of primary school preservice teachers (PSTs) in
using specific information, communication, digital and robotics technologies (ICDRTs) within
Mishra and Koehler’s TPACK framework (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge). By
identifying high priority areas for improving PST confidence, this research contributes to addressing
immediate challenges in teacher education and explores the associations of gender, age group, and
highest qualification with PST confidence. 490 PSTs enrolled in a fourth-year education
technologies subject completed a validated 77-item self-audit survey, divided across 10 ICDRT
components. Rasch analysis Item-Category Measures revealed Coding and Robotics, Common
Technologies used in Schools and Spreadsheet Skills as the three priority areas for initial teacher
education programs to focus on. Ordinal regression analyses (CI= .95) showed that males were
significantly more confident in technical components, while females were significantly more
confident in pedagogical and communication/administrative components. Mature-age students
demonstrated significantly higher confidence in workplace-acquired ICDRT items compared to
school-leavers. The highest qualification variable was only significantly associated with one item in
the Email Skills component. The self-audit instrument serves as a needs analysis, providing teacher
educators detailed insights into PSTs’ varying levels of confidence with ICDRTs. Additionally, it
enables PSTs to design personalised learning plans aligned with their self-assessed TPACK
proficiency levels. These findings highlight the need for tailored interventions addressing diverse
socio-demographic characteristics to enhance TPACK confidence amongst PSTs.