Assessment and Practice in Educational Sciences 3092-717X 4 Serial Number 16 2026 07 01 Comparing Identity, TPACK, and Digital Competency in Virtual and Traditional Classrooms Comparing Identity, TPACK, and Digital Competency in Virtual and Traditional Classrooms 1 12 10.61838/japes.236 EN Journal Article 2025 11 05 <p>The present study aimed to compare students’ academic identity, Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK), and digital competency across virtual and traditional classroom environments to determine how instructional modality influences learner development in higher education. This quantitative comparative study was conducted among 320 undergraduate students from universities in Tehran during the 2024–2025 academic year, including 160 students enrolled in fully virtual classrooms and 160 students participating in traditional face-to-face instruction. Participants were selected using stratified random sampling to ensure balanced representation across academic disciplines and gender. Data were collected using three standardized instruments measuring academic identity, TPACK, and digital competency based on validated Likert-scale questionnaires. Content validity was confirmed through expert review, and reliability indices exceeded acceptable thresholds. Data analysis was performed using SPSS and AMOS software. Descriptive statistics were calculated followed by independent samples t-tests, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), Pearson correlation analysis, and multiple regression modeling to examine differences between instructional modalities and predictive relationships among study variables. Inferential analyses revealed statistically significant differences between virtual and traditional classroom students. Learners in virtual classrooms demonstrated significantly higher digital competency, stronger TPACK integration, and more developed academic identity compared with students in traditional environments (p &lt; 0.05). Correlation analyses showed strong positive relationships among digital competency, TPACK, and identity. Regression analysis indicated that both digital competency and TPACK significantly predicted academic identity, jointly explaining a substantial proportion of variance in identity development. Structural modeling further suggested that digital competency functions as a mediating mechanism linking instructional modality to identity formation through enhanced technological–pedagogical integration. The findings indicate that virtual learning environments substantially enhance students’ technological competence and pedagogical integration, which in turn contribute to stronger academic identity development. Digital competency and TPACK emerge as central mechanisms through which modern instructional modalities shape learner outcomes.</p> https://journalapes.com/index.php/apes/article/download/236/276