Developing a Measure of Historical Empathy in Middle and High School (Poster 19)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Two
  In Poster Session: Measurement Theory and Application 1

Abstract

Our team’s ongoing initial efficacy study hypothesizes that our intervention will hone students’ historical empathy: a process that elicits one's cognitive and affective engagement with historical figures to better understand how they thought, felt, and acted within specific socio-historical contexts. However, unable to find an existing instrument that measures historical empathy, the research team iteratively designed, developed, and pilot-tested a new instrument to evaluate middle and high school students’ historical empathy. Our new 15-item multiple choice measure reflects the interplay of the three core tenets of historical empathy (Endacott & Brooks, 2013) and will be implemented in a randomized controlled trial in Fall 2022. We report here on our measure development process, informed by theory and testing.

Authors

• Hai Lun Tan, Education Development Center, Inc.
  Presenting Author

• Alice Kaiser, Education Development Center, Inc.
  Presenting Author

• Joy Lorenzo Kennedy, Education Development Center, Inc.
  Non-Presenting Author