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Putting Educational Knowledge of Prospective Teachers to the Test

Further Development and Validation of the BilWiss Test

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Student Learning in German Higher Education

Abstract

Teachers’ generic educational knowledge theoretically constitutes an aspect of their professional competence. However, empirical evidence for its importance for teachers’ daily practice is scarce. In this chapter, we describe findings from the BilWiss research program, which aimed to investigate the development and relevance of the type of generic educational knowledge typically addressed in university teacher education. We developed a standardized test that assesses generic knowledge in the following six domains: learning and development, instruction, assessment, educational theory (and history), school system and educational policy, and the teaching profession. We present findings from a series of studies that (a) provide evidence for the validity of the test score interpretations and (b) prove the predictive value of this test for diverse professional activities. These results are discussed regarding their theoretical and practical implications for teacher education.

Mareike Kunter and Olga Kunina-Habenicht are both first authors of this contribution.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Psychologie, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    M. Kunter & K. Wolf

  2. Institut für Bildungswissenschaftliche Forschungsmethoden, Pädagogische Hochschule Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany

    O. Kunina-Habenicht

  3. TUM School of Education, Technische Universität München, München, Germany

    D. Holzberger & T. Seidel

  4. Fakultät für Bildungswissenschaften, Universität Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany

    D. Leutner

  5. Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    C. Maurer

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  1. M. Kunter
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany

    Olga Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia

  2. Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Hans Anand Pant

  3. Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany

    Miriam Toepper

  4. Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Corinna Lautenbach

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Kunter, M. et al. (2020). Putting Educational Knowledge of Prospective Teachers to the Test. In: Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia, O., Pant, H.A., Toepper, M., Lautenbach, C. (eds) Student Learning in German Higher Education. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-27886-1_2

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