Standardized assessment of historical thinking competencies in an intervention study using perspectives on German history

Abstract

To assess the efficacy of an intervention study on the German post-1990 transformation targeting historical thinking, this paper presents the development of a standardized test designed to measure epistemological understanding and methodological competencies. Following a validation study (N = 354 students), we employed a revised test in an intervention study with N = 1,301 high school students in Baden-Württemberg. The newly developed tests underwent analysis concerning their psychometric criteria. The final test contained 38 items with various stimuli (e.g., interview snippets, cartoons) utilizing closed-format responses. The methodological test exhibited sufficient reliability and extensive overlap with a selection of items from an established test. However, the epistemological test showed some limitations in both reliability and validity, suggesting a potential opportunity for improvement through revision. Students’ grades in history and German, cognitive skills, and socioeconomic status predicted their ability scores based on two-parameter logistic (2PL) item response models for both tests.