Assessing Historical Thinking With the "HiTCH Test"? Theoretical Approaches, Empirical Findings, and Future Challenges

• In Event: International Perspectives on the Assessment of Historical Thinking

Abstract

Objective
The objective of the presentation is to discuss the opportunities and limitations of a quantitative assessment of historical thinking. The context for this presentation is the HiTCH project (“Historical Thinking – Competencies in History”) which consists of a group of history didacticians and scientists from the field of educational research from Germany, Switzerland and Austria who designed a large scale assessment test during the years 2012 to 2015 in order to assess the competencies of historical thinking. This “HiTCH Test” was tested in two pilot studies and one validation study.

Theoretical Framework
The theoretical basis for the HiTCH Test is a competency model for historical thinking, the so-called FUER-model (Körber e.a. 2007). It has become one of the most well-known competency models for history didactics in Western Europe. This model is based on a narrative understanding of history (Danto 1965, Rüsen, 1983) and the definition of competencies as subject specific problem-solving skills. With the help of this model, four different spheres of competencies can be distinguished and the FUER model also defines three different levels of historical thinking.

Basically, this model can serve as a theoretical framework for empirical studies (Meyer-Hamme 2007), though it is possible that not all spheres of competence can be assessed in closed testings (Körber, 2008). Thus, it remains questionable whether relevant parts of historical thinking can be tested in a valid and reliable way.

The objective of this study was to develop a test for the competencies of historical thinking that can be used for large-scale studies. The test is based on the historical competencies of ninth graders.

Design
A tool was designed and tested that consists of 15 exercises with 98 items, which can be summarized to 91 items. The exercises focused on particular spheres of competency and different historical topics (for instance the history of the European witch hunt, the US or the ancient Greeks). For the validation of the test, a KFT test was used for samples, as well as a speed reading and a reading accuracy test.

The current results are based on data from 2,853 ninth grade students, 50.6% female of different school tracks in Germany, Switzerland and Austria (49.1% highest school track).

Results
It was possible to shape a one-factor-model “historical thinking” and a satisfactory variance of the latent variable (Var(Θ) = 0.88) and high reliability (a=.94) with an acceptable item fit. The distribution of item difficulty was consistent with personal ability. There is an acceptable correlation between the factor “historical thinking” and the general reading abilities (r=.776 and r=.800), and the general cognitive ability-tests (KFTVerbal r=.813, KFTFigural r=.687).

Further challenges
Subject-specific challenges include not only the question of how the tasks can be assessed retrospectively but also questions regarding a) whether the theoretical distinctions in particular areas of competencies can be proved empirically, and b) whether these tasks can be used for international comparisons.

Authors

• Andreas Körber, University of Hamburg

• Johannes Meyer-Hamme, University of Paderborn