This study aims to examine how teacher development dimensions contribute to teaching effectiveness through the Metaverse (TETM) in Malaysian Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions by positioning teacher engagement (TE) as the mediating mechanism within the immersive-Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (i-TPACK) framework.
A quantitative research design was employed using survey data collected from 214 Malaysian TVET teachers. The study investigated the relationships among professional development (PD), pedagogical training (PT), metaverse tool engagement (MTE), teacher readiness (TR), TE and TETM. Data were analyzed using covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) with AMOS to test both direct and mediating relationships.
The findings reveal that TE is the strongest predictor of TETM, confirming its central role in translating developmental inputs into effective immersive teaching practices. PD, PT and MTE significantly influenced TETM indirectly through TE, while TR did not demonstrate a significant direct effect on teaching effectiveness. The mediation analysis further confirmed that TE serves as the primary activating mechanism linking institutional support and developmental resources to effective Metaverse-based instruction in TVET education.
The study is limited to Malaysian TVET teachers and cross-sectional survey data, which may restrict generalizability and causal interpretation. The findings extend the TPACK framework by introducing an engagement-activated i-TPACK perspective that integrates psychological and behavioral dimensions into immersive teaching environments.
The findings suggest that investments in immersive technologies and training initiatives should be accompanied by strategies that sustain long-term TE through collaborative professional development, mentoring systems and engagement-oriented institutional support.
This study contributes to the emerging Metaverse and TVET literature by empirically validating TE as the central mediating mechanism within the i-TPACK framework, offering a process-oriented explanation of how developmental inputs are transformed into effective immersive teaching outcomes.
