Page 34 - Balancing between the present and the past

Chapter 2
Hartmann and Hasselhorn (2008) found positive initial results for their instrument’s reliability and validity. Their instrument is also a time- and cost-effective measurement instrument that can easily be implemented by, for example, teachers and test administrators. However, no study has tested the instrument in a large, heterogeneous population of students. Hartmann and Hasselhorn (2008) also raise the question about the instrument’s reliability and validity should it incorporate a different historical topic. In this study, we took up these challenges. We tested the instrument in a different country among both upper elementary and secondary school students and developed a second version of the instrument to test the reliability and validity effects when a different historical topic was used.
2.3 Research questions
Despite the importance of historical reasoning competencies, almost no reliable and valid instruments exist to measure HPT among upper elementary and secondary school students. This results in little knowledge about the differences between students in terms of this capability. Therefore, we specify three research questions:
1. Does the instrument developed by Hartmann and Hasselhorn (2008) have positive reliability and validity outcomes when it is used to measure the ability to perform HPT among a large, heterogeneous student population in a different country?
2. What are the reliability and validity outcomes when the instrument format developed by Hartmann and Hasselhorn (2008) focuses on a different historical topic?
3. Which differences arise among students of different ages and educational levels regarding their ability to perform HPT?
2.4 Method
2.4.1 Constructing and adjusting the instruments
The first step was translating the hypothetical scenario and the accompanying items of the Nazi Party instrument developed by Hartmann and Hasselhorn (2008) into Dutch without affecting the instruments’ interpretative framework. Hartmann
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