Construction of an Instrument to Measure the Professional Knowledge of Teacher Students in the Social Sciences (SoWis-L)

This article presents a standardized test measuring the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and content knowledge (CK) of social science teacher students. The SoWis-L (Sozialwissenschaftliches Wissen - Lehrkrafte, Engl.: Professional Knowledge of Social Science Teachers) covers declarative and conceptual knowledge from three knowledge domains. The 46-item instrument was developed and validated based on a sample of N = 374 social science teacher students. We examined research questions concerning psychometric test criteria, especially reliability and criterion validity. IRT analyses showed good item fit and adequate reliability for all knowledge areas except sociological content knowledge. A structural equation model resulted in a good fit of the model with three correlated latent factors, i.e., PCK and two facets of CK (political and economic CK). A comparison of the test results in teacher students aiming at a grammar school vs. a nongrammar school teaching degree and those enrolled in master vs. bachelor studies as well as significant correlations with grades in final school exams (Abitur) indicate the criterion validity of the SoWis-L.